formic media presents local seo stats & tactics

Local SEO Stats & Tactics

Presenter:Date:

John McPhee, Vice PresidentSeptember 4, 2013

Formic

• Launched in 2008 to service small business & partners

• Specializes in search engine & social media marketing

• 100% of Account Team Google AdWords & Google Analytics Certified

• Strategic partnerships (Travel Portland, website design/dev shops, agencies)

• Focus on education via monthly Seminar Series

A Look at the Search Results Page

Difference Between Organic & Local

Difference Between Organic & Local

• Location, location, location

• Organic/Paid search = “the what”– Nike running shoes, Sony DSLR camera

• Local Search = “the what” & “the where”– Nike shoe store Portland, Camera World Portland

Difference Between Organic & Local

The Evolution of Local Search

Blended Results (most recent)

Why is Local Search so Important?

• Roughly 30% of all searches have local intent• Google = ~12.5 billion searches/month• Yahoo = ~3.6 billion/month• Bing = ~2.6 billion/month

• ~18.7 billion searches/month• ~5.6 billion searches have local intent

Local Search Volume by Month

How are Consumers Finding Local Merchants?

Mobile Phone & Tablet Searches on the Rise

Local Ad Spend Going Digital

• 97% of American internet users shop online (NPD Group)– 57% of these users say they purchase offline (NPD Group)

• 90% of online commercial searches result in offline brick and mortar purchases (comScore)

• 82% of local searchers follow up offline by an in-store visit or phone call (comScore)

• 80% of all budgets are spent within 50 miles of the home (DMA)

Local Search User Stats

Local Search: Business Stats

Local Search: Business Stats

The Local Search Ecosystem

The Organic Search Ecosystem

The Local Search Ecosystem

The Local Search Ecosystem

The Local Search EcosystemCourtesy of GetListed.org

Top Criteria for Local Search Rankings• Address in city of user’s search• Claimed Google+ Local page• Proper categorization• Volume of citations from data providers• Off-site factors (i.e. inbound links)

Open for Questions or Keep Going?

Local Search Components

Local Search Components• Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing Local Listings)• On-site Optimization• Off-site Optimization

Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing)• Claim & verify your Place page

Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing)

Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing)

Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing)

Courtesy of Category Preview Tool by Mike Blumenthal

Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing)

Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing)

Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing)

Google+ Local Page (Yahoo/Bing)

Google Place Page (Yahoo/Bing)

Local Search Components• Google Place Page (Yahoo/Bing Local Listings)• On-site Optimization• Off-site Optimization

On-site Optimization• Still need to focus on website optimization– Geo-specific keyword targeting– Title Tags– Meta Tags– H1 tags– Body Copy

On-site Optimization

• Structured Data is used to help parse out business data for the search engines

• Types of Structured Data include:– Person– Product– Event– Recipes– Full list: http://schema.org/docs/full.html

On-site Optimization

On-site Optimization

• hCard microformatOn-site Optimization

• hReview microformatOn-site Optimization

• Local phone number = Good• 800 phone number = Not ideal• Tracking phone number = Bad

On-site Optimization

• If you have multiple store locations, you should:– Create unique pages for each location

On-site Optimization

On-site Optimization

Local Search Components• Google Place Page (Yahoo/Bing Local Listings)• On-site Optimization• Off-site Optimization

Off-site Optimization• Web Citations & Inbound Links– More citations/links = more trust + higher rankings

Courtesy of GetListed.org

Off-site Optimization

Courtesy of ZipLineInteractive.com

Off-site Optimization

Off-site Optimization

• User reviews also help gain trust from both the search engines and users– Quantity is still more powerful than quality– Engines are working to understand sentiment

Off-site Optimization

• Get reviews through:– Email campaigns– Encourage employees to ask for reviews• Incentivize your employees if necessary

– Google window sticker– Utilize in-store collateral– Social media– Use website widget by BrightLocal.com

Off-site Optimization

• Social Media Activity– Be active within social media• Post fresh, new content regularly• Post interesting content that will be shared

– Increase Likes, followers, etc– Engage with fans/followers– Build authority/credibility– Optimize social media accounts/profiles

Off-site Optimization

• Social Media Content– Share interesting stories about your

industry/company– Show your company’s personality through

jokes/humor (videos, text, images)– Create polls/surveys; share the results and ask for

feedback/opinions– ALWAYS stay within the brand’s voice

Off-site Optimization

Measuring Success

Measuring Success• Google Analytics• Google Places Dashboard• Marketing Trackback Question

• Google Analytics

Measuring Success

• Google Places Dashboard

Measuring Success

• Marketing Trackback Question

Measuring Success

Thank you!

Contact John McPhee for more informationjohnm@formicmedia.com

503.517.9059 x122