#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 1 An inside look into Google Local and building local links. LOCAL OR BUST!

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 2 RACHEL HOWE Senior Search Marketing Specialist SEO Setup Lead Outdoorsy. Crafty. Foodie. RENEE GIRARD Senior Search Marketing Specialist Part-Time Link Hygienist Lover of Tea & Rescue Mutts. W H O W E A R E @r8chel_marie @renee_girard

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 3 Founded in 2003 HQ Milwaukee, WI W H E R E W E W O R K Milwaukee, WI Ann Arbor, MI

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 4 BACKGROUND Local search fundamentals THE OPPORTUNITY Missed opportunities for visibility THE SOLUTION Google My Business, on-page & off-page RESOURCES Further learning and key takeaways A G E N D A

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 5 WHAT IS IT? THE FUNDAMENTALS LOCAL SEARCH BACKGROUND

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 6 What is it? L o c a l s e a r c h e n g i n e o p t i m i z a t i o n i s t h e p r a c t i c e o f i n c r e a s i n g y o u r v i s i b i l i t y f o r g e o - b a s e d s e a r c h e s . W H AT I S I T ?

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 7 W H AT I S I T ?

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 8 Local Optimization Fundamentals G o o g l e M y B u s i n e s s C l a i m , o p t i m i z e a n d s h a r e O n - P a g e O p t i m i z a t i o n O p t i m i z e we b s i t e l a n d i n g p a g e s ( l o c a l i z e m e t a t a g s & c o p y ) O f f - P a g e O p t i m i z a t i o n C i t a t i o n s , b a c k l i n k s a n d d i r e c t o r y l i s t i n g s ( m o n i t o r & p u r s u e ) L O C A L S E A R C H F U N D A M E N TA L S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 9 OPPORTUNITY COSTS LOCAL ORBUST THEOPPORTUNITY

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 10 Opport unit y C ost : Les s vis ibility Los t bus ines s to c ompetitor s W hy it Mat t ers: Loc al vis ibility Mobile s ear c hes O P P O RT U N I T Y C O S T Source: http://selnd.com/1hBzXUQ

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 11 Map Pack Carousel Local 7 Pack P L A C E M E N T O P P O RT U N I T I E S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 12 C o r r e l a t i o n b e t we e n u n i v e r s a l s e a r c h a n d l o c a l s e a r c h P L A C E M E N T O P P O RT U N I T I E S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 13 A D D I T I O N A L P L A C E M E N T O P P O RT U N I T I E S Non-Local Query Local Map Pack Local 7 Pack

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 14 T H E L O C A L P O T E N T I A L I S M A S S I V E 15-20% Of all searches are mobile 79% Of people who own a mobile device, conduct local searches. 2015 When mobile will surpass desktop 4,000,000,000 Out of 7,000,000,000 Google searches have local intent

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 15 Sites that arent mobile friendly, will see a negative impact on their rankings in the mobile search results. L A S T W O R D O N M O B I L E Matt Cutts H e a d o f G o o g l e s W e b S p a m Te a m

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 16 PART I GOOGLE MYBUSINESS THE SOLUTION

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 17 Google My Business Int erf ace f or B u s i n e s s P a g e s B r a n d P a g e s G o o g l e + M a p s Functionality + 1 ( S h a r e s ) R e v i e w s ( Z a g a t ) C o m m u n i t i e s P h o t o s V i d e o s U p d a t e s H a n g o u t s W H AT I S I T ?

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 18 G O O G L E L O C A L R A N K I N G FA C T O R S Whats Important? Proper category associations NAP consistency Name Address Phone Number Number of reviews Proximity to centroid (location)

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 19 G O O G L E R E V I E W S https://www.whitespark.ca/review-handout-generator To encourage reviews for your business: Remind your customers to leave a review Become active on Google & respond to reviews Verify your business!

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 20 CREATE & CLAIM Create a Gmail account. Claim (list) your business(s) & optimize. INCLUDE CATEGORIES Select up to 5 category associations for your Google Local page. ADD IMAGES, VIDEOS & DESCRIPTION Include a business description, along with photos and videos. GET REVIEWS! Include a link to Google page on website & pursue reviews. G O O G L E M Y B U S I N E S S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 21 PART II ON-PAGE THE SOLUTION

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 22 On-Page WordPress Landing Page Consistent NAP Keyword and city, state in title tags/H1 tag Keyword in URL Structured data for the Knowledge Graph (schema.org/LocalBusiness) Embed Google Map O P T I M I Z E L O C A L L A N D I N G PA G E ( S ) Included in WP plugins like Yoast Local SEO

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 23 L O C A L L A N D I N G PA G E ( S ) M O C K U P

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 24 CREATE PAGE(S) Each location should have its own page with mostly unique content. OPTIMIZE FOR KEYWORD Your keyword is the category association. Include it with City, State in the meta data, copy & URL. ADD NAP & INFO Include NAP along with hours, contact person, driving directions, 800 number, email address, photos, etc. LINK TO REVIEWS Include links or icons pointing to your most valuable citations such as Google Local, Yelp, Facebook, etc. O N - PA G E O P T I M I Z AT I O N

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 25 PART III OFF-PAGE THE SOLUTION

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 26 A citation is not a backlink. It is a mention of a business name in close proximity to its address, phone number, or both. Citations are used by search engines to weigh both the accuracy and popularity of businesses. Unstructured Citation: A mention of any part of your NAP (Name, Address or Phone number). Structured Citation: A mention of your entire NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number). W H AT I S A C I TAT I O N ? Source: http://bit.ly/1mrWUg3

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 27 Citations (biggest portion of local algo) NAP consistency Number of citations Domain Authority of citation sources Proper category associations Proximity to centroid Number of reviews C I TAT I O N FA C T O R S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 28 Backlinks Anchor text Number of backlinks Domain Authority of backlink sources B A C K L I N K FA C T O R S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 29 Social Number of Google+ shares Number of Google +1s Number of Facebook likes Number of Twitter followers S O C I A L FA C T O R S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 30 Option #1: Purchase tool or software (Moz Local or Yext) Option #2: Claim listings through local data distributors (the Big 4) Option #3: Manually find sources through Google search operators (ex. site:.org) H O W T O C L A I M Y O U R C I TAT I O N S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 31 P R O S & C O N S O F U S I N G D ATA D I S T R I B U T O R S Pros Automatically submits listings Manage listings from a single dashboard Analytics reports Cons Expensive & slow Fixed list Doesnt include all sources

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 32 T O P L O C A L D ATA D I S T R I B U T O R S : I N F O G R O U P

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 33 T O P L O C A L D ATA D I S T R I B U T O R S : N E U S TA R L O C A L E Z E

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 34 T O P L O C A L D ATA D I S T R I B U T O R S : A C X I O M

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 35 T O P L O C A L D ATA D I S T R I B U T O R S : FA C T U A L

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 36 T O P C I TAT I O N S F O R T H E M I D W E S T Angies List is free to get listed but paid for users & Service Magic is now Home Advisor Source: http://bit.ly/1mrWUg3

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 37 T O P L O C A L C I TAT I O N S F O R C O N S U M E R S Not all review sites are created equal. Yelp, TripAdvisor, Angies List, Citysearch, and YP are the most popular for consumers.

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 38 G O O G L E P I G E O N A L G O U P D AT E Source: http://selnd.com/1rfWU6V Shows Yelp results at the top of Google with queries that include yelp and boosts other local directories.

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 39 C H A M B E R O F C O M M E R C E C I TAT I O N S Get listed in your local chamber of commerce + Chamber of commerce site:..us Chamber of commerce site:..us + Chamber of commerce site:.org + Chamber of commerce site:.com

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 40 S O C I A L C I TAT I O N S Claim your social profiles (but stay consistent) & host events on Google Hangouts

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 41 CONSIDER DATA DISTRIBUTORS/TOOL S Consider doing both automatic and manual citation building. FIND CITATION SOURCES Moz Local, Whitespark, search operators, competitive research, etc. ADD LISTINGS & RECORD PROGRESS Use a spreadsheet to record your listing information, citation progress, & citations that need to be fixed. CLAIM SOCIAL PROFILES Claim/add your listing to social profiles even if the your users arent active on that platform. O F F - PA G E O P T I M I Z AT I O N

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 42 RESOURCES PLUGINS TOOLS TAKEAWAYS RESOURCES HOW TO IMPLEMENT

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 43 Google My B usiness - w w w.google.c om/bus iness Moz Local Learning C ent er - moz .c om/learn/local W hit espark - w w w.w hites park .ca/tools Andrew Shotland - www.loc als eoguide.com D avid Mihm - w w w.davidmihm.c om Mike B lument hal - blumenthals .c om/blog Greg Gif f ord - w w w.s lides har e.net/GregGifford L O C A L S E A R C H R E S O U R C E S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 44 W o r d P r e s s L o c a l S E O w o r d p r e s s . o r g / p l u g i n s / d h - l o c a l - s e o / M a p P r e s s E a s y G o o g l e M a p s w o r d p r e s s . o r g / p l u g i n s / m a p p r e s s - g o o g l e - m a p s - f o r - w o r d p r e s s W P G o o g l e M a p P l u g i n w o r d p r e s s . o r g / p l u g i n s / w p - g o o g l e - m a p - p l u g i n L o c a l B u s i n e s s S E O w o r d p r e s s . o r g / p l u g i n s / m d p - l o c a l - b u s i n e s s - s e o Yo a s t L o c a l S E O P l u g i n ( p a i d ) y o a s t . c o m / w o r d p r e s s / p l u g i n s / l o c a l - s e o S E J L i n k P a t r o l ( p a i d ) l i n k p a t r o l w p . c o m W O R D P R E S S P L U G I N S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 45 G o o g l e L o c a l B u s i n e s s C a t e g o r y To o l b l u m e n t h a l s . c o m / G o o g l e _ L B C _ C a t e g o r i e s M o z L o c a l ( G e t L i s t e d . o r g ) m o z . c o m / l o c a l W h i t e s p a r k L o c a l C i t a t i o n F i n d e r ww w. w h i t e s p a r k . c a / l o c a l - c i t a t i o n - f i n d e r M o z L o c a l C i t a t i o n s b y C a t e g o r y m o z . c o m / l e a r n / l o c a l / c i t a t i o n s - b y - c a t e g o r y S c h e m a . o r g L o c a l B u s i n e s s M a r k u p s c h e m a . o r g / L o c a l B u s i n e s s G o o g l e We b m a s t e r To o l s D a t a H i g h l i g h t e r To o l s u p p o r t . g o o g l e . c o m / we b m a s t e r s / a n s w e r / 3 1 0 6 9 5 9 ? h l = e n L O C A L S E A R C H T O O L S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 46 1. Google My Business G e t o n i t ! 2. Citation hygiene C l e a n u p d u p l i c a t e o r i n a c c u r a t e l i s t i n g s 3. Get citations To p r o v e l o c a l r e l e v a n c e p r e f e r a b l y i n w a v e s , m u s t b e p r e c i s e 4. Get links To p r o v e d o m a i n a u t h o r i t y ( w h i t e h a t o n l y, l o n g - t e r m s t r a t e g y ) 5. Optimize your local landing page(s) I n c l u d e c i t y, s t a t e a n d b u s i n e s s c a t e g o r y TA K E AWAY S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 47 GOOGLE MY BUSINESS Create a Gmail account. List your business(s). Optimize. CITATIONS Clean up duplicates or inaccurate listings. Build links through citations. LOCAL LINKS Build authority through local link building. ON-PAGE OPTIMIZATION Include city, state in landing page meta tags and copy. K E Y TA K E AWAY S

#WCMKE | @r8chel_marie | @renee_girard 48 D O W N L O A D T H I S P R E S E N TAT I O N http://slidesha.re/1qFsDmj

311 E CHICAGO ST SUITE 520 MILWAUKEE, WI 53202 RACHEL.HOWE@ZEONSOLUTIONS.COM RENEE.GIRARD@ZEONSOLUTIONS.COM THANKS! Questions? THANKS!