Post on 31-Mar-2015
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Local SEO Panel
Search Engine Optimization – employing techniques that help your website rank higher in organic (natural) search results.
What is SEO
Organic
Paid
Organic vs. Paid Search Results
Local Search Results
Impact of Rankings on CTR
“On average, over 50% of users click on the first result on the page. From there we see a significant drop, with less than 1% of people clicking on the 8th link on the page.” – Bing, 4/13
70%
25%
5%
US Search “Powered By” Marketshare
GoogleBingOther
Search EnginesGoogle Places (Google+ Local)Bing LocalYahoo LocalAsk Local
Google, Bing, and Yahoo incorporate local results depending on query
LocatorsSuperPagesYellowPagesFourSquareYelpLocal.comManta
Local Traffic Sources
SearchFriendly
Site
On-PageContent
Links + + = HighRankings
Link Architecture•Text in hyperlinks•Anchor text diversity•Quality of link pages•Relevance of link pages•Content on link pages•Local citations•Social Media mentions•Reviews
Content•Title tags•Meta tags•Headlines•Bullet/numbered lists•Bold and italic text•Link text•Body copy•Keyword distribution•NAP•Images & video•Rich media & PDF’s
Site Architecture•Code base•Robots.txt file•XML sitemap•Image hosting•Site speed•Folder structure•Javascript, Flash, Ajax
200+ factors in Google’s organic ranking algorithm * Formula constantly changing
Local SEO Formula
Target local keywords like “Omaha contractors” or “Omaha chiropractors”Ask customers for reviews (Google Places, Yelp, etc.)Embed map of your location along with directionsSocial sharing icons“NAP” – name, address, phone in footer (local # and not 800 #)
Get your business listed in local directories (consistent data!)
Goal: show Google that you are a local, legit, brick and mortar business
Key Points
A critical component of SEO is choosing the right keywords for optimization.
If you are a law firm, you may be tempted to want your website to rank for “lawyer,” (a head term), but chances are you might have some trouble there…
A keyword like “omaha dui lawyer” (a long-tail term) is a better target keyword. Sure, the number of people that search for this keyword will be much lower than the number that search for “lawyer,” but you are more likely to rank for this term, and the traffic is much more relevant to your business, resulting in a higher conversion rate.
Keyword Selection
TrafficMeasuring overall traffic to your website from organic search is something you should look at on a monthly basis at a minimum. To factor out seasonality, be sure to look at year-over-year sessions. Unique KeywordsThe number of unique (particularly non-branded) keywords driving traffic to your site is an important metric which indicates the “health” of your SEO efforts. You should see gradual increases in the number of unique keywords over time.
Leads/ROIWeb analytics tools like Google allow you to see how many conversions have occurred on your website as a result of organic search traffic and keywords, provided you have some way of tracking the desired customer action (contact form, order confirmation page, email signup, etc.)
Measuring Success
Questions?