The regional battle for first page rankings now involves fighting the Superpowers; national and regional power players occupy more top rankings than ever before.
Expand Your Online Strategy for a Changing Local Landscape
- How will you improve Web and map rankings when Google detects the searcher’s location?
- How will you improve Web and map rankings when the search phrase references location?
- How will you address mobile opportunities?
Place Page Signals
- Claim and carefully complete your Google Places for Business page with your legal business name, description, photos, and appropriate categories
- Find and eliminate any duplicate or incorrect Place pages
- Ensure your name, address, and phone number (NAP) appear authoritative
External Local Signals
- Claim and ensure consistent NAP for your business on prominent local sites like Yelp, Internet Yellow Pages, etc.
- Work to eliminate conflicting business listings
- Cultivate structured (business listings) and unstructured (media coverage, blog posts) “citations” with consistent NAP, especially from local websites
Traditional SEO Signals
- Use your NAP on each page of your site with Schema markup
- Cultivate domain authority and inbound links
- Reference your city and state in your Web page titles
Review Signals
- Earn “native” reviews on Google+ Local
- Cultivate reviews on 3rd party websites
- Work to attract “authority reviewers” and detailed rich text reviews
- Be consistent
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