Bassem Ghali

More and more we are all noticing local search results “7-pack” posted at the top of any major search engine results page. Does this mean I can rank higher than my competitor by simply listing my business address and phone number on Google, Bing, Yahoo local center? YES, if you do it right! Don’t worry though; I’m listing best practices for local search engine optimization at the end of this post.

It’s not too late to consider changing your local advertising strategy. Just ask yourself these 2 questions: has Yellow Pages or the local newspapers been generating enough leads for my business lately? and how much is the cost per lead? I think you know what I am getting at!

Why does Google want to know where am I right now?

Google says by providing your location, it delivers more accurate local search results when information is available.

How is that possible? Google uses information transmitted from nearby WiFi access points to determine your approximate location. Read more about Google toolbar master advanced features.

I believe this is the biggest revolution coming in the local search engine industry. Majority of international corporations will have to change their strategy quickly and local businesses will be the beneficiaries of this dramatic revolution.

Looking at the ‘big picture’, where are local search results / data coming from?

Primary data providers in local search » Local search ecosystem

What are the most important factors for local search results (7-pack)?

1. Verified local business listing
2. Being listed in the right categories for your business
3. Keyword usage in the business title
4. Citations! If you haven’t heard this word before, it means mentions of your business name, address and phone number (NAP) on other websites in some kind of structure format. Citation criteria: authority, geographical relevancy, title tags of linking websites
5. Traditional on-page criteria (Title tags, Domain URL keywords, “Good content”, Inbound links)
6. Customer reviews including high rating, vertical reviews (i.e. restaurant reviews on Yelp.com), sentiment analysis (these analysis comes from websites like urbanspoon.com, tripadvisor.com, n49.ca, ourfaves.com, frommers.com)

Google sentiment analysis

Best practices for local search engine optimization:

Off-page

• Submit or claim your listings on the local search engines, such as Google Places, Bing Local Listing Center, Yahoo Local Merchant, Yelp
• Make sure you choose the most relevant category for your business
• Use a keyword in your business title (no keyword stuffing, don’t violate Google guidelines)
• Use long tail keywords in your description; mention your products /services name, brands you carry, locations you serve
• Citations; make sure all other websites linking to you have the proper address and the same phone number. (keep consistent with your phone number even if you have more than one phone number)
• Get listed on local directories
• Get reviews! Offer happy customers a coupon or discount if they post a review about your website
• Try to gain inbound links with your business full address, phone number and have your business name as anchor text
• Assign geographic coordinates to your pictures on Panoramio and Flickers
• Assign geographic coordinates to your videos on Youtube

On-Page

• Create a contact / location page (separate pages for every store or office)
• Optimize your contact / location page HTML title tag to be: business name, city, province, phone #
• Include the full street address and phone number on every page of your website
• (Advanced) use Micro-formats such as “hCard” to include your business information on your website. hCard creator tool

Avoid

• Use of 800 numbers or call tracking for your local business listing
• Exclusive use of (800) # on contact page
• Multiple addresses on contact page
• Multiple local business listing with the same phone number
• Multiple local business listing with the same address
• Negative customer ratings

1. Ashley Busch Says:
   March 29th, 2010 at 12:41 am

   long seo lists but good tips.thanks

2. Pery White Says:
   March 30th, 2010 at 10:32 pm

   Nice post, look forward to visiting again soon. Will retweet this one for you, so others can enjoy.

3. admin Says:
   March 31st, 2010 at 7:18 am

   You are very welcome, thanks for the retweets .. I would also like to connect with you on twitter @Bassem_Ghali

4. Steve Smith Says:
   April 3rd, 2010 at 12:59 am

   Well, I have to leave a comment in this thread.. Well put

5. Doris Shao Says:
   April 26th, 2010 at 10:41 pm

   Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?

6. E2 Solutions Says:
   February 4th, 2011 at 3:53 am

   Few things are really interesting especially having a separate page of location and having your phone number in title tags.

   What are your opinion on having your business listing on local classifieds sites? Can they help you on ranking on local results?

7. Bassem Ghali Says:
   February 4th, 2011 at 7:35 am

   Glad you found some helpful tips in my post.
   Yes getting listed on “respectful” local classifieds sites can definitely improve your ranking on local results.

   Make sure you use the same business name, address and phone number (NAP) when you submit your business.

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