dental web strategies conference 15 november 2104 canberra

© more customers more sales 2014 all rights reserved

Local Search Google My Business

&


why am I here

If you don’t get local marketing right, you will fail.


?

•  multiple locations

•  international


website alone is not enough

You need / have to

•  rank high to be seen

•  do “local search” / local SEO

•  provide a great user experience

•  totally unique content


v recent updates

•  apple maps self-serve portal

•  facebook places

•  SAB – Google

•  SAB – Yelp

•  pigeon (US)

21 October

1 November

early November

early November

someone on tap dedicated to SEO - it changes so fast


so what’s the diff?

Local SEO is general SEO plus


7 power pins

what it is


5 reasons why -

Google My Business

Local Search & Google Local


#1 - leapfrog


#2 - double hit


leverage


#3 - no website


#4 - mobile

> 50% searches on mobile devices are local > some industries are as high as 2 out of 3.


#5 - most overlooked



Types


shopfront


service area business

Google Local is not a single, simple web page


what’s involved

•  Google +

•  Google Places

•  Google Local

•  Google Maps•  classic•  new

•  Google (search)

•  YouTube

•  and now (16 June 2014), Google My Business

it’s not you - it’s Google

local is confusing

riddled with inconsistencies & spam

rapidly changing, sparse guidelines

Local

Google

My Business

(aka Places)

Your Website

Listings

around

the web

Customer

Reviews


Google+ Local Page



first things first

•  claim the listing

•  use an email address from the same domain as your website

•  if you have multiple locations, work with Google and get them all under a biz account (parent account)


Google local pages rules

•  exist before you list

•  must do in-person contact with customers

•  use an email account under your business domain

•  use real-world title of business

•  must use a valid street address - use precise address


Google local pages rules

•  rule of one

•  use a local phone number number whenever possible

•  link to only to your website http://mcmsa.co/gpquality

•  since introduction of My Business, additional G+ rules apply https://www.google.com/+/policy/pagesterm.html


description tips

•  no location or categories instead, what you “do” not what you “are” (the reverse of categories)

•  add a link or two, just make sure they’re not about “building links”

•  you can format text - bold, italics

•  doesn’t help your listing ranking, but can definitely hurt

•  make it great - think of it as the most important elevator speech you’ve ever written


phone is important

•  one unique phone # per entity listed

•  answer the phone as that entity (eg when Google calls and does a quality check, are they going to hang up before they even speak with you because you’ve just answered the phone as the “other” business?)

•  don’t use a call tracking number

•  do use a local number


check the pin


other

•  categories

-  really important

-  first is primary

-  ok to choose more than 1 then support in your description

•  load all 10 photos - think about your audience

•  use your real world business name

•  Google ok to add a “single descriptor” to your name


setup

•  cover photo

•  profile photo

•  1 or 2 posts directing users back to website

•  link to home page on your website (single location)

•  2 posts/month on local page

•  could post offers here

•  not 100% predictable; photos sometimes yes, sometimes no.

•  http://mcmsa.co/gmbg - handy


images


used many ways


be the first


be deliberate

Does this look like a dental service?


virtual tours (business view)


virtual tours

Guide to Google Maps Business View - Plus Your Business http://mcmsa.co/bizview

2 Sample business views

•  Lollyshop: http://mcmsa.co/swirlz

•  Glasses shop: http://mcmsa.co/glasses

Tourdash.com

advanced navigation, statistics & other groovy things incl embed in FB


tips to help with knowledge panel

•  followers on your local page > 100

•  good followers –active & authoritative

•  post once a month (minimum)

•  reviews


on-site SEO



overall site quality

•  webmaster tools

•  analytics

•  general faults - 404’s, title tags, canonicals, image sizes, load time, …

•  schema

•  site footer


site footer

single location

•  schema

•  biz type

•  biz address & ph (same as Google Local page)

•  geo loc’n

•  rel=publisher / link to Local page


home (& key internal) •  title tags - city /state keyword biz-name phone

•  meta

•  description

•  geo meta

•  navigation, header tags, in body copy

•  city / state - headers <h1>, content, alt text, URL, meta desc

•  words on the page - image / video alone doesn’t work anymore


page header

•  local phone number (or in footer)

•  key message

•  location (city or city/state)

•  toll free or 1300 ->image


contact page

•  one page per location

-  business address (in schema)

-  embedded map

-  open hours

-  payment methods

•  unique content

•  quantity & quality matters

•  treat it as a landing page

take care!


look at it from Google’s perspective

No hours?

maybe you…

fake??

spammer??

online shop??

closed down??

by appointment only??

Real biz has hours!!

(h/t Linda Buquet)


services / product page(s)

•  write quality words for people

•  write meaty / informative pages

•  bullets in content okay, bullets as content not ok

•  one page per service per location

•  keep content fresh

what’s the best info for the people reading this page?


blog

•  make your blog relevant to the local community - become a local destination online

•  blog about yourself sparingly

•  local event guides

•  interview local celebrities / sports figures

•  review other local businesses

•  create local resource guide - these are other local biz we know & trust


Promote your biz

•  sponsor local events

•  sell tickets to events online

•  local papers - they often go online too

•  remember traditional advertising? radio? local papers? letterbox drops?


links

•  tough to get right

•  say no to buying links - violation Google TOS

•  takes research

•  if you don't control the links pointing to your site, that’s ok

•  if you do, probably doesn’t count


citations



citations

anywhere online, where your business is mentioned including name, address. phone - link optional

•  business directories

-  yellowpages™

-  prof associations

•  social media sites

•  forums

•  council listings

•  chamber of commerce

•  review sites

•  booking / ticket sites

•  local newspapers

•  blogposts


trusted sources about your biz

�  your website

�  data aggregators

�  tier1 - top 10 from local biz directories, Google results (pg 1 & 2), review sites from SERP, youtube channel, facebook

�  tier 2 - second 20-ish

�  tier 3 - syndicated, obscure, otherwise “spam”


data aggregators - AU

•  sensis

•  factual (via API as of 28 July)

•  Google

•  bing


data aggregators - USA

•  infogroup (expressupdate)

•  axiom

•  localeze

•  factual

•  Google

•  bing


business owner gets call

some listings require owner verification

•  USA - ExpressUpdate, LocalEze, Acxiom, CityGrid, YP

•  AU/USA -Yelp, Bing, Google


tips

•  more is not better

•  claim them and complete them

•  don’t use call tracking here either

•  eliminate duplicated listings

•  great ideas! http://www.localstampede.com/citation-building-strategies-list/


find the ones that matter

•  use Google (no location)

•  yelp

•  facebook

•  cylex

•  brownbook

Aussie Specific

•  yellowpages™ **

•  truelocal **

•  womo

•  hot frog

•  start local

•  aussie web

•  yalwa


tips

•  more is not better

•  claim them and complete them

•  don’t use call tracking here either

•  eliminate duplicated listings

•  this is not a “set and forget” aspect



reviews


•  don’t ask for them

•  cannot ignore them

•  5 reviews (usually) on Google gives you the stars

•  Read sec 6.2.3 - Testimonials AHPRA Guidelines for advertising regulated health services

•  http://mcmsa.co/ahpra

tricky


research


respond respond promptly and professionally good & bad


reviews can be edited by author


troubleshooting



duplicate pages

•  very common

•  find as many as you can

•  log in to the account which manages the page you want (or the only one you can log into)

•  request a call from Google.


duplicate pages

•  very common

•  phone call

•  if in doubt, get expert assistance

before you do anything, check:

•  ranking

•  traffic

•  reviews


common issues •  not claimed

•  categories - primary one, too many, repeating, >10

•  description

•  images

•  duplicate listings

•  address (NAP confusion) - some sites need to deep dive

•  multiple websites

•  multiple business divisions as businesses - only one page allowed

•  practice & practitioner competition


audits nap audit

•  AU – manual effort

map audit

•  type your address into google maps - where does the pin drop?•  google•  tele atlas / map insights (broken privacy policy)

•  navteq / here

Google audit •  maps (new & classic)•  Google +•  GMB

full credit to +MikeBlumethal for this process


mapping

•  google map maker - http://www.google.com/mapmaker

•  apple maps (not SAB)

•  teleatlas - http://mapinsight.teleatlas.com/mapfeedback/

•  tom-tom - http://www.tomtom.com/mapshare/tools

very slow - can take months and months (even a year+) to appear



myths


myths

•  you have to pay/come back/legal process with Google to get your page back

•  Google reviews are worth more than other reviews

•  claiming your page makes it yours

•  call tracking is a bad thing to do

•  your website doesn’t matter

•  you get instant results with Local


myths

the business with the most ________ wins

•  citations

•  reviews

•  links

•  followers

__________ makes it rank better

•  claiming your page

•  posting on your page


Q&A

•  do I get notified when I get a review?

•  if I have multiple locations, is there a way to connect them?

•  how do I rank in a city /area where I don’t have an office?

•  do I still need to do Adwords if I have a local page?


Q&A

•  how long does it take to get ranked for a local page?

•  competitive market & location: 3-9 months

•  non-competitive market & loc’n: 1-6 months

•  what happens if I stop?

•  competitive market & location: 3-6 months begin to drop


have your say

Google My Business

http://mcmsa.co/gmbfeeback

vote now!

dental web strategies conference 15 november 2104 canberra

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