SEO for Local TourismBeing Found in the Unpaid Search Results

About me – Barry Connolly

• SEO Specialist at Search Scientist since March 2014

• At Search Scientist we cover SEO, AdWords & Social

• Worked in SEO since 2009 in both Belfast and Dublin

• Vast experience with multiple industries

• Qualified in Google Analytics and Google AdWords

Today’s Agenda:

1 Which Search Terms to Target?

2 Where your Site can appear in the Search Results

3 Local Listings - Google My Business4 Organic Listings – How to Rank5 Reviews and User Experience6 Keep an Eye on your Competitors7 Schema

About You – Is Your Site being found on Google?

First Things First – Terms to Target on Google?

Look at Who Appears on Target Search Query

AdWords Ads – costing £1+ per click

Local Listings – SEO – paid & unpaid

Organic Listings – SEO - unpaid

How to Rank in Local Listings

First - Create a My Google Business account

https://www.google.com/business/

Google My Business – Optimise Descriptions & Get Reviews

It’s important to fully optimise your listings with local keywords.

Reviews can also be left, which can have an impact on the click through rate.

Reviews also have a bearing on where listings are positioned.

The number of listings has been reduced to just 3.

The Importance of Reviews

Reviews can have a big impact on the click through rate.

Negative reviews can lead to listings being less likely to be clicked on.

Encourage happy customers to leave a review.

Reply to and engage with users who have left reviews…even the negative ones!

Google My Business - FYI

Google My Business listings appear above organic results for many local searches.

This can be a quick win for many local companies.

Registering for this service is free and a verification process will be carried out in the form of a phone call or postcard with a pin to prove that you are indeed based locally.https://www.google.com/business/

On mobile there is even a call button, which means that potential customers don’t even need to visit your website.

How to Rank in the Organic Listings

There are several key indicators that Google will look for to determine where it will place your website.

• Links• Content• Meta data• Engagement• Responsiveness• Social Media (Indirect)

Improve on these and you will improve your chances of ranking higher.

Pay Attention to your Competitors

It’s important to understand your competition and why they might be ranking higher.

With the previous ranking factors in mind visit your competitors website to see what they might be doing right.

Compare this with your own website.

Is there room for improvement?

Schema – Structured Data - Searching for Events in Enniskillen – up comes today’s event - Could your events benefit from being here?

Let’s Try Another Local Tourism Search Query

Schema.org – Structured DataDon’t worry if you are not technically minded.

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/data-highlighter

Schema.org – Structured Data

Schema.org, known as microdata is a specific vocabulary of tags that you can add to your HTML to improve the way your page is represented in SERPs.

https://developers.google.com/structured-data/ https://schema.org/docs/full.html

• Product -- Information about a product, including price, availability, and review ratings.• Recipe -- Recipes that can be displayed in web searches and Recipe View.• Review -- A review of an item such as a restaurant, movie, or store.• Event -- An organized event, such as musical concerts or art festivals, that people may

attend at a particular time and place.• Software Application -- Information about a software app, including its URL, review ratings,

and price.• Video -- An online video, including a description and thumbnail.• News article -- A news article, including headline, images, and publisher info.

Summary – Take Away Messages

1. Keyword Research – Review Search Terms to Target2. Set up / Optimise Google My Business for Local

Searches3. Get Reviews4. If not Ranking, Get Advice from an SEO Specialist5. Keep an Eye on your Competitors6. Make Sure you’ve set up Schema

Pay Attention to your Competitors

Thanks for attending!Let me know if I can help