the good, the bad, & the ugly in onsite local search optimization
TRANSCRIPT
Onsite Local Search
Optimization Best PracticesAdam Dorfman, SIM Partners, @phixed
Image: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly
@phixed
Technical Audit
@phixed
NAP Information and
Formatting
@phixed
NAP Information and
Formatting
The Good
• Local phone number (no 800#s!)
• Crawlable phone and address
• Hours of operation included
• Easy to find on the homepage
The Bad
• Spread out and not collected together
The Ugly
• Business name inside an image
More Info: http://www.bluecorona.com/faq/what-does-nap-stand-for-and-does-it-help-local-seo
@phixed
Domain Name, Site Hierarchy, & URL
OptimizationThe Good
• Domain name = Business Name
• Keyword rich domain name
• Flat site hierarchy
• “-” as word seperators
• Logical sub-page names
The Bad
• Inconsistent capitalization
More Information• http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2013/05/29/
how-to-name-your-local-landing-pages/
• https://yoast.com/site-structure-seo/
• http://moz.com/blog/15-seo-best-practices-for-
structuring-urls
@phixed
Indexation / Duplicate Content / RedirectsThe Good
• Fully indexed
• Minimal internal duplicate
content
The Bad
• Some content sourced
externally
• No canonical tags
The Ugly
• 302 Redirects exist
More Information• http://moz.com/learn/seo/duplicate-content
• http://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection
@phixed
Faster page load times lead to increased engagement and
conversions and may improve organic ranking.
Page Speed
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
@phixed
The Good
• Prioritized visible content
• Reduced server response time
• Avoided redirects
The Bad
• Not minifying JavaScript
• Not minifying CSS and HTML
The Ugly
• Not compressing resources
• Not leveraging browsing caching
Page Speed
@phixed
Internal Site LinksThe Good
• Crawlable links with good
anchor text exist within
primary navigation
The Bad
• Few in body content
The Ugly
• None in body content on
homepage
More Info• http://moz.com/learn/seo/internal-
link
• http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/
6307/bid/31388/How-to-Use-
Internal-Linking-to-Improve-Your-
Website-s-SEO.aspx
@phixed
Robots.txt / Sitemap.xmlThe Good
• Robots.txt exists and isn’t
preventing indexing
• Sitemap.xml file exists
The Bad
• Sitemap.xml is outdated
and missing indexed
URLs
More Info• http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/
robots-txt-best-practices-for-
seo/03072012/
• http://googlewebmastercentral.blog
spot.com/2014/10/best-practices-
for-xml-sitemaps-rssatom.html
@phixed
Header OptimizationThe Good
• Title tag, meta
descriptions exist
The Bad
• Title/Metas Not unique
from one another
• Internal page title tags not
geo-specific
The Interesting
• Call tracking overlay JS
discovered (Gold Star!)
More Info• http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/
how-to/2067564/how-to-use-html-
meta-tags
@phixed
Mobile
Experience
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/photos
@phixed
Mobile Experience
The Good
• Mobile experience exists
• Responsive design
The Bad
• Mobile oriented calls to action
missing or hidden
• Slow loading, unoptimized
More Info• http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/231832
• https://developers.google.com/webmasters/m
obile-sites/
@phixed
Microformatting
@phixed
@phixed
Microformatting: Schema
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/danbri/5925660995/
@phixed
Microformatting: Schema
@phixed
Microformatting: Schema
@phixed
The Good
• Markup for auto repair
• Markup for offer
The Bad
• Review aggregate markup incomplete
The Ugly
• No schema around the NAP
• No schema around the hours of operation
Schema Microdata
@phixed
https://developers.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool/
Testing Your Schema Markup
@phixed
Schema for SMBs
Organization
Person
Postal Address
Business Type
Product
Coupons
Reviews
Breadcrumbs
Photos
Videos
Events
Map
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-use-schema-markup-for-local-seo/60245/
http://moz.com/ugc/getting-the-most-out-of-schemaorg-microformats
http://searchengineland.com/13-semantic-markup-tips-for-2013-a-local-seo-checklist-143708
@phixed
Microformatting: Facebook Open Graph
@phixed
Microformatting: Facebook Open Graph
UGLY
@phixed
Microformatting: Facebook Open Graph
@phixed
Microformatting: Facebook Open Graph
@phixed
Using Twitter Cards allows webmasters to attach photos and
videos to tweets in order to drive traffic and revenue to their sites
More Info
https://dev.twitter.com/cards/overview
http://searchengineland.com/use-twitter-cards-for-branding-local-seo-166388
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/03/20/the-definitive-guide-to-using-twitter-cards/
Microformatting: Twitter Cards
@phixed
Using Twitter Cards allows webmasters to attach photos and
videos to tweets in order to drive traffic and revenue to their sites
More Info
https://dev.twitter.com/cards/overview
http://searchengineland.com/use-twitter-cards-for-branding-local-seo-166388
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/03/20/the-definitive-guide-to-using-twitter-cards/
Microformatting: Twitter Cards
UGLY
@phixed
Microformatting: Twitter Cards
@phixed
Microformatting: Twitter Cards
Bad
@phixed
Microformatting: Twitter Cards
More Info
https://dev.twitter.com/cards/overview
http://searchengineland.com/use-twitter-cards-for-branding-local-seo-166388
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/03/20/the-definitive-guide-to-
using-twitter-cards/
@phixed
Microformatting: Twitter Cards
@phixed
Onsite Content
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/856/103/d14.jpg
@phixed
Media Types
The Good
• Video from YouTube
channel embedded on
homepage
The Bad
• Video is generic
• No markup on video
The Ugly
• No unique photos (all
stock)
More Info• https://support.google.com/webma
sters/answer/2413309?hl=en
• http://www.wix.com/blog/2014/07/o
ptimize-images-for-websites/
@phixed
Page TypesThe Good
• The right pages exist on
the site
The Bad
• Content is generic and not
unique
The Ugly
• “Blog” page is from a
Twitter feed for
@cars4badcredit
More Info• http://www.localvisibilitysystem.co
m/2014/01/09/21-pages-a-small-
local-business-site-needs-for-tip-
top-local-visibility/
@phixed
Reviews
The Good
• Lots of positive reviews
• Schema implemented
properly
• Controlling reputation in
SERPs
The Bad
• Filtered and pulled without
attribution or links from 3rd
party sources
@phixed
Call To Actions The Good
• Four solid call to actions
exist (Coupons, Appt,
Directions, Phone)
• Prominent call to actions
on homepage
• Coupons have near-future
expiration dates
The Ugly
• Call tracking number
indexed by Google
More Info• http://searchengineland.com/10
-simple-things-smb-websites-
need-to-fix-before-seo-88585
@phixed
Thank You!
Adam [email protected]
www.simpartners.com
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/856378-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly