What can I do to improve my site's local search ranking?
-
I've read a lot about the "Magic 7" ranking factors for local search, and I feel like in a lot of ways, my site (www.imageworkscreative.com) is doing all the right things and still not having terrific results. The only thing I can think of to really improve upon is how often our local keywords are mentioned on our pages - maybe setting up a local blog or something similar would be helpful? Adding footers that include the names of local cities?
Does anyone have any pointers for me? We would really like to rank for things like dc web design, web design va, etc. - and fast.
We have (recent) links from two local Chambers of Commerce and we're working on getting accredited by the BBB. I feel like those listings will help us, but there has to be more we can do.
-
Thanks. Our address is on our site, and we have hundreds of citation. We are a paid YEXT partner as well as Locaeze.
Our area (DC Metro) has literally dozens of towns wihtin miles, so we need a stratgy for us (and our clients that works) We feel we have tried everything. THanks so much for your reponse!
Scott M
/CEO ImageWorks -
Hi Jess,
Website design and SEO companies are not considered to be truly local by Google, and it has been a handful of years now since Google showed them in the local pack of results. It is Google's opinion that these types of businesses conduct most transactions virtually. Google's local index is meant to be used only by businesses that make face-to-face contact with clients at the company's physical location (like a dentist) or at the clients' locales (like a plumber). While it's certainly true that some design firms do have face-to-face transactions with some or all of their clients, Google feels that, in general, this is a predominantly virtual category of businesses.
Because of this, your firm will not be able to take the local search marketing steps that a dentist or plumber would, and will need to rely on organic SEO to compete with other design firms which are also striving to rank for a variety of city terms. Your best shot at this will likely involve creating unique content about your existing clients in these target cities and pairing that with other work, such as the earning of links and social media involvement.
Hope this helps!
-
Nice website. It sounds like you are thinking along the right track, but here are my thoughts based on your question:
1. If you do decide to use more keywords, be sure to use the exact phrase for which you'd like to rank in a very limited number of places, but be careful not to over do it with keyword usage. It's very easy to cross into spam-land on this with G.
2. Web design in a major metroplex like DC or statewide for VA is competitive and consistently raking highly for this if you are not will likely take some time, particularly as web firms tend to be very active online. Having said that your site is established as an analysis of your link profile could also be helpful in planning what is needed as far as anchor text and types of links.
3. The key to local SEO are citations and high quality, relevant content. Citations include the chamber of commerce and BBB, both of which you mentioned, so again you are approaching this correctly. The real key is to be thorough (go through the usual citation list an then I recommend whitespark.ca) and to start with your Google Local and Bing Local accounts as those are the lowest hanging fruit. I have not done a full analysis, so I apologize of you have already done some of these steps and I am covering them twice.
The following is a blog post on how to properly build citations (full disclosure, I am the author).
http://www.digitaldiameter.com/marketing-blog/build-local-citations/
Let me know if more detail on any of this would help,
Michael
-
Jess,
There's a lot that you can do. Please review this post from David Mihm(the local search God): http://moz.com/blog/local-search-ranking-factors-2013
Some suggestions right off the bat.
- Going after local citations is great. So the Chamber of Commerce and BBB are great for building up local citations, but keep in mind that there are hundreds of them. If you haven't used GetListed.org, I would highly recommend it.
- Add your address to your website. I didn't see it anywhere. It should be on your contact page or on your footer.
- Claim your Google+ Local page and get reviews. Google loves to see reviews for small businesses.
I hope that helps.
- Richard.
-
You need to watch tomorrow's Mozinar...
How to be a Local Search Superhero
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
DA is not increasing of my site
Hi, I have a problem or maybe it's usual that I'm creating quality backlinks for my site Best Travel Purse but its DA is not increasing, as usual, it does for other sites, what should I do that my site's DA would increase?
Link Building | | gettravelpurse2 -
How to get 'Links to you site' via the google search console API?
hey! Any idea how I can download backlinks via the sear console API? This page from Google has a few commands but not the back links one - https://developers.google.com/apis-explorer/#p/webmasters/v3/ Has anyone collected backlinks data in the past? Apprrciate your help! Thanks Arjun
Link Building | | BaselineTry0 -
Best Methods and Tools for Monitoring your Website's Backlinks
Recently, I've launched two websites. I want to make sure I'm doing a good job monitoring our link building efforts. I'm see a lot of tools out there to supplement my use of Open Site Explorer. What I want to know is what tools I should be using to monitor my links? My ultimate goal would be to have the data to track the number of links I'm adding a month so that I can use it for reporting. There is another layer. Because the sites are new, OSE is actually not reporting any links found. I can only find reported links through Google Search Console. Any advice? Is this something where I will just have to wait for everything to get indexed?
Link Building | | JasonKhoo0 -
Why should I pay attention to sites that rank well in Bing?
If Google has the most market share, why would I use Bing to find backlinks. This question relates to Raven Tools using backlinks found on Bing for their Domain Research tool? Wouldn't that make their tool inferior to one that uses Google? Thanks, Sam
Link Building | | PGD20110 -
What's Your Most Jaw-Droppingly Spammy Link ( or Promo) Request?
Sheesh. I get them every day. But this one takes the cake. It's from a woman I met once in my life on a long run with my running club. That was two years ago. Now she wants me to endorse her -- even though I know nothing about her professionally. But wait, there's more. She's not much of a runner. As it happens, I know a thing or two about fitness -- having edited a fitness magazine and worked on websites for many top fitness and nutrition pros. The idea of an MSW doing fitness programs for people with medical problems raises all kinds of red flags. She sent this Facebook IM: Hi Daniel - hope all is well! I was wondering if you can share my page with your friends, with the following message (or something similar). Thank you so much in advance! My friend XXXXXX, MSW, has been running XXXX Personal Training for the past 18 years. She specializes in exercise programming for people who have medical problems, everything from heart problems to chronic pain conditions. She works on site in her clients' homes in midtown and downtown XXXXXX. Please contact her if you know anyone who would benefit from her expertise.
Link Building | | DanielFreedman
http://www.facebook.com/pagesXXXX
XXXX Personal Training
We specialize in helping people who are experiencing medical issues incorporate exercise into their treatment plan. We work as a team with all other professionals involved in your care, whether that is your medical doctor, naturopath, physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor, massage therapist, or...
Page: 141 like this [note from SEOmoz staff: we ask that you keep this post TAGFEE and not include specific names, URLs, or phone numbers in your response. Thanks!]2 -
Ranking drop Any help please
hi i got a website www.willowstairlifts.co.uk and I am doing seo for keyword Stairlifts , it was going all good i managed to get it from page 15 to page 4 but yesterday its start going backward it jumps back from position 31 to 61 , i have been very careful in doing on page and also with my link building. I have just a few directories , bookmarks and I am targeting guest post, and i have got few links from them. i cant find anything wrong and worried, as surely it can be a penalty, is it just google dance? as i am aware google is recently doing some updates which they are denying it. hope you guys can help me , many thanks
Link Building | | conversiontactics0 -
Local SEO Help
Getting confused about what is helpful. I have a few questions. Is it beneficial to link to other sites like wikipedia from our main url or our wp hosted blog? Does that help our SERP? We have just built a new sitemap for our site, which is good, we didn't have one before. Should I still do internal linking? 3)If I can get a person with another blog to link to us, would it better to get it in a post or on their main page with a button or text listing? Thanks everyone:) I am just trying to figure out how to spend my time wisely here.
Link Building | | greenhornet770 -
When's Linkscape update going to go live?
I've been keeping an eye on the Linkscape update calendar and am a bit confused! There was meant to be an update yesterday, but Open Site Explorer is still showing "Last index update: 8/14/12". When will the new data reach OSE? Been doing lots of link building and want to know if my efforts have been worth it! Any info greatly appreciated. Thanks! Alex
Link Building | | reddogmusic1