Don't be surprised if you find Web marketers increasing their focus on creating high-quality content, along with optimizing for SEO to boost rankings. That's right, SEO is here to stay. And if you thought local SEO has lost its spark, the following list of posts will dispel that notion in no time.
Mentioned ahead are some of the best local SEO posts of 2015, which also throw light on what this year has in store. We got in touch with a few local SEO experts and asked them questions related to local SEO. We have included the answers of those who responded to our query.
Local SEO Area
1. Local SEO Competition Analysis
2. Local SEO Statistics
3. Local SEO Infographics
4. Local Search Ranking Factors
5. Social Networks for Local SEO
6. Google Local SEO Updates
7. Why Local SEO is Important
8. Local SEO on a Budget
9. Local SEO Site Audit
10. Local SEO Citation Audit
11. Mobile & Local SEO
12. Local SEO Strategy
13. Local SEO Tips & Advice By Expert
14. Local SEO Tools
15. Local SEO Guide
16. Local SEO with Google+
17. Local SEO News & Trends
18. Reviews For Local SEO
19. Advanced Local SEO Presentation
20. Local SEO Content Marketing
21. The Local Link Building
22. Local SEO Questions Answered
23. Local Paid Search
24. Multi-Location Local SEO
1. Local SEO Competition Analysis
Casey Meraz
Founder of Juris Digital & Ethical SEO Consulting
Advanced Local SEO Competition Analysis
Want to make it big in the field of SEO? Then you need to be aware of what your competitors are up to, and then tread cautiously down that road. Competition analysis is extremely important to learn more about your competitors, and beat them at their own game. This post by Casey Meraz will fill you in on how to do exactly that. Connect with @CaseyMeraz on Twitter today!
Name 3 effective SEO tools you will be using in 2016?
– Casey Meraz
Tools make Local SEO can save you a ton of time if you use them right. This year I’ll be using Whitespark and Brightlocal for citation finding and building. I’ll also be using AHrefs a lot to look at link profiles since links have become such a major ranking factor in local search.
2. Local SEO Statistics
Jayson DeMers
Founder & CEO of AudienceBloom
6 Local SEO Stats Every Online Marketer Needs To Know
Few things are more important for a locally-owned business than ranking well in local search. Thanks to the Internet, consumers are able to collect a lot of information about businesses before associating with them. This makes it imperative that you show up in online local search and get discovered. In his post, Jason DeMer tells you all about the critical local SEO statistics that should matter to every online marketer. Send out a tweet to him on @jaysondemers
McKay Allen
Director of Content and Communications at Convirza
Crazy Local Search Statistics You Need to Know
Gone are the days when local businesses depended on the word-of-the-mouth-marketing to see their business flourish. With consumers becoming more technologically empowered, they are increasingly becoming dependent on search engines to take an informed decision. McKay Allen provides some crazy local search statistics in this post that serve as an eye-opener. Know more about him by going through his twitter profile – @mckaysallenm
Jenni Williams
Senior Manager, Content Marketing at ReachLocal
Why Your Online Reputation Matters: 10 Stats
One of the most important aspects of marketing a brand or a business is building an impeccable online reputation. For many potential customers, it is the online reputation of a company, which drives their purchasing decision or opinion in general. This post by Jenni Williams provides ten crucial stats that explain why your online reputation matters. Go through her Twitter profile to connect with her. @jennidw
3. Local SEO Infographics
Kendall Students
Kendall is part of Laureate International Universities
How to Get the Most from Your Local Business Listings
In order to acquire the most number of customers, you need to be where they are. The Internet is one such avenue and a great place to reach them and tell them about your products and services. Most importantly, it is important to feature in every search result and be found by customers. This post by Kendall students tells you why local listings are critical in each industry and how you can leverage them for growing your business. Get in touch with them @KendallCollege
Nathan Roberson
Business, Data and Social Media Editor-at-Large for BYX
What Does Google's Pigeon Update Mean For Local SEO (Infographic)
It's no secret that Google keeps changing the way it processes local SEO listings. Last year, it announced its Pigeon update which has had its own set of bearings on the tactics used by marketers who rely on search engine listings for business growth. What impact will this update have on the searcher's intent in relation to the location of your business? Nathan Roberson tries to explain in this post. You can reach him @The Mrobot
Justin Sturges
Principal Marketing Consultant, Systemadik Marketing and Co-Author The Small Business Owners Guide to Local Lead Generation
A Visual Guide to Local SEO for Small Business Websites
Looking to create an impressive local website for your business that is perfectly optimized according to Google guidelines? Doing so can be difficult and make you reconsider your budget and business plans. This post by Justin Sturges includes an infographic, which can be helpful in this regard. His Twitter hadle is @Systemadik
Stefan Schumacher
Stefan Schumacher is the Digital Communications Manager and Blog Editor at SurePayroll, Inc., which provides payroll services to small businesses.
Local SEO 101: Search Engine Optimization for Local Businesses
Many local businesses may be perplexed by the concept of SEO, but it really isn't as complicated as it seems to be. If anything, it is only helpful in letting potential customers unearth your business with the help of the Internet. Through the infographic in this post, Stefan Schumacher tells you how you can optimize your business website for local SEO and get discovered. His Twitter handle is @DeathStripMall
Do you think local businesses can still get good benefit out of infographics in 2016?
– Justin Sturges
Absolutely yes, in the local SEO space good infographics are a fresh tactic with huge upside potential. If you build localized information and interests into your infographics, then they can potentially go “geo-viral” and produce a ton of local lead generation power through relevant links and brand awareness.
– Stefan Schumacher
I think infographics still play an important role in an SEO strategy for a local business, because if done well, they provide a quality asset or resource for other sites to link to, which should help increase your site's rankings. If that means you're showing up in Google's search results above other local businesses in your industry, you're going to get a lot more people clicking on your page.
4. Local Search Ranking Factors
David Mihm
Director of Local Search Strategy at Moz
Announcing the 2015 Local Search Ranking Factors Results
The wait has finally come to an end and the results of the 2015 Local Search Ranking Factors Survey are out. What' more, we also have a few important takeaways which should help you strategize 2016 in this post by David Mihm. Get in touch with him on @davidmihm
5. Social Networks for Local SEO
Bernadette Coleman
CEO of Advice Interactive Group, an Inc500 Digital Agency
How to Optimize Twitter for Local SEO
If you aren't harnessing the power of social media to market your business online already, you need to wake up and learn how to use it to your advantage as soon as possible. Twitter is one tool you cannot afford to overlook, but you will need to optimize it for local SEO to achieve the desired results and increase your presence. Bernadette Coleman tells you all about this in her post. Feel free to connect with her on @BernieColeman
Boris Demaria
Chief Eternal Optimist at WooRank
Social Media Optimization Tips for Local SEO
This post by Boris Demaria is all about social media optimization for local online business, for which SEO plays a crucial role. It also talks about how you will do well to leverage the power of social media, thereby creating positive word-of-mouth for yourself. For this, you will need to comprehend how to make social networks such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Foursquare work for you. You can engage with Boris @BorisDemaria
Rebekah Radice
Rebekah is a social media strategist, speaker and trainer.
A Social Media Approach Every Small Business Should Be Using
Every modern small business would want to connect with its target market and most entrepreneurs are aware that social media can help them achieve this. But, there's more that social media can help you with if you use it strategically. Rebekah Radice offers a 7-step approach to social media that every small business should take seriously. Reach out to her @RebekahRadice
What types of social content will have a bigger impact on Local SEO?
– Bernadette Coleman
The best type of social content for local is Lists and why & how to-posts. These seem to get the best traction for local search. Also, remember that Google considers links published on social media accounts to be credible backlinks so links to your website content via social media accounts do have a major impact on your rankings.
– Boris Demaria
Social content should focus on valuable information (such as discounts and coupons) which includes keywords specific to the local area as well as content that applies explicitly to the targeted regions. Also including popular local events and sharing unique and visually attractive content that is searchable and shareable will help to boost local SEO. Additionally, active participation in relevant groups of a specific area/community can also be a great way to build trust and engage with a local audience
6. Google Local SEO Updates
Jennifer Slegg
Founder & Editor at The SEM Post
Google Local Shakeup: 3-Pack Only, 7-Pack Removed; Addresses & Phone Numbers Gone
Big changes taking place in Google local business listings are nothing new, but this time around, the change is set to make a huge impact on local businesses. Google has switched from their usual 7-pack local listings to 3-pack (or Snack Pack) local results. Do you want your business to feature among one of those coveted 3 spots? Know more about this shakeup from Jennifer Slegg in this post. Send her a tweet @jenstar
link-assistant
Pro SEO & SMM tools & software for webmasters, SEOs, Social Media Managers & biz owners
GOOGLE LAUNCHES NEW PIGEON UPDATE ó how does it affect your website?
Google has recently announced their new update called the ëPigeon' update, which has been touted as a major algorithm update by Search Engine Land as it has had a huge impact on the way local businesses are ranked by search engines. If you're looking for further information about this development, then you've come to the right page. Follow @linkassistant for more.
Robert Ramirez
SEO Manager at Bruce Clay, Inc.
Google Local Search Results Now Dominated by Ads. Is It the End of Organic Local SEO?
In this post, Robert Ramirez talks about how Google local search results have come a long way and how genuinely organic local listings are the ones to feature on Google's first (and the most important) page. Further, he also touches upon three recent changes in this regard. For more, follow him @ramirez_robert
What kind of changes do you think local SEO will witness in 2016?
– Robert Ramirez
It is going to be important for businesses that have been relying exclusively on Google My Business for their traffic to diversify. Optimizing listings on popular local & niche directories can help to mitigate the squeeze that Google is putting on local search. I think 2 things are going to happen this year: 1) Google is going to start to monetize the local pack, making the 3 packs sponsored ad positions in certain verticals. This is already happening with the home services ads that Google is testing in San Francisco and other areas. 2) Google is going to finally make good on their webmaster guidelines and start to penalize businesses that stuff keywords into their business name. These results still rank exceptionally well, even though they are very clearly against Google's guidelines. I think this is the year that Google enforces this rule and it should shake things up pretty dramatically.
7. Why Local SEO is Important
Jayson DeMers
Founder & CEO of AudienceBloom
Why Local SEO Is About to Become Even More Important
Ever since the announcement of the Pigeon update by Google, local SEO has witnessed a tremendous increase in importance, with businesses focussing on local optimization strategies. In fact, in this post, Jayson DeMers elaborates on his opinion that the rise of local SEO is far from over and its impact will only increase in the coming years. Follow him @jaysondemers for more.
Melissa Thompson
Freelance producer and writer at USA Today
How Important is Local SEO to Your Business?
Love it or hate it, you certainly cannot ignore local SEO. Neither can businesses undermine its importance as it can help them target the people and partners in areas where they are established. Moreover, sound local SEO strategies can also increase website traffic and get you listed among the top spots in search engine results. Melissa Thompson tells you more about this in her post. You can reach her @MelThompson88
Julia Spence-McCoy
CEO of Express Writers
Local SEO More Important Than Ever Now
With the Panda, Penguin, Pigeon and Hummingbird updates by Google, it is only natural that small businesses find it overwhelming to keep up with them. While these updates do make things difficult for SEOs, they are important to improve the Web space experience and enhance the quality of the content available on it. The Pigeon update, in particular, strives to make the Web more supportive of small businesses and local SEO practices. This post by Julia Spence-McCoy has more on this. Her Twitter handle is @JuliaMcCoy
What are the key advantages of having a local SEO from the client’s perspective?
– Julia Spence-McCoy
Focusing on good local SEO can bring powerful results for any local business as long as solid content is the foundation. The amazing thing about local SEO optimization is that you’re usually writing long-form content around long-tail keywords to rank (example: juice bar in Austin, TX or pet grooming in Las Vegas) which, many times, have low competition and are very easy to rank for. As long as each local keyword is optimized inside a well-written, reader-friendly, and useful piece of content, all you have to do is recreate that process times all your locations, and you can instantly start ranking in Google. I’ve seen it happen over and over. A word to the wise: don’t forget your meta and title tags with each page, since that’s essential to getting your local pages indexed correctly with Google.
8. Local SEO on a Budget
Mike Templeman
Founder of Foxtail Marketing
The Local SEO Challenge For Small Businesses
If you're a small business, then undermine the importance of local SEO at your own peril. Compromising on quality local SEO and following below-average practices (even if it is due to budgetary constraints) can have adverse effects on your business. However, there are several things small business owners and marketers can do to build a robust SEO campaign even on a shoestring budget. This post by Mike Templeman tells you how. Follow him on @MikeTempleman1
Jonathan Long
Founder and CEO, Market Domination Media
5 Basic Local SEO Tips for SMBs With No Budget
Smart small business entrepreneurs will agree that having a website is only beneficial if it can be found by potential customers easily. You're going to need local SEO for this, but what if you cannot fit SEO into your limited budget? This post by Jonathan Long offers a few tips to such entrepreneurs, thereby helping them to improve their website's visibility without having to hire SEO professionals. Connect with him on @MDMJonathan
John Tabita
Director of Digital Strategy at Haines Local Search
9 SEO Ideas for Small Businesses on a Budget
Typically, small business owners are reluctant to expend their financial resources on SEO. However, it is important for them to realize that SEO is a lot more than just a webpage-optimization-and-link-building tool and now incorporates the best of social media and content marketing too. In his post, John Tabita lists a few budget-friendly tips on enhancing your visibility on search engines. He can be reached on @johntabita
How can local businesses compete with larger companies with their low-budget marketing plan?
– Mike Templeman
Many companies don’t know where to start when it comes to link building or web design, but every company and entrepreneur should be able to share their expertise with their customers.
The best technique to do this is building out a knowledge base on their website for all of the questions their customers ask. Google and other search engines are moving more towards semantic searches. To this end, you need to specifically target the questions that people ask about your products or services and answer them in great detail. Many larger companies don’t take these simple steps to answering the questions of their customers, but smaller groups can answer the questions, post them on their site in the form of a page or blog post, and then share them on social media.
It is one of the most effective and easiest ways for a smaller company to directly compete against their larger competitors.
9. Local SEO Site Audit
Anastasia Sidko
Content Manager of the SEMrush team
How to Conduct a Website Audit for Local Business
Do you own a local business? Then your website could be extremely helpful in marketing it. But, you need to ensure that it shows up in local search engine listings and has good visibility to be easily found. That means it should be in top shape when a local website audit is conducted. How can this be done? This post by Anastasia Sidko tells you more about it. Talk to her on Twitter @sidko_anastasia
de Boer
Reputatiecoach, lokale SEO-specialist schrijver, blogger en fotograaf.
Website Optimization Basics For Local SEO
Website rankings and local search engine results matter and could mean the difference between a business's success and failure. For this, you need to prove to Google that you have a great website with valuable content. Eduard de Boer touches upon a few other related topics in this presentation/post, which should give you some good answers to all your SEO questions. Find him on Twitter @TweetEduard
Darren Shaw
President and Founder of Whitespark
How to Do a Basic Local SEO Audit in 30 Minutes or Less
Performing an audit reveals the health of your business ñ what it has been up to and what the future holds in store for it. This applies to local SEO audits as well. While audits are typically all-encompassing in nature, sometimes all you want to look at are a few prioritized sections to decipher where a business stands in terms of local search. This post by Darren Shaw can help you do so within 30 minutes. Follow him @EdmontonSEO
Local SEO Audit Checklist: Get free access to this PDF to know everything about what should be on a local SEO audit checklist, and to understand how to identify possible NAP variations. For more such content, connect with @BirdBrainLogic on Twitter.
What key elements should we focus on when optimizing a website on a technical level?
– Anastasia Sidko
Technical audit is the very basic analysis that you should conduct before starting any other activities. Above all you need to ensure the website doesn't have crawling/indexing issues that can affect its visibility, or duplicate content. Then check if the website loads fast enough, and if your XML sitemaps are included in robots.txt file. Lastly, make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
– Eduard de Boer
I’d recommend the following actions:
1) Getting the data correct in Google
2) Getting the physical location right on Google Maps
3) Getting opening hours correctly
4) Listing the business address in the footer of all pages
5) Embedding Schema code (e.g. in JSON-LD) for the LocalBusiness on all pages
6) Embedding the correct Google Maps map on the site (e.g. contact page)
What is a “”Correct Google Maps map””?
The embedded map which you generate when searching for the business PLUS the address, not only the address. Embedding this map shows the business details, reviews etc.
– Darren Shaw
Get your pagespeed – on mobile and desktop – blazing fast. Use JSON schema and markup any and every page that is indexed, especially your testimonials page.
10. Local SEO Citation Audit
Andre Willis
SEO Strategist at Vertical Measures
How to Perform a Citation Audit for Local SEO
With the Pigeon update rolled out in 2014, the user's proximity to the business's location and distance parameters became an important consideration in determining its rankings. Hence, doing a citation audit is important as it helps ascertain the accuracy of the information provided by businesses, as that has a direct impact on local search engine results. Andre Willis delves deeper into this in his post. Get in touch with him @AndreWillis
Tim Hand
Tim Hand is an SEO Specialist with Page One Power
How to Manage Local Citations: A Template – Tutorial Tuesday
Building local citations is crucial to local SEO. Doing so, however, can get extremely tedious. And being unorganized in your SEO tasks can make the process even more challenging. This post by Tim Hand offers a quick tutorial that will enable you to create and systematize citations more efficiently time after time. Follow Tim on Twitter @timwhand
This citation repairs spreadsheet created by Casey Meraz is all you need to figure out all NAP-related information.
What is your favorite trick for deciphering citation opportunities?
– Tim Hand
My favorite starting point for building local citations is studying competitors who are ranking well locally in a similar (or complementary) industry. By using search operators and examining backlinks to chart out where they’ve acquired citations, you can map out what has led to success for competitors — and build on top of that.
11. Mobile & Local SEO
Paul Cho
Managing director of Headway Capital
Mobile best-practice tips for small businesses
Fulfil customer expectations and they'll keep coming back making your business a huge success. For this, your business will need to be where they are, which includes even on their preferred devices (read: the smartphone). Small businesses cannot afford to overlook the criticality of providing their customers a positive mobile experience, in terms of interactions and transactions. Your mobile website should, therefore, be in keeping with the best practices as stated in this post by Paul Cho. Touch base with him on Twitter @paul_j_cho
Jennifer Slegg
Founder & Editor at The SEM Post
Google's Mobile Friendly Ranking Signal Will Not Affect Local Pack Listings
Jennifer Slegg writes about Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes's take on local businesses at their pack listings and the importance of having a mobile-friendly website. To know more, send her a tweet @jenstar
Shane Barker
A digital marketing consultant at Shane Barker
Local SEO is Going Mobile: Start Here
Which local business isn't looking to expand its customer base? Did you know that local SEP can generate better ROI than traditional marketing activities? Maybe your business should give it a shot and reap its benefits. Shane Baker has a few tips to offer in this regard. Do connect with him @shane_barker on Twitter.
Is there any message that you would like to send out to local business owners who aren't doing mobile SEO yet?
– Shane Barker
Getting on mobile is not just important, but essential for all businesses that want to be found by the over 2 billion smartphone users in the world. The conversion rate for a local search is always better as it is a geotargeted search, which means they are in your city looking for YOU. In fact, 80% of all local smartphone searches resulted in a purchase and almost 90% of those purchases were made at a physical store. The takeaway is that it is 2016 and if you are still not doing Mobile SEO, and then you are missing a significant opportunity to pull in potential local customers.
12. Local SEO Strategy
Samuel Edwards
Samuel Edwards of AudienceBloom
9 Steps to Improve Your Local SEO Strategy
The Internet is already flooded with a zillion websites, which is why it is extremely important to differentiate yours from the rest and get the attention of your customers. If you think improving your local SEO strategy will take up all of your money, think again. All it needs is your time and effort. Samuel Edwards has a few suggestions in this post. Reach him @samuel_quincy on Twitter.
Garrett Mehrguth
Owner of Directive Consulting
5-Day Game Plan for Improving Your Local SEO
If you've been trying to figure out exactly what it takes to get better local rankings in search engines, you're not alone. Garrett Mehrguth comes to your rescue with a five-day plan of action that can help local businesses immensely. Read on to find out more. And connect with Garrett @gmehrguth on Twitter.
Joost de Valk
Founder and CEO of Yoast
Local SEO strategy tips from Kristopher Jones
Joost de Valk writes about what Kristopher Jones, Founder of lseo.com, a local search engine optimization solutions provider has to say about formulating a top-notch local SEO strategy. For more on this, get in touch with Joost @jdevalk on Twitter.
Could you name a few well-rounded local SEO strategies that worked in 2015?
– Samuel Edwards
If you were to compare your business with other local businesses in similar niches, you’d be a little overwhelmed. There are a lot of them; but you’d probably also find that most of them haven’t added local landing page content to optimize searches. Creating local content that optimizes keywords, such as your location, your services, or your specific niche, will be one of the best things you can do to improve your website and boost optimization.
– Garrett Mehrguth
My favorite strategies for local SEO in 2015 are based around reputation and search engine placements. Reputation refers to the process of getting more reviews then your competition. The logic on that speaks for it's self. In regards to search engine placements, we saw alot of success with advertising on directory sites or lists that we ranking very well for the most competitive keywords. Sometimes it pays to play. If you have the tracking in place, you can then monitor the ROI and adjust your local ad buy.
– Joost de Valk
A local SEO strategy needs a holistic approach, just like common SEO. So not only should you be awesome and optimize for keywords with a location in them, you also need a Google My Bussiness page and your geographic information must be consistent across the Web. And having backlinks from other local websites, citations and local reviews remains key.
13. Local SEO Tips & Advice By Expert
Matthew Woodward
Award winning blogger
20 Local SEO Experts Reveal Their #1 Ranking Tips & Tools
You no longer need to grapple with questions about local SEO and its various aspects once you read this post by Matthew Woodward. He came up with it after speaking to a number of local SEO experts, who doled out several tips regarding bettering search engine rankings. Read on to know more. Connect with Matthew @MattWoodwardUK
Noor
Growth at synupinc Maker of things
15 Local SEO Experts Share Their Hacks
Like it or not, an increasing number of customers use search engines to get all the information they need about a business, and then decide whether or not they want to associate with it. To make sure that you feature in their search results, you're going to have to ensure a solid online presence. The local SEO hacks in this post by Noor should help you do so. Connect with Noor on Twitter @nooruzzonline
Codrut Turcanu
Founder of CodrutTurcanu
How to Promote Your Local Business Online: 40 Experts Share Their Tips
All local business entrepreneurs want to see their ventures take off successfully, gain new clients and make profits. This can be done by creating a strong online presence for your brand. This helpful post by Codrut Turcanu lists the answers of 40 experts, who were asked one question, ëWhat three pieces of advice would you give to a local business looking to get more clients online?' Connect with him @CodrutTurcanu on Twitter.
What is the main SEO challenge we should brace for in 2016?
– Noor
1. Acquiring Genuine Reviews
We’ve already spoken about the importance of a review for local businesses. Google gives better rankings to businesses that have more reviews at the top of their search results. A curated list of ideas could help you generate more reviews in an ethical way. Having more reviews from genuine profile could let you be on the top of the SERPs.
2.Link Building for Local Businesses
Link building is a term that been abused a lot in the past. That's because people still use the same spammy techniques to acquire more links. So much so that it's even harder for a local business to get a link. Local link building is all about building relationship with your local community members. You can sponsor events, host meet ups, award functions, get featured in local magazines and do a lot more that can connect you with the area that you serve.
14. Local SEO Tools
Sig Ueland
Writer and co-creator of the animated web-series SpaceHospital
10 Local SEO Tools for Small Businesses
Small online businesses operating out of various physical locations need to include optimizing for local search engine results in their marketing strategy. This will ensure that they appear in local search results and eventually get discovered by prospective customers in that location. In this post, Sig Ueland presents a few local SEO tools that small businesses can use do just that. Get in touch with Sig @sueland on Twitter.
ClickMeter
ClickMeter is the Link Management Tool that helps you monitor, compare and optimize all your links in one place to increase clickthrough and conversion rates.
Top 50 tools for local SEO marketing
Whether it is creating visibility through mobile apps, or through local search engine results, having a solid online presence is crucial to increasing traffic and, in turn, expanding your customer base. There are several tools that can help you in getting this done. This post by ClickMeter lists 50 of them. Follow them @clickmeter on Twitter for more.
Anisul Islam
Content Marketer, Blogger and Entrepreneur.
40+ Local SEO Tools- The Complete List
Certain local SEO tools are a must-have when it comes to doing SEO successfully. Through this post, Anisul Islam presents a list of a few such tools both, free and paid, that can help you optimize your search engine optimization efforts. Send out a tweet to him @clockedge
Which local tools have you benefited from the most and why?
– ClickMeter
This is the one we love: https://moz.com/local
It help us find potential customers or partners within a specific geographic area.
15. Local SEO Guide
Brian Niebler
Online Entrepreneur
Local SEO: The Definitive Guide
Looking to be one up on your local competitors? Local SEO could be your answer. This post by Brian Niebler is an actionable step-by-step guide towards getting you through the SEO process and also offers a few tips on formulating strong SEO strategies along the way. Reach out to Brian @Bniebs33 on Twitter.
Casey Meraz
Founder of Juris Digital & Ethical SEO Consulting
How to Have a Successful Local SEO Campaign in 2015
This post by Casey Meraz captures everything that 2015 had is store for making local SEO campaigns successful. It starts with the basics and moves on to a few actionable items that helped local businesses make it big in the year gone by. Find Casey @CaseyMeraz on Twitter.
Tamar Weinberg
Blogs at Techipedia
The ultimate guide to local SEO ranking
Small businesses can only grow if they expand their customer base and make sure that their customers turn into consumers by buying from them. And while most businesses are aware of how to do so, few are actually able to do so successfully. Tamar Weinberg puts together a post that explains certain fundamentals of an SEO campaign for the benefit of small businesses that are serious about succeeding. Tamar is on Twitter @tamar
Which local SEO factors matter the most according to your guide?
– Casey Meraz
In 2016 I believe that links are the factor that are going to move the needle the most with your local rankings. Having the important key citations is still essential, but if you’re looking to move the needle on rankings focus on links and click through rates which you can improve with reviews.
16. Local SEO with Google+
Miriam Ellis
Owner at Solas Web Design
Where Did Google+ Local Go? The Google Places API Change Made Simple
Finding it hard to keep up with the changes that Google keeps making? Did you realize when the Google Places API stopped delivering Google+ Local page URLs and began rendering Maps-based URLs instead? For those who find it difficult to describe such changes and shifts to their clients, Miriam Ellis tells you how you can do so with ease.
Myles Anderson
CEO & Founder at BrightLocal
Google Kills Off Google+ Local but is Still Committed to Local Search
One of the changes in the way Google displays local search results was rolled out in November 2015, which took many by surprise. It also created pandemonium among several small and medium businesses as it came without a warning. Through his post, Myles Anderson attempts to explain the changes and how they can work in favour of local businesses. Touch base with Myles on Twitter @bright_local
Devoreaux Walton
Marketing Specialist at Vertical Nerve
Google+ Says Bye Bye to Local Search
While a lot of hype surrounded the launch of Google+, it didn't really take off the way it was expected to, and the hoopla soon fizzled out. However, features involving photos, communities and collections fared quite well, which is why Google readjusted the focus of the offerings made by Google+, thereby changing the way local businesses were displayed. Devoreaux Walton has more on this in his post. You can connect with him @DevoreauxW on Twitter.
How can businesses stay competitive in Google's Local 3-Pack in 2016?
– Myles Anderson
The 2 most influential factors in local ranking are website authority & inbound links. If you have a good website & strong link profile then it will really boost your ranking in Local results. Another factor is reviews & star rating. While these don’t impact ranking as much they do influence click rate as consumers are much more likely to click the profile with best star rating & good review quantity.
– Devoreaux Walton
1. Proper and correct category choice on Google My Business.
2. NAP+W Consistency
3. A quality data aggregation partner: Small to Medium sized businesses may utilize Moz Local, Enterprise companies with hundreds or thousands of locations may use Moment Feed.
4. Proper optimization of the company website location pages which may include structured markup
17. Local SEO News & Trends
Greg Sterling
VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association.
Yahoo Small Business Turns Over Local Listings Management To Yext
Yahoo recently announced that it has joined Yext and will not actively participate in managing the local business listings. This post by Greg Sterling lists a few benefits to be availed from this partnership that local businesses can look forward to. Send him a tweet @gsterling
Martin Beck
Third Door Media’s Social Media Reporter
New: Facebook Is Rolling Out Verified Badges For Local Business Pages
It's true that social media pages that have verified badges assigned to them inspire higher levels of trust and confidence among users. This post by Martin Beck tells you all that you should know about the grey-check-marked Facebook verified badges for local businesses. Get in touch with him @MartinBeck
Mark Bergen
Work for Re/code
Google Manipulates Search Results, According to Study From Yelp and Legal Star Tim Wu
Not very long ago, legal scholar and former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) adviser, Tim Wu stated in his column that Google had cleared an FTC investigation about search bias. However, he now opines that Google is manipulating search results and intentionally providing its customers with a second-grade product. Mark Bergen has more on this. Reach him on his Twitter handle @mhbergen
Which three blog would you recommend to refer for updates on local SEO news & trends on a daily basis?
– Greg Sterling
He recommends the following blogs to help you stay updated on the Local SEO news & trends:
1. Search Engine Land
2. Moz
3. SEO Roundtable
18. Reviews For Local SEO
Graham Charlton
Editor in Chief at ClickZ Global
The importance of user reviews for local SEO
Whatever business you may be running, the fact is that user reviews matter. In fact, good reviews work as social proof that you're, indeed, the best in the business. They are absolutely vital and can make or break your business. Positive reviews will earn you more customers and negative reviews will only make life difficult for you. So what does it take to get attract positive reviews? Graham Charlton helps you with the answers. He's available on Twitter @gcharlton
Michael Stelzner
Founder and CEO of Social Media Examiner
Online Reviews for Local Businesses: What Marketers Need to Know
Michael Stelzner interviews Martin Shervington, a leading expert on Google+ and Google for Business, who doles out his opinion on making the most of online reviews, responding to negative reviews and utilizing Google's services in the best way possible. Connect with Michael @Mike_Stelzner on Twitter.
Humayun Khan
Product Designer at TinyHeartsApps
How Online Reviews Impact Local SEO and Why They Matter to Your Bottom Line
In this post, Humayun Khan talks about the importance of online reviews and how they affect a business' rankings in local search engines and consumers' buying decisions. Also highlighted herein, is how these reviews affect your local SEO campaign, how you can get positive reviews and manage your online repute. For more, follow Humayun @colorsandcopy on Twitter.
19. Advanced Local SEO Presentation
Greg Gifford
Lead social media team at AutoRevo
Local SEO Presentation From Brighton SEO
In this post, you can take a look at the presentation from Brighton SEO, the largest search marketing conference in the UK. Do go through the tips as they can helpful everywhere in terms of higher rankings in local searches and better online visibility. The post has been put together by Greg Gifford, who can be reached on Twitter @GregGifford
Andrew Shotland
Local SEO Guide is Andrew Shotland’s blog on local search optimization
Advanced Local SEO Presentation ñ Digital Dealer 2015 Conference
In this presentation, Andrew Shotland fills you in on the latest techniques for improving your local and non-local organic Google rankings. It also touches upon Google My Business pages, local citations, backlinks, and so on. Meanwhile, you can follow @localseoguide for more.
LocalVox
LocalVox is a social, local & mobile marketing platform
A Crash Course in Local SEO: Increase Your Ranking on Major Search Engines
If you want to improve your rankings on major search engines, you will need to understand everything there is to know about why you need SEO, local SEO rules, why mobile SEO matters, and other related factors. You will also need to bust the SEO myths you may be harbouring and learn about taking advantage of online reviews. This post by LocalVox has more on this. Follow @LocalVox on Twitter.
How was your interaction with the audience during the local SEO presentation?
– Andrew Shotland
It was great. They asked questions. I answered them. Later we all went for coffee.
– LocalVox
We encourage our participants to send us their questions throughout the webinar and we answer during the Q&A session at the end. Our participants were highly engaged during this session with questions ranging from what is the #1 thing I should do to increase my page rank to why is SEO for a local business different?
20. Local SEO Content Marketing
Jayson DeMers
Founder & CEO of AudienceBloom
6 Places To Publish Content To Boost Local SEO
There's a difference between content and high-quality content. And while you may think the latter would be enough to get you through the SEO process, then you've got something big coming at you. We live in times when locally-relevant content has become the need of the hour, especially if you want your business to have better SEO search results. Jayson DeMers tells you more about this in his post. Feel free to connect with him @jaysondemers on Twitter.
Chris Marentis
Founder and CEO of Surefire Social
How Busy Local Businesses Can Leverage Data & Technology For Content Marketing
You know you're dishing out great content when it is found by the people looking for it, solves their problems and provides them with pertinent customer reviews. Some of the best ways of presenting your content in a manner that achieves all of this are through visuals, infographics and videos. Through his post, Chris Marentis fills you in on more such details. Tweet him @cmarentis
Bobby Holland
Founder of Bipper Media
Content Marketing For Small Business Local SEO Success
Looking for SEO success? Content marketing is the way to go. Feature in the top search results every time and establish your authority in the digital world. It sounds simple, but there's a lot that goes into accomplishing this. Bobby Holland discusses this in his post. Follow him @BipperMedia on Twitter.
How do you come up with ideas that stand out?
– Bobby Holland
One of the best ways I come with ideas is to review leading publications in my space, and see what hot topics they are writing about. Then I search those topics to see what other’s are saying around that topic. Finally, I put together my own views and strategies and start producing my own content on that topic.
21. The Local Link Building
Ryan Stewart
Digital marketing consultant and founder of Ryan Stewart
Local SEO: White Hat(ish) Link Building For Businesses On A Budget
In this post, Ryan Stewart tells you why modern digital marketers and SEO specialists need to move away from link vendors and private network blogs when working with local clients. Not only is doing so risky, it can get your website removed from Google. Get in touch with him @ryanwashere on Twitter.
Ross Marchant
Marketing Manager for BrightLocal
How do Local SEO's build their links?
Links play an important role in determining website rankings and nobody can deny that. Whether it is organic or local search results, attracting and earning links have proven to be critical factors as far as commonly used tactics by local SEOs are concerned. Read on to know more about what Ross Merchant has to say on this. Connect with him Google at https://www.google.com/+RossMarchant1
David Alvarez
Founder of Alvarez web services
The Ultimate Guide To Link Building for Local SEO
While effective link building is the backbone of SEO, it is important to know which links will work for your website and which ones have the capability of harming it. Further, you also need to be well-versed with leverageing the power of automated tools to ensure search engine supremacy and know how Google works in this regard. David Alvarez sheds light on this. Follow him on https://plus.google.com/+Alvarezwebservices
Apart from content marketing and link building, do any other off-page SEO techniques work well for you?
– Ryan Stewart
I am highly active on social media and niche communities (Growth Hackers, Inbound,org, etc) because it helps build my personal brand and connect with more people. While these connections may not be my direct customers/clients, but they are promotors. Ultimately these are the people that share and link to my content, thus helping my websites rank in organic search for key terms (and ultimately land more customers/clients).
– Ross Marchant
We have been very focused on building up our email marketing list. As well as this generating direct traffic & conversions for us it’s also a great content distribution route. We seed content with highly engaged users via email & they share it to their networks faster than if we share on twitter/Facebook ourselves.
– David Alvarez
Traffic generation through guest blogging and sharing infographics as well as shareable content to drive social signals work incredibly well. They reduce the sandbox time and increase rankings relatively quickly.
22. Local SEO Questions Answered
Kristen Quinn
Inbound Marketing Consultant for UpCity
Q&A with Local SEO Legend Andrew Shotland
Implementing SEO initiatives requires the understanding of the challenges involved and the technical know-how of providing results. In this post, Kristen Quinn interviews Andrew Shotland of Local SEO Guide about what is takes to succeed in the SEO world and the latest goings-on therein. Connect with Kristen @plaidanddots on Twitter.
Virginia Nussey
Content and media department manager at Bruce Clay, Inc.
SMX Liveblog: Local Search Q&A with Top Local Experts
Through this post by Virginia Nussey, you will get answers related to all your SEO-related queries. Whether it is about Google's switch from the 7 pack to the 3 pack, bettering website rankings, click-through rates, GMB dashboards, using local apps, or getting reviews for them, this post has it all covered. Send out a tweet to her @VirginiaNussey
Cyrus Shepard
Founder of Fazillion, a digital media company
Local Search Expert Quiz: How Much Do You Know about Local SEO?
Lately, there has been a rise in the demand for local SEO expertise, thanks to the growth of Google's competitive landscape. In this post, Cyrus Shepard talks about the Local Search Expert Quiz, which contains a total of 40 questions and takes just 10 minutes to finish. Do try and follow him @CyrusShepard on Twitter.
Is there any marketing or business book that you read in 2015 which helped you with your local SEO?
– Virginia Nussey
Rob recommends the following blogs written by local SEO experts to help you stay updated on the SEO front for the benefit of your business:
David Mihm - http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/
Mike Blumenthal - http://blumenthals.com/blog/
Andrew Shortland - http://www.localseoguide.com/
Phil Roczek - http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/blog/
Darren Shaw and everyone over at Whitespark - http://www.whitespark.ca/blog
Joy Hawkins - http://imprezziomarketing.com/seo-blog/
23. Local Paid Search
Benjamin Vigneron
Senior Business Analyst in the Digital Marketing team at Adobe
3 Steps To Optimizing Local Paid Search
As an online marketer, you may be trying to localize your message or optimize your budget across the best-performing locations, or both. In this post, Benjamin Vigneron talks about doing so in Google Enhanced Campaigns. Keep in touch with him through his page https://plus.google.com/102288422423679133831/about
Garrett Mehrguth
CEO of Directive Consulting
7 Insightful Tips for Super-Effective Local PPC
Do you know what your local market has been up to? If you've been spending hours over coming up with effective local ad campaigns or wondering why your local PPC efforts haven't paid off in delivering the kind of results you were hoping for, this post by Garrett Mehrguth might hold some answers. He's available @gmehrguth on Twitter.
Julie Bacchini
Founder & President of Neptune Moon
PPC & Local Service Area Businesses ñ A Perfect Fit
Through this post, Julie Bacchini tells you what can be done to help a client meet the local service area profile in terms of PPC. Get in touch with her @NeptuneMoon on Twitter.
How can one maximize the impact of local paid search via paid marketing?
– Benjamin Vigneron
How can one maximize the impact of local paid search via paid marketing? I would say that one of the main challenges is to find the middle ground between ultra-granularity and scalability. And eventually, one should prioritize those top search queries and top locations using localized keywords, ads, and landing pages, while using location bid adjustments for everything else.
24. Multi-Location Local SEO
Yuyu Chen
Bi-lingual digital marketing reporter at Clickz.com
Optimizing Local SEO Strategy for Multi-Location Businesses
Formulating a local SEO strategy for a multi-location brand is no mean task. However, this does not mean that just because you run a business in various locations, you cannot optimize your local SEO plan accordingly. Also, dealing with organizational management in this regard can pose another problem that cannot be ignored. Yuyu Chen has more on this. Follow Yuyu @chenilleyuyu on Twitter.
Brian Harnish
Works with ymarketing as an SEO Specialist
The Complete Guide to Local SEO for Multiple Locations
Are you running a business from multiple locations and looking to be found on each one of them? Optimizing your website for local SEO will do the trick. Just make sure to steer clear of the practices that defy Google's guidelines, or you're surely going to be slapped with a penalty. Brian Harnish has more on this in his post. Touch base with him @BrianHarnish on Twitter.
Eileen Lonergan
Founder of Eileen Lonergan
Local SEO For Multiple Locations
Eileen Lonergan talks about how businesses operating in different locations or within a specific geographic range can optimize their website for each location. She mentions a few steps that will guide you systematically through the process. That coupled with some creative thinking on your part, and you should find yourself in a win-win situation. Get in touch with her @eileenlonergan on Twitter.
What are the main problems encountered when optimizing businesses for multiple locations?
–Eileen Lonergan
The main problem with local seo when you have multiple businesses is making sure each location gets the proper attention from your website. the NAP (name address & phone number) for both locations needs to be featured on the site. Each location should have it's own page, and sometimes it may make sense for them to each have their own website.
The above posts should help you capture what transpired in the SEO world in the year gone by. It will also help you gain insights into what is to come this year, and strategize accordingly. The knowledge imparted in these posts is evergreen, the kind that you can keep coming back to when needed, which is why they make for compelling reads and have featured on my list. I hope you enjoy going through them as much as I did.
The article was originally published on E2M