National Brands & Local Search:Use insights to drive actions

Thursday, April 20, 2017

1:00pm EDT

Speakers:

David Mihm, Founder, Tidings

Paul Martin, Senior SEO Specialist, Grainger

Mitul Gandhi, Co-founder and Chief Architect, seoClarity

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Viewing Tips

Today’s Presenters

David Mihm

Founder

Tidings

Mitul Gandhi

Co-founder and

Chief Architect

seoClarity

Paul Martin

Senior SEO

Specialist

Grainger

What does a local search look like?

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Maybe in 2007…

...meanwhile, in 2017...

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

…

(1200 pixels)

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

http://www.traveltripper.com/blog/eye-tracking-in-2017-for-google-hotel-searches-why-the-old-rules-dont-apply/

Local search

query volume in

the United States

from 2014 to

2019, by platform

(in billions)

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

http://searchengineland.com/report-nearly-60-percent-searches-now-mobile-devices-255025

(August 2016)

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

The Old Days

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Explicit intent

Desktop

10 blue links

Organic

______

Today

Implicit intent

Mobile

Knowledge Panels

Ads

Voice

What are the major

ranking factors?

(2017 Local Ranking

Factors Survey) Traditional

SEO

Local DataEngagement

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Ranking Factors

Overview

(2017 Local Ranking

Factors Survey)

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Practically speaking, the

basic elements of a local

search campaign have

become table stakes.

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Practically speaking, the

basic elements of a local

search campaign have

become table stakes.

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Discoverable, authoritative page per location

Handful of reviews per location

Accurate location data on critical sites in the ecosystem

Links from a few trusted local or industry sites

What are the stakes?

H1 / Title: Good keyword usage, including location

NAP in HTML

Embedded Google Map

Hours“Unique”

content

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Reviews

convey

relevance.

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Reviews

convey

authority.

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

What are the critical sites?

Primary Aggregators

Major consumer portals

Key vertical and local sites

…nothing else is worth your

time or money.

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

One SEO area that’s not usually

a problem for brands.

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Typical Local SEO

Scorecard

Brands SMBs

On-site location x

pages

Reviews x

Citations/data quality x

Links x

WHY do links and reviews (and citations) work?

They contribute to Entity Authority.

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Source: SearchEngineLand

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

“Google wants to be

the presentation layer

of the internet.”

--paraphrase of Cindy Krum,

SearchLove San Diego

September 2015

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Bit.ly/searchscape17

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

GA discovery

3-Pack

Maps

iOS Direct (Apple Maps Discovery)

In-State Organic Discovery

GMB discovery

Local vs Organic

What can you

do about it?

tidings.com/adapt

Think of your website and local profiles

as an API. (store locators become

CRITICAL here)

Build engagement across all media—

reviews are #1 right now.

Recognize that Google is devouring up

to 75% of Local clicks to your website.

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

@TIDINGSCOTIDINGS.COM

Thank you!

tidings.com/minutive

What does it mean for multi-location

brands?

About Grainger

• B2B industrial supply company (Safety,

Operations, Maintenance)

• 11th largest ecommerce site (Internet Retailer)

• ≈ 25,000 Employees

• 255 Branches throughout the USPaul MartinSr. SEO Specialist, Grainger

Challenges

Why Local Search for Grainger?

• The branches are a competitive advantage

• Need up-to-date and accurate data in Google maps and other

directories

• Bridge gap between branches and website

• Online revenue generator with branch web pages

Challenges:

• Collecting Google My Business data

• Managing reviews

• Web development resources

Solutions

Solutions to Optimize for Local:

• Aggregate view actions taken within location pages

• Understand holistic picture of how users found locations on maps or search BEFORE

visit to locations page on www.grainger.com

• Complete view of insights for all locations to filter by region, state, etc.

Local SEO

Foundational Factors

Location Landing Pages

GMB Submission

Citation building

Competitive Differentiators

Listing Optimization

Reviews Management

Insights Driven Strategy

Where do SEOs Spend Their time?

Audience Poll

Choose the area where you spend the MOST amount of time

with Local SEO • Landing Pages

• GMB Submission

• Citation Building

• Listing Optimization

• Reviews Management

• Leverage Insights

What Our Survey Showed

Local Landing Pages13%

GMB Submission

10%

Citation Building70%

Listing Optimization

5%

Reviews Management

1%

Leverage Insights1%

The Next Level of Local SEO

“Citations are mostly commoditized at this point, so having NAP

consistency and coverage on its own doesn’t offer competitive

advantages.”

Dev Basu, Powered By Search (Source: Moz, 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors Study)

The Next Level of Local SEO

Foundational Factors

Location Landing Pages

GMB Submission

Citation building

Competitive Differentiators

Listing Optimization

Reviews Management

Insights Driven Strategy

Google’s Recommendations

Can’t find your business?

Improve your info.

- Enter complete data

- Verify your location(s)

- Keep your hours accurate

- Add photos

- Manage and respond to reviews

How Google determines local

ranking

- Relevance

- Distance

- Prominence

“Google review count and score are factored

into local search ranking: more reviews and

positive ratings will probably improve a business's

local ranking. ”

Source: Improve your local ranking on Google

https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en

Why Focus on Reviews?

No Reviews,

No website

High ratings,

lots of

reviews &

website link

How Good is the Customer Experience?

“More and more I can see a push towards user reviews as a

major ranking factor … Links started as a “vote” for a good

website; what’s more powerful than a rating & explanation why a

business received that grade? ”

Eric Rohrback, Gemini Guys(Source: Moz, 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors)

Google My Business is Great, But

Challenging for multi-location

brands

- No roll-up reporting

- No unified review management

- Difficult to access insights

- Poor access control

- And more!

Insights Drive Better Strategy

For multi-location brands

- Which regions have declining ratings?

- What is the key theme of reviews by region?

- How do reviews impact visibility?

- What is the impact of citation building?

- What actions do customers take after viewing listing?

- … And more!

How Well are Your Customers Engaging?

Avg Reviews per location

- Which locations/regions are below the average and

need help?

How Do They Perceive Your Business?

Average Rating

- Which regions have below average ratings over time?

“You can try to game the search results all you want, but if your business is

consistently getting bad reviews, you have other issues to worry about.”

Casey Meraz, Juris Digital

(Source: Moz, 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors)

Which Customers Need Attention?

Reviews by Star Rating

- Compare regions and

locations to identify issue

areas

What is Important for Your Customers?

- Driving Directions

- Ensure hours are 100% accurate

- Website clicks

- Ensure content focused on

engagement

- Phone

- Ensure fast, friendly response time

What is the ROI of Citation Building?

Introducing - LocalClarity

Optimize the Foundations

Location Landing Pages

A custom-built, mobile-friendly, turn-key

store locator & local CMS

GMB Submission

Checked, verified and cleansed data

submission

Citation Building

Effortless distribution to all major

aggregators

Build the Differentiators

Listing Optimization

Ensure consistency and optimization of

every listing

Reviews Management

Build your reputation and stay on top of

all your reviews - effortlessly

Insights

Identify opportunities and challenges

and prove the ROI of your efforts

FREE Beta Access

Simply sign up to the beta access list via this special

landing page

www.localclarity.com/localwebinar

http://digitalmarketingdepot.com

webcasts@digitalmarketingdepot.com

#DMDwc

Thank You! Questions?

www.seoclarity.com