Local SEO and Search in 2013

State of Search 2013Local SEO in 2013: Recent Updates & New Strategies

Local SEO in 2013 - Overview

Overview• Do You Need a Local Presence?

• Setting Up Your Local Presence

• Local Search Ranking Factors

• Rank Well in Google Local Carousel

• Future Local Ranking Factors

• Spotlights on SOS Speakers' Favorites

Local SEO in 2013 – Local Presence

Do You Need a Local Presence?• Claiming Local listings ties your biz to location, local area.

• Some sites would suffer if they claimed listings.

• With Google personalization, ties biz to one location or area.

Sells tickets nationally. If claim Local Listings, only rank in local Chicago area?

Local SEO in 2013 – State of Search Speaker Spotlight

Rand Fishkin, Seattle• Favorite Seattle biz? D’Ambrosio Gelato Seattle

• Claimed Local Listing, plenty of reviews

• Keyword Stuffing in Local Listing Title?

• Google will occasionally edit your title

Local SEO in 2013 – Your Local Presence

Setting Up Your Local Presence• Setting Up Your Local Presence• Organize your NAP Data:

Name of BusinessAddressCity, State ZIP CodePhone Number

• Add NAP Data to site using Schema.org markup.

• Start claiming.


Brent Csutoras, Collinsville IL• Favorite Collinsville biz? Dean's Liquor

• Brent worked there during high school.

• Business has NOT claimed local listing?

Local SEO in 2013 – Your Local Presence

Local Search Ecosystem is Confusing

Local SEO in 2013 – Claiming Your Local Presence

Claiming Listings• Two Ways to Claim:

- Pay a service

- Do it yourself, but time is money…

• Paying a Service to Claim Your Listings

- I know some SEO firms who would do it

- Yext PowerListings

- Bright Local

- Whitespark


Dennis Yu, Portland, Oregon• Favorite Portland biz? Voodoo Donut

• Locations not claimed?

• Good use of Schema.org markup

on web site, though

Local SEO in 2013 – Claiming Your Local Listings

Check Your Listings, Then Claim• Check Your Current Listings

- GetListed, Whitespark

- Spreadsheets, various sources of lists

- Vizion List http://bit.ly/17YbBqK

• Major Data Providers:

- Localeze, Infogroup, Acxiom

- Superpages, YellowPages, IAC properties/CityGrid

• More on Data Providers: http://bit.ly/1gSiFrn


Mack Fogelson, Flagstaff, AZ• Favorite Flagstaff biz? Buster’s Restaurant

• Mack was a waitress there through college!

• Claimed, but no +1s or posts?

on web site, though

Local SEO in 2013 – Google Local Verification

Google+ Local Verification• Within one week to receive postcard (envelope)

• Physical example of postcard/notification

• New claims set up Google+ Local Page

• Verification Issues?

- Google Offers Phone Support http://bit.ly/1bLKIDp


Bill Leake, Austin, Texas• Favorite Austin biz? Texas Rib Kings

• Claimed, which is good.

• No NAP data anywhere

on the website. Nowhere.

Local SEO in 2013 – Local Search Ranking Factors

Local Search Ranking Factors• Moz 2013 Survey Results http://bit.ly/1jacM5M

• Top 5 Local Ranking Factors

1. Proper category associations

2. Physical address in city of search

3. Consistency of structured citations

4. Quality/authority of structured citations

5. HTML NAP matching place page NAP

Local SEO in 2013 – Local Search Ranking Factors

1. Proper category associations2. Physical address in city of search3. Consistency of structured citations4. Quality/authority of structured citations5. HTML NAP matching place page NAP6. Quantity of structured citations7. Domain authority of website8. Individually owner-verified local plus page9. City, State in Places landing page title10. Proximity of address to centroid

11. Quality/authority of inbound links to domain12. Quantity of native Google Places reviews (w/text)13. Product/service keyword in business title14. Quantity of citations from locally relevant domains15. Proximity of physical location to the point of search16. Quantity of citations from industry-relevant domains17. Local area code on Local Plus page18. City, state in most/all website title tags19. Quantity of third-party traditional reviews20. Page authority of Places landing page URL

Local Search Ranking Factors

Illustrated Guide Top 20 Factors http://bit.ly/19qZMmE


Marty Weintraub, Duluth, MN• Favorite Duluth area biz? Locally Laid Eggs

• Not claimed. Not listed in Maps.

• NAP data not wrapped in Schema.org markup.

Local SEO in 2013 – Google Local Carousel

Google Local Carousel


Click on Carousel, Performs Another Search


Google Local Carousel Industries


Issues Google Carousel Has Caused• Concern over photos displayed (control of photos displayed)

• Loss of keyword searches and non-branded clicks to site

• More brand searches from SERPs to website

• More brand searches = less keyword data for us

• More Google searches, more displays of PPC ads?

• More, More, More for Google, less for us, the site owner.


Google Carousel Photo Issues• You may not be able to change photos

• Greg Gifford on Carousel Photos http://bit.ly/I4F5GP

• Photos are Cropped http://bit.ly/HQZ3Fa


Andrew Shotland, Pleasanton, CA• Favorite Pleasanton biz? Bob's Giant Burgers

• More reviews needed? Photo is appropriate.

• G+ Page ranking. No Website? Domain is available.


Ranking Well in CarouselDigital Marketing Works Study, June 2013 http://bit.ly/17wPkdL

• DMW ran 4,500 desktop searches for hotels in 47 markets

• Gathered name, rating, quantity of reviews, & rank in carousel

• Research yielded approximately 42,000 data points


DMW Carousel Study Results• No 3rd party data factors (Yelp data, etc. included)

• Finding #1: Carousel rank correlates highly with Google review

• Finding #2: 50% of hotels in study are within 2 miles of searched destination.

• 75% are within 13 minutes of travel time.

• Finding #3: Google is improving ability to understand nuance of searches.

• Google alters weight of hotel factors based on keyword searched

Local SEO in 2013 – Future Local Ranking Factors

Future Local Ranking Factors• More Social Factors?

- mentions of brand, location in social

- sentiment of social mentions (positive, negative)

• More Data?

- Knowledge Graph data (Freebase.com, others)

- EXIF data in Images?

Local SEO in 2013 – Future Local Search Engine Ranking Factors

Adding EXIF Data to Images• Use Geosetter (www.geosetter.de) to embed EXIF Data

• Data to Add to Images:Name, Address, Phone Number

URL

Title

Subject, Tags, Category

Latitude and Longitude

• Google on Data in Images: http://bit.ly/1bKOgG3

• My EXIF Data Test http://bit.ly/1cwvUIX


Duane Forrester, Redmond, WA• Favorite Redmond, Washington local biz?

• Anyone Care to Guess?


Duane Forrester, Redmond, WA• Favorite Redmond, Washington area local biz?

• John Howie Steak, Bellevue, WA

• NAP data included on site

• No Schema.org markup

Local SEO in 2013 – Thank You

THANK YOUContact Me

Bill HartzerSenior SEO StrategistGlobe Runner SEOEmail: [email protected]: (214) 236-4378Office: (972) 538-0260 Ext. 7076Direct: (469) 645-1231

Web: http://www.globerunner.comBlog: http://www.billhartzer.comTwitter: @bhartzer

Local SEO and Search in 2013

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