Successful Local Rankings

Every day, local search becomes more and more relevant to the search engine results pages and, as a result, it makes it more difficult to achieve the high click-through rate necessary for those conversions that pay your wages.

The more that search engines like Google progress towards a more usable web, the more we see them implement these very useful features into the natural search results. Some people are even reporting new Google Listings features being tested. Whilst these features may be a bug, it’s clear that Google are planning to expand their localised search features, probably sooner rather than later.

The image at the top of this post demonstrates the effectiveness of localised search engine optimisation.

What this means for website owners and SEOs

These advancements mean that business owners and SEOs need to place far more emphasis on localised search. It also means that search terms containing geo-data such as the name of a county or a town are no longer going to present the user with a list of websites containing those keywords; it will list those sites along with some local business results, usually above the organic results.

However, there are a number of tactics that you can use that may not guarantee results, but will certainly help you compete against your competitors.

Getting your hands dirty: a local search to-do list

There are a few things that will help you out, please remember that this is not a definitive list and you should read Davihm Mihm’s excellent post on Local Search Ranking Factors – it may seem massive, but it’s definitely worth every second.

1. Research your targeted keyword(s): get creative and do a lot of research behind your targeted keyword. Don’t just research “Digital Marketing Birmingham”, do searches like “Digital Marketing Birmingham, West Midlands” or “Birmingham Digital Marketing”. You’ll be surprised by the differences in these searches and know what you’re working against.
2. Identify the best keyword(s): Using a keyword research tool, you will be able to find which keywords have higher search volumes. You need to get creative again here because a low search volume doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t a return on investment. If it’s a very specific keyword, then the few searches and clicks it does get could be very valuable.
3. Find your competitors: Search Google Maps & Google Places with your selected keywords and find those who are consistently ranking highly. These are going to be your main competitors and the guys who you need to beat to crack that top spot.
4. Build local links: Research your competitors’ links and build links to your site from local sources. So if you’re targeting Birmingham, it would be good to get links from sites with Birmingham in the URL. For example, http://www.dodgy-directory.co.uk/ would be a poor link, whereas http://www.normal-directory.co.uk/birmingham/ would be okay.
5. Make sure your address is in your header or footer: This is quite self-explanatory. What you need to do is have your address in your header or footer. This way Google will crawl your site and know where that business is.

Conclusion

There are a number of different factors that will help you rank more highly in localised search. It goes without saying that you need to be in a real location. A virtual office will work fine, but an address that doesn’t exist at all is a big no-no.