How do you do Local SEO in a small town?
-
Good afternoon everyone!
I wanted to start a discourse on a subject that I think might benefit a few select readers.
What would be your best plan-of-action to successfully propose and execute a Local-SEO campaign for a small, local business in a rural town? The type of town that has next to zero local directories, the type of business that has hardly any (if any at all) "fresh mentions" on the internet, etc.
I'm interested to see how other SEOs would handle tackling this kind of campaign.
Can't wait to hear what people have to say!
Thanks!
Taylor -
Hi Taylor,
When working on SEO in a small, local area, it's likely that (depending on the size/population), Google won't have enough data to generate a local pack. This proves to be both good and bad for you because 1) you don't need to fight for the space in the local pack, but 2) now you need to dominate the organic search engine results.
In order to dominate these results, you need to focus both on on-site SEO AND off-site SEO.
Your on-site SEO should focus on targeting the local area. What can you do to really localize the content? Build out local blogs about events in the community? Build out even more localized pages based on areas within the town? The options are endless.
Here are some suggestions for successfully tackling off-site SEO:
Link building
- Create linkable content – If you have relevant, authoritative content on your site, it’s more likely that other sites will want to link to it.
- Ask for links and be generous with your links – That’s right, just ask for them. Nicely, of course. When you come across other sites whose readers might benefit from your services or information, ask that site to link to yours. And you can also increase your link karma by linking to other sites whenever you can.
- Comment on blogs – This method can be tricky; some blogs don’t allow links in their comments, and you never want to come across as spammy. But if you have something relevant to say about a blog post on another site, commenting and adding a link to your site isn’t a bad idea.
Social Channels
- Optimizing your “about” info on every site – Make sure your contact info is consistent and correct, and create a description that uses words your potential clients would search for to find you. Customize your social media site URLs—this is also called creating a “vanity URL.” For example: facebook.com/bluecorona.
- Creating high-quality posts – Pay attention to grammar, tone, and content. Make sure what you’re sharing is relevant to your target market. And use high-quality photos when you have them. Remember, every post is a reflection of your business. Always put your best foot forward.
- Measuring your results – How do you know if your social media strategy is working? Track your reach, conversions, and sales! Find out what works, what doesn’t, and never stop fine-tuning your strategy.
Local Listings / Citations
- Citations are another critical part of offsite SEO. A citation is any mention of your business on the web. For example, if you are quoted in a local newspaper story online, and you are identified as the president of your company, that’s a citation. Even if the mention doesn’t include a link to your site, it’s still valuable. There are many ways to increase your citations. This is another ongoing strategy that you’ll have to devote some care and attention to, but it has a high return on investment!
Hope this gets your started in the right direction! Let me know if you have additional questions.
-
I was doing some research tonight...I didn't realize that about a year ago, the BBB changed their policy to have only nofollow links. Still, people do like to see the BBB logo on someone's website.
-
I love win-win situations for clients and the local community, too. Although, I don't set these up for my clients, but I encourage them to do it with more traditional marketers or on their own, depending on the size of the business.
-
I love doing charity & event sponsorships. Often I can get a link for a client in exchange for helping promote their event. Match the events up with the client's actual interest and they get good publicity, referrals and personal satisfaction in addition to an SEO benefit.
-
Taylor,
My recommendations are similar to Miriam's.
I recommend to people that they join their local Chamber of Commerce, as that provides a great backlink and wonderful local networking opportunities. Plus a nifty logo to add to a website that provides trust in a local community. They can also join the BBB, which gives a regional link. Both of those do cost money, though, and the value to the business depends on the services or products they sell. The BBB fees usually come back within a few months in terms of increased business and clientele. The CoC, I think that is a break-even.
The other option is to find local websites that may not look the best but are local authorities. These would be high schools, community colleges, churches, local clubs, etc. Depending on what they sell, they might be able to get their business mentioned and a local backlink if they offer free services, a raffle, that kind of thing. I.e., a donation of goods and services.
There is also sponsorship of local charity races or other related events such as cancer 5Ks, etc. Youth sports, such as baseball, soccer, football, are other opportunities. As much as I hate to say it, if the person is part of a particular racial minority or "specialty" religious group -- say, a Mormon -- work it! I had to tell one client that from the PNW, who is Morman, and she laughed. She knew what I meant, even though it is cynical to use something like that as a marketing device.
Then there are professional organizations, like the ABA, Interior Design, Event Planning, <insert org="" here="">that they should join, depending on their speciality. Sites like Angie's List and Porch bring some local SEO. Local people do search on those to find local contractors.</insert>
In terms of "free" ways to boost local SEO, Miriam's suggestions re: national directories is also one I make to clients. Granted, Moz and the other directory listings are not free.
If the target market is older, the Yellow Pages (paper) is one avenue.
-- Jewel
-
Hi Taylor,
When speaking of local businesses, the term 'directories' typically refers to local business directories (like online Yellow Pages) rather than those old-school, low quality directories from days gone by. As a local business owner, you want to get your business listed on the major local business data platforms. Have you considered Moz Local for this, by any chance? Our product pushes out your correct location data to the majors and has become a popular choice for this type of work, as it saves a great deal of time. However, if you want to list your business manually, you'll want to be sure to get listed on Google My Business, Facebook, Foursquare, Factual, Yelp, Best of the Web, Infogroup, Citysearch, Superpages, YP, Acxiom and a handful of other major sources. These local business data platforms are applicable to all local business types, and so many local business owners these days use tools like Moz Local to get listed, instead of slogging through the work manually.
As for the older concept of low quality directory listings, yes, that's an antiquated SEO strategy from a decade ago and should not be pursued. Hope this helps. And, if you'd like to learn more about Moz Local, here's a handy list of features: https://moz.com/local/features
-
Thanks for the response, Miriam!
Do you have any ways to differentiate the bad nationwide directories from the good ones? I've always been told to stay away from mass directories that aren't geo-specific.
Curious to know your thoughts!
-
Hi Taylor,
Good topic! While it's true that a town of that size is unlikely to have a lot of geo-specific directories, all of the normal structured citations sources are still available (the ones that serve all businesses across the country), so you'll still be building citations.
If the business needs to earn local mentions, how about these options:
-
Sponsorships of local businesses, events and organizations
-
Cross-promotions with related local companies
-
Local blog mentions.
-
If the town has an online newspaper, that would be good, too.
When the town is small, you can only go so far with getting geo-specific references. Once you've explored this to its limit, you may need to focus more effort on industry-specific references, instead. Does this help?
-
-
I should also state that this isn't a "500 Total Population" kind of town in the middle of the woods. I mean a rural pacific northwest town with roughly 50,000 - 200,000 in population. Not big enough to have local directories, per se, but certainly enough for their to be a good amount of companies to create healthy competition.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
Is Local Search Data Included in Google Search Console?
Is local search data Included in Google Search Console? Or is it only in Google My Business? I'm having a hard time distinguishing what exactly is included in Google Search Console's reporting.
Local Listings | | DigitalMarketingSEO1 -
Best Practice When Selling One Location of Company with Multiple Branches - Local Search
I have a client with a small business with 4 different branches. Currently, we have a main landing page for the company, plus distinct landing pages for each branch with maps, territories, distinct phone numbers, etc., for each branch. The company recently sold one of the branches to a competitor as they do not want to service that area anymore. They have asked me what they should do now. Obviously, we are going to remove the location page for that branch, but we also need to transfer the phone number to the other company for use as part of the sale. What tasks should I look into for separating the branch from the rest of the company while still maintaining best practice for the rest of the site/company? Thank you for your help and suggestions.
Local Listings | | Ayres-SEO0 -
Local SEO: Special charakters in brand name?
Hey guys, we run a local gym in Germany located in Nuremberg called: "STUDIO N°1 - natürlich fit". Our domain is: www.studio-no1.de We are currently working on a new website since our current Website isn't really SEO optimized. Until then I would like to start optimizing some off-page attributes. As far as I know one of the main points in Local SEO is that your firm is registered at important directories. In our case we are already registred in most of the important german directories. The problem is that our oficicial company name has a special charakter included. This means that in some cases we have "N°1" and in some others "No1! Our Google Business name for example has "N°1", facbook not (no special charakter allowed). Germanys most important site for listings: Gelbeseiten, doesn't even allow special charakters in brand names.... On which name should I focus to get all the business listings to have identical NAP informations? Does it even matter? Schould I focus on "STUDIO No1 - natürlich fit" or "STUDIO N°1 - natürlich fit"? I hope you could understand my problem. Big Thanks Jonas
Local Listings | | Jo_Da0 -
Moz Local is saying a 800 is not okay...does it really negatively impact citations/rankings?
So I was considering using Moz Local to help improve the visibility of one of my clients who is trying to improve their local SEO (they only have one business location). When I submitted my existing client's listing there was an automated popup that read: Sorry, we're unable to update this listing right now Toll-free number detected Many of the partners to which Moz Local submits your data do not accept toll-free lines as primary phone numbers. Choosing a local phone number may also be better for rankings and increase the number of calls you get from local search customers. Is is true that having a "local phone number" can result in better rankings? Is there any articles/studies/evidence to support this? Also are there any discounts out there for first time Moz Local users?
Local Listings | | RosemaryB0 -
Menu Headings Local Search
Will my pages rank better in local city search if i have menus like "seo tips city" , "city google maps", "city electricians best online directories", . So a Google searcher in x city looking for seo services for his electrician business types in G box "city electricians best online directories" would having this term in the menu help or is it waste of time to have it in menu? thanks
Local Listings | | nickowain0 -
Yext Power Listings and SEO Question...
Hi, I was wondering if anyone that has used Yext's Power Listings has experienced any negative (or positive) organic SEO results. As you know if you've used Yext, it creates a ton of links from directories. I think they're mainly no-follow links, but wanted to check if anyone has had experience (either good, bad, or neutral) regarding impact on organic results. Thanks.
Local Listings | | mrodriguez14400 -
Is there any data about how user interact with the local 7 pack listing, do they scroll past it or use it like a normal SERP ?
Does any one have any data about how users interact with the local 7 pack listings in regards to position to CTR ratios, do everyday users tend to scroll past it to the normal SERPs as they might do with adwords ads (as the local pack is formatted slightly different to normal SERPs) ? bMvtUSe.png
Local Listings | | Sam-P0 -
Different phone numbers in local listings
We are setting up Google My Business for a client who has multiple locations around the country. They use different phone numbers to track enquiries from different sources - Yell, Google+, Direct Web Traffic, PPC etc. Therefore the phone numbers can be different between Google My Business and local listings. How much does/would this affect the Local listing? It may appear that Google is penalising for businesses try to understand their customers and where they come from!
Local Listings | | Astute-Media0