local search optimization for national organizations
DESCRIPTION
If you want to successfully manage Local Search Listings for national brands you need to have a good handle on the data. You should be able to report on it and compare it to benchmarks often. Local search algorithms are constantly evolving to better match the way consumers are using the web, today the desktop, tablet and mobile are important, tomorrow it will be smart watches and smart glasses. One thing for sure is, it will be to your advantage if you have a good grasp of the data. This becomes even more important if you are managing over 1,000 locations across many markets, both national and global. Every organization and industry is different, and each will need a custom approach that fits its workflow and internal marketing structure, and thatʼs ok. To be successful at Local Search Optimization you need a somewhat customized approach for each market you want to rank in. Remember, not all markets are created equal and local brands you are competing with frequently rank high in results and in some cases for keywords you would never think of optimizing for. I can not stress how important it is that you do a thorough audit of the local market that you want to compete in. This will help you plan your strategy when trying to rank locally.TRANSCRIPT
Local Search Optimization for National Organizations
Ranking locally for a National brand is more complex than you
think . . .
iQuanti’s local search algorithm tracks over 137 factors (and
counting)
We are able to do this by managing large data sets
specific to . . .
the markets that are important to you and . . .
the factors that are specific to your industry.
The search algorithm is constantly changing and having a platform to easily measure your local search efforts is
paramount.
Here is a brief look at some of the factors we track on our
platform, by way of comparison.
Guess who ranks higher in local search results for the keywords
“fast food tampa”?
or
Here are some clues . . .
0
17.5
35.0
52.5
70.0
Untitled 1 Untitled 2
Chart 1
Local Citations
66 56Mention of a business name in close proximity to its address, phone number, or both.
Used by search engines to weigh both the accuracy and popularity of businesses in their indexes.
But, not all citations are equal. Some carry more weight than
others . . .
Yellow Pages Yelp Superpages Citysearch Merchant Circle
83.3885.2288.1790.9992.25
Yellow Pages Hoovers Superpages Switchboard Citysearch
85.2287.9088.1789.1592.25
SEOmoz domain authority is a score of the power of a domain name and is one of many search
engine ranking factors.
Top 5 Local Citations by Domain Authority
the number of occurrences for each citation also matter . . .
Top 5 Local Citations by Occurrences
Yellow Pages Yelp Superpages Citysearch Merchant Circle
322
4
11
Yellow Pages Hoovers Superpages Switchboard Citysearch
8
121211
12
The number of occurrences represents how many times this particular site appeared in
the SERP’s in search.
Distance also matters . . .
How close is the location to the centroid . . .
Centroid of Tampa
Close
Far
4.5 miles
1 mile
The centroid of a neighborhood, zip code or metropolitan area is determined
by a local search engine.
Location Distance to Centroid
And to a lesser extent, the distance of your servers to the
centroid.
Centroid of Tampa
Far
Further
283 miles
1,182 miles
Server location use to play a partial role in local search results, however, it’s weighting has recently been downgraded in the past
few years.
Server Distance to Centroid
Popularity counts . . .
Chrome Firefox Internet Explorer Safari Opera
0
375,000
750,000
1,125,000
1,500,000
Untitled 1 Untitled 2 Untitled 3 Untitled 4 Untitled 5
Chart 6
Total Total visitor traffic for both brands was 2.7 million in
March 2013
Website Traffic
What your customers say about you here matters . . .
0
2.5
5.0
7.5
10.0
Untitled
1U
ntitled 2
Chart 4
82 Unknown
2 Poor 2 OK 2 GreatTotal
1 2 Total
Unknow
n
Great 1
Google Plus Reviews
What your customers say about you here also matters . . .
Zagat Reviews
Category 1 2 3 4 5
Most Popular
Top Rated Food
Top Rated Décor/Facilities
Top Rated Service
Top Overall
Best Burger
Best Grilled Chicken
Best Fish
Best French Fries
Best Coffee
Best Breakfast Sandwiches
Best Salads
Best Value Menu
Best Overall Value
Most Child Friendly
How many inbound links you have and what domain type they
are is important . . .
0
3750
7500
11250
15000
Com Org Net Edu Other Total Com Org Net Edu Other Total
4204414539733457
10219101149538
8712
8,712
826576 105
1,598 11,817
3,457516 172 59
501 4,705
Diversity and Number of Inbound Links
Inbound Links are probably one of the most important
parts of Local Search success. More weight is
given to authoritative links.
Now that we have reviewed a few factors that affect local
search rankings . . .
Can you guess who ranked higher for “fast food tampa”?
The winner is . . .
1.6.
This example was meant to be a quick overview of some of the factors we monitor for local
search. . .
There are many more . . .
•Velocity of Reviews
•Site Load Times
•Target Keywords
•Competition Audit
•Website Content
•Claim Listings
•Clean Citations
•Accurate Data
•Quality of LIstings
•Social Profiles
•Places Landing Page
•KML File
•CTR on Search
•Local Area Code
•Proper Category
•Age of Domain
•Inclusion of Offer
•Anchor Text KW
•Facebook Likes
•Quality of LIstings
•Videos
•Geographic Keyword
And now the plug :)
iQuanti specializes in local search for leading global brands.
Please contact us at [email protected] for a free local search consultation and
market audit.
And don’t forget to connect . . .
