The Local SEO Checklist

THE COMPLETE HOW-TO GUIDE FOR CREDIT UNION LOCAL SEO

Step #1GOOGLE M Y B U S I N E S S

When a new member comes to town, chances

are they will search for a service your credit union

offers. Oftentimes, that search will happen on a

mobile device. Google drives 96% of the mobile

search traffic. With 75% of local intent searches

coming from a mobile device, your Google My

Business (GMB) page needs to be a top priority.

Whether you have 1 branch or 100+, it's important

that you claim, clean, and optimize every GMB

Listing.

Step #1GOOGLE M Y B U S I N E S S

CREATE OR CLAIM YOUR GMB LISTING

1. Go to google.com/business and click Start now at

the top right corner of the page.

2. Sign in to your Google Account, or create one if

you don’t already use Google services.

3. Enter the name of your credit union and click Next.

4. Enter the address of your credit union and clickNext.5. You may also be asked to position a marker on

the location of your credit union on a map.

a. If you manage a service-area, follow these

additional steps:a1. Check the box for I deliver goods and

services to my customers. Optionally, check

the box for hide my address (it's not a store).

b. Click Next.c. Select a delivery area option

and click Next.

6. Search for and select a business category and click

Next.

7. Enter a phone number or website URL for your

credit union.

8. To complete sign-up, verify your connection to this

branch location by clicking Continue.

9. Select a verification option.a. To verify at another time, select Try a

different method and click Later. If you’re not

authorized to manage the business listing, find

the person in your organization who’s

authorized and continue the process.

Note: If you see a page that says “This listing has

already been claimed,” click Request ownership and

follow the directions to claim your business. This can

happen often when people leave the credit union

and you are unaware of the credentials.

CREATE OR CLAIM GMB LISTING

Step #1GOOGLE M Y B U S I N E S S

REVIEW YOUR LISTING Review your listing to make sure everything is

accurate and up-to-date. Check the following:Credit Union (Business) Name

Address (Include Zip Code + 4)

Phone Number

Website

Business Hours

Category

Photos

Attributes

Products & Services

VERIFY YOUR LISTING In order to verify your listing, you need to request a

postcard from Google. You can do so by identifying

the red banner at the top of your GMB dashboard

and selecting "Verify Now". Follow on-screen

prompts to complete the request for your postcard.

The postcard will take a few weeks to arrive at your

business. When it arrives, sign into your GMB

dashboard, select "Verify Now" and enter the

verification code.

After a few weeks, your information will be live

across all of Google.

REVIEW LISTING I N FOR MA TION

VERIFY THEL I S T I N G

Step #2L I S T I N G SAfter you set up your Google My Business Listing,

it's important to claim and clean your listings across

every online directory.

CLAIM TIER 1 LISTINGS Claim and clean listings on these Tier 1 sites first:

Google Apple Facebook

Yelp Bing Foursquare

REMOVE DUPLICATE LISTINGS

It's essential to find and remove any duplicate listings

to avoid confusion for members and search engines

alike. Start with Facebook as most duplicates are

found there.

CLAIM TIER 1 L ISTINGS

R E M O V E DUPLICATEL I S T I N G S

CLAIM SMALLER L ISTINGS VIA AGGREGATORS & L O C A L S I T E S

Step #2L I S T I N G S

CLAIM TIER 2 LISTINGS Claim and clean listings on these Tier 2 sites next:

Super Pages

Yellow Pages

CLAIM TIER 2 L I S T I N G S

Merchant Circle

Zillow Yahoo

Citysearch

Glassdoor Better Business Bureau

Indeed

Step #3R E V I E W S

AUDIT YOUR REVIEWS Reviews have a major influence on your local SEO

and reputation. By running an audit on your reviews

across every review site, you'll be able to better

understand:

What areas you can improve in.

Which locations are excelling and which

need improvement.

How to improve your customer experience.

How often you're responding to reviews.

What to look for in an audit:

Review Quantity

Review Frequency

Amount of Responses to Reviews

Average Star Rating

Competitor Reviews + Responding

RESPOND TO YOUR REVIEWS

After you audit your current review status, spend some

time responding to all your reviews. Responding to

reviews not only increases listing rank but it also shows

your members that you care.

AUDIT YOUR REVIEWS

RESPOND TO YOUR REVIEWS

Step #4SOCIAL M E D I A

AUDIT YOUR SOCIAL PRESENCE Social media is an easy way to build up your SEO

presence. Because social media sites already have

great authority with Google and other search engines,

it's easy to rank on the first page through your social

media accounts. It's important to keep your social

media pages active and engaging.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A FACEBOOK AUDIT

Business page accuracy

Reviews (see step #3)

Post engagement (comments, likes, shares)

Geotagged photos

Mentions (@businessname)

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A TWITTER AUDIT

Engagement (likes, retweets, replies)

Mentions

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN AN INSTAGRAM AUDIT

Engagement (likes, comments)

Mentions or tags

Geotagged Photos

Follow a similar process for all other social

media accounts for each location.

FACEBOOK AUDIT

INSTAGRAM AUDIT

TWITTER AUDIT

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA AUDITS

Step #5LOCAL RANKINGS &COMPETITOR A N A L Y S I S

WHERE DO YOU RANK? In local search, you’re competing for views, clicks,

calls, and requests for directions. 75% of users never

scroll past the first page and 20% of clicks go to the

number one result. If you're looking to improve your

local rankings, you have to first benchmark where

you currently rank.

To benchmark your rankings, identify 5 - 10

unbranded keywords that your typical customers

would use to find your business. Use those keywords

to conduct a test search in different local markets.

Don't forget to include some "near me" keywords in

your tests. Keep track of where you're ranking for each

keyword at each location.

WHERE DO YOUR COMPETITORS RANK? While you benchmark your own rankings, see where

you compare to your top competitors in each market.

Who's outranking you and why? Do they have posts,

is their listing more complete, do they respond to

reviews? By finding out why they're outranking you,

it's easier to identify where you can make

improvements.

BENCHMARK YOUR R A N K I N GS

BENCHMARK COMPETITOR RANKINGS

The Complete Checklist

Step #1 Step #3CREATE OR CLAIM GMB LISTING

REVIEW LISTING I N FOR MA TION

VERIFY THE LISTING

Step #2CLAIM TIER 1 L ISTINGS

FIND AND REMOVE DUP LICA TES

CLAIM SMALLER L ISTINGS VIA AGGREGATORS AND LOCAL SITES

CLAIM TIER 2 L ISTINGS

AUDIT YOUR REVIEWS

RESPOND TO YOUR R EVIEW S

Step #4FACEBOOK AUDIT

TWITTER AUDIT

INSTAGRAM A U D I T

OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA AUDITS

Step #5BENCHMARK YOUR R A N K I N GS

BENCHMARK COMPETITOR RANKINGS