Move On Up In The Local Ranks With Me!

I recently replied to a comment regarding local SEO and I have gotten some real good questions/replies about it, so I thought I would share a bit more about some of the things that have actually moved the needled for me regarding Local SEO

Things I have Tried That Moved The Needle

1 - Daily updates

You want to update your GMB listing as often as possible, I know it can be hard at first to find things to post daily about but it really does not have to stay that way. You can use post pictures daily ,text related to your services, you can re-use your social media post, Videos, your website blog post, a new product you now have in stock, a new service you're offering.

I was struggling to find something to post about and I ended up creating a post about this new business that opened not too far from us and to my disbelief I had people actually commenting under it. WIN - WIN

2- Short Videos

So far this one have worked better for some services than others, industries I have noticed this work well for (Manufacuring, Beauty, Spa, Clinics, Driving Schools, Roofing, Landscaping) I noticed that GMB videos tend to rank pretty high when I search for a specific service so once in a while do post a short videos about the services or product you offer.

3- Relevant Reviews

Not all reviews are created equal, reviews that mention keywords related to your services carries a lot of weight so make sure you reply to them, interact with it " thumbs up" , and of course reply smarter with LSI words related to your service

4- Local Page

You should have an optimized local page on your site that targets the area you would like to rank for and follow the best SEO practices. No secret about that.

5 - GMB Backlinks

This is one of many ways to build link to a GMB so keep searching!

If you are not already doing that here's a quick way to find out the keywords people are searching for Locally or somewhat in the vicinity of your business. (100% fool proof so far for me but id love more input.)

The link you mention on your GMB profile should have a UTM code to it, once you have that after a few days load Google Search Console and search for that specific url to find the queries it had impressions.

Now you got you the search words and you know it's local...are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yea correct,see #1....Use these words in your GMB posts. Optimize your local page with these words. DO NOT KEYWORD STUFF!

The easy part now, build backlinks to that link you tracked, I like to start fresh if the business is really doing bad, meaning ill create a new page and follow the step i mentioned above.

6- Local Links

Apple business connect recently came out, get on it! Most Citation services are free but tedious, I personally like bright local. You can use bright local to find some important places you should have citations on, I have not seen a need to use all their citations services tho so base your decision around your competition. I am no way in hell affiliated with bright local if you're wondering. If you got something else worth trying let us know or me i'd love to try it.

7- Embeded map

Backlinks build to your local business that are not embeded on the page seems to have very low value for me so keep that in mind, this really make local backlink one of the hardest type of links you can get. Services around that can be costly.

9- GPS Location

Use your Google Map when travelling to that business, this really increase your radius ranking ( tested and proven) but its gonna be hard to get people to use it but for businesses that uses booking or any sort of appointments...You can send SMS or emails with the Google map address of your business and hope they use it travel to you.

10-Reviews are big get a campaign going!

12- List your services or products

Way too many times I see competitors with no products or services listed on their GMB which really makes no sense to me because how else people will know about your services and business.

13- GMB Questions :

Don't wait for customers to submit questions...

create and answer questions related to the services offered ND Chef it up by sprinkling keywords in the answers and questions.

15- Authority Sites / Web 2.0

Basically any other high authority sites should be used in your advantage there are going to be some queries you will not be able to rank for but you will notice that higher authority site ranking just fine with with garbage content.

16- Facebook Biz

Create a Facebook page, tailor it with post related to your local business, and also interlink them vice versa

17- Local Schema

Local Schema, Use the schema on your site and also be sure to fill as many " same as " as possible. Fill the schema with relevant and real info about the business. Do not Circumvent.

I know there are so much more that I might have missed so who's got #18?

Edit: sigh, title, grammar and shit.