LocalBusiness - schema.org. A particular physical business or branch of an organization. Examples of LocalBusiness include a restaurant, a particular branch of a restaurant chain, a branch of a bank, a medical practice, a club, a bowling alley, etc. SEO for Businesses With Multiple Locations In The Same City. A while ago David Mihm asked if I could provide guidance on how to optimize a business with multiple locations in the same geographic area. Well Dave, here at Local SEO Guide we aim to please, eventually: 1. Assuming all the businesses are branded the same (e.g.
Dazzle Dental) I would create a different page on their website for each location. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. This is probably more than enough for most businesses. I would also look into more guerilla tactics to target customers in the specific neighborhoods such as using Freecycle to market your business. Local Business SEO Questions & Answers. The “local SEO busters” are inspired by our favorite band of paranormal investigators and eliminators, which had to have been the coolest local business in the 80s, amirite?
Who ya gonna call for local SEO help? By now, we hope it’s us. Two weeks ago we made an open call for questions related to Local Search. Since then, we’ve discussed the meat and potatoes of local SEO: offsite factors, social strategies and the fundamentals of local search. Now, to wrap up our Portent Local Series, we give you All The Answers. Portent’s Local Team To answer your questions, we put together our rag tag team of search experts consisting of Doug Antkowiak (me, the lead social media guy), Nick Bernard (offsite SEO guy), George Freitag (local SEO guy) and Josh Patrice, our SEO Team Lead and presenter for our upcoming webinar SEO Tips for Small Businesses.
General Questions We’ll start with the general questions about local search and go into specific parts later in the post. Local Directory Questions 1. 2. Local Search Forum. Google Places Updates Quality Guidelines. Multiple Locations. Last week Bill Slawski wrote about Google’s categorization of web pages for use in local search. The patent he writes about is one in a long line of related works that discuss this sort of web page categorization. That or something very similar to it appears to be occurring that allows Google to include multiple […] Google rolled out a series of new photographic tools on Tuesday that they hoped would make them as cool as Apple but it seems that all folks are talking about is the new “custom” URLs at Google Plus.
Here are a number of factoids, observations & issues in relation to the latter: “Custom” is a […] Google has announced in the forums that some of the reviews lost to their review filter will be returned. Apparently it will also be slightly easier for new reviews to be left as well. Google Local is a veritable train wreck for business listing management. Since the rollout of Google+ Local the complaints about missing reviews have risen dramatically in the forums. Predictions for Local SEO in 2013 - biggest changes, developments and crackpot predictations | BrightLocal. I can’t believe that it’s nearly Christmas ! This year has flown by at a terrifying pace and I hope that December brings a few days of calm so that we can reflect on what has passed, and what the future holds. 2012 has been (another) year of significant change for all of us involved in ‘Local’ and 2013 is set to be just as busy. But what will 2013 bring, and how should we prepare ourselves & our customers to capitalize on the developments which will shape the next 12 months?
We called upon 4 extremely knowledgeable & experienced SEOs and industry watchers to share their wisdom and predictions for ‘Local’ in 2013. We thank them wholeheartedly for taking the time to talk with us and give us the benefit of their insights. Thanks guys! Introduction by Myles Anderson – Founder & CEO BrightLocal.com Qu 1. Mike Blumenthal “Two big trends that I see are: Linda Buquet The ‘blended’ Local SERP display USED to be ADDITIVE. Laura Betterly Mike Ramsey 1. Qu 2. Linda Buquet Qu 3. Mike Ramsey Qu 4. Qu 5. 1. 3. Web Equity Infographic | Mike Blumenthal 716-372-4008. The Local Search Ecosystem in Canada. MIHMORANDUM NO. 1468 | May 21st, 2012 We (the GetListed.org faculty) recently completed our first Local University north of the border, May 1st in Edmonton, thanks to the awesome efforts of Darren Shaw to get a room full of 150 business owners to the event.
As part of the preparation for that event, it was necessary to create a Canadian version of my Local Search Ecosystem graphic that seems to be so popular here in the U.S. Without *much* further ado, here that is. But I particularly want to thank Darren aka Edmonton SEO (his Twitter handle) again for his help in putting this together and also Ontario SEO Jim Rudnick, for this excellent starting point on Canadian citations (Twitter). A few comments about some of the differences between the U.S. and Canada: YellowPages Group As with my U.S. graphic, I’ve done my best to represent the importance of various sources via the size of their logos. Industry Canada And, as with my U.S. graphic: The Super Rad Whitespark Blog. You’re looking for publicity and for links, and reporters are looking for authorities to quote.
Help a Reporter Out - also known as HARO - connects reporters and sources (like you) in a daily email. (More detail here, if you’d like more detail on how it works.) HARO’s an excellent way for a local business to earn links. But most people send in pitches that reporters aren’t interested in, conclude HARO won’t work for them, and never bother with it again.
Meanwhile, someone else gets the exposure and the links. We've had great success securing quality media links for our LocalSpark clients through HARO. My Top 10 Tips (in no particular order): 1. 2. Read the full post & comments.
Google Places. Google Maps Embedding. Google Places SEO. Canadian SEO | Local Canadian SEO | Hamilton SEO|CanuckSEO.com. Canada Business Directory - Best of the Best of Local Citations. December 1st, 2010 by Rodney Hess The choice of local citation sources in Canada is sparse, especially when comparing the sheer amount available for use in America. Here at Search Influence, we figured we’d do our part and help out our neighbors to the north by doing a bit of research into the most valuable directories available to them. Before we get to the list, let’s first explain a little about the method we used to rank them. PageRank PageRank is a complicated algorithm that Google uses to measure the relative importance of a site when determining how it should rank within search results.
If I were a math wiz, I might be able to explain how this algorithm works. MozRank mozRank and PageRank both measure the same thing. Citations A citation is any time a business’s name, address, and phone number are listed on the web. Now, on to the findings! YellowPages.ca This one is the clear winner, and this should come as no surprise. BBB.org/Canada CanPages.ca WebLocal.ca 411.ca GoldBook.ca Yelp.ca. Free Guide to Improving Local Search Rankings in Canada – Free Download On this page we are offering a free guide we created which shows the websites that have shown to help raise local search engine rankings in Canada. This guide is available for free download in a variety of high-tech formats for PC and Mac.
Note: In order to view this guide you will need the latest version of the viewer used to see your file of choice; links to each file type and associated viewer are provided below. What does this free guide to improving local search rankings in Canada include? Links to 20+ sites that accept Canadian business listings and are looked upon favourably by Google Places.Links to 17 sites which have proven to be trusted sources for Canadian business reviews in Google Places listings.Tips on how to find local bloggers who you should network with. Updates to the Guide: I will be updating this local search rankings document every few months. Download the Free Guide to Improving Local Search Rankings in Canada View in Mindjet Player PDF Format (PC Only!) Google Maps Optimization - Google Places SEO. Claiming and filling out your Google Maps Listing is the easy part, but it’s usually not enough when trying to rank within the ultra-competitive Google Maps 7-Box.
The last place you want your local business to be listed in is the “More results near…such, such city” which might as well say “More results near invisible city”. Even if you do manage to get a decent ranking within the 7-Box by only claiming and filling out your listing, don’t hold your breath because soon your local competitors are going to realize that is a prized position to have and will compete aggressively for that slot. They may even hire a local search marketing company like ours to do it for them – then you’d better watch out! You have to understand that Google does here is very smart. With a similar idea to link building, everything Google does is kinda like a big social popularity contest.
Google is always responsible to their users and so they want to serve up the most relevant results to them. Citations Reviews. Canadian SEO | Local Canadian SEO | Hamilton SEO|CanuckSEO.com. After the half-year mark around July 1st or so, our thoughts turned back to Canadian citations…and we were a bit surprised to learn that our own working master Canadian citation list has changed somewhat so we thought we’d update that list right here! First, let us begin with the best of all original lists for Canadian citations, from David Mihm the well-known and respected LOCAL SEO expert, which can still be found here…. This list was the basis for our own listings, i.e. we very much liked that David had taken the time to look into our Canadian marketplace and give all of us Canadian SEO types a list to make our forays into the world of LOCAL search, so this is a solid beginning, eh!
Next, we added to that in our own blog posting here….back in November of last year, and those three additions are still solid citation performers as we’ve learned over the past 8 months for our own client listings. So here’s the latest list, our new Master Canadian citations listings for mid-year 2010! Canadian Guide to Local Citations – Updated. This concept was initially started by our very own Toronto Local SEO expert, Dev Basu. David Mihm recently added to this list and I aim to contribute further and make the list of Canadian Local Citation Sources more complete. I cannot stress how important it is for SMB’s and SME’s to undertand and respond to the increasing local intent of searches online. In addition to being represented in the maps, it is imperative to submit your business to these local search engines which allow you to engage with your community, build social capital and eventually enhance your local optimization efforts online.
So before I go ahead and make my additions to this list, here are a few bullet points explaining WHY you ABSOLUTELY need to submit your business to these local search engines: So here they are, my additions to the Canadian local citation sources. Tagged as: Local Citations, Local Search, Local SEO. The Guide to Canadian Citations for Local Search | Local SEO. Canadian Local SEO Citations – The Ultimate Guide. We’ve all seen some drastic changes in the local search sphere since late October. With Google formally rolling out its “Places Search” initiative and effectively eliminating the local 7-pack results, both businesses and local search optimization providers alike have been experiencing volatility in the new rankings.
While the local search ranking algorithm may have changed with the introduction of “Places Search”, some key elements still remain unaltered such as the importance of building citation links. Most of my fellow local search industry buddies, including myself have published our own lists of Canadian citation sources over the past few years. Earlier today, in one of our email threads, Mike Blumenthal came up with the idea of publishing a summary of all citation resources together. Moments later, I had my WordPress tab open and jumped at the opportunity of creating the ultimate resource for Canadian citations on our blog. Happy citation building. The Canadian Guide to Local SEO Citations. Citation Sources Canadians Can Use Local Search in Canada isn’t nearly as developed as in the US, but we’re getting there at a fast pace.
Due to economies of scale, carrying out a good local seo campaign in Canada isn’t particulary challenging, but isn’t necessarily easy either. There’s a couple of good reasons for this, one being a complete and utter lack of Canadian specific local citation sources. The Local Ranking Algorithm is generally centered around the regular on-page and off-page factors attributed to traditional or organic seo, in addition to an all important factor around local business citations.
David Mihm provides a great explanation about why Citation is the New Link in Local SEO, and also provides a great resource in his BCS of Local Search Engine Optimization for our friends south of the border. As local search becomes increasingly more social, user reviews and local business citations are becoming very important in securing top local ten-pack listings.
20 Local SEO Citation Sources for the United States. Google's Local Search, Part 2: Citations | The Growth Wire. Our first post about Google’s local search tools focused on the basic what, why, and how to help you get started. This second installment focuses in on the critical steps for improving your local search ranking. You may have heard or read that having ‘incoming links’ to your website is critical for appearing high in a Google search result. This is true. A very large component of Google’s overall ranking scheme is based on how popular your page is, as measured by the number (and relative popularity) of sites linking to yours. But what if you don’t have many, or any, links coming to you from outside sources? What if you don’t even have a website? If you’re a local business that caters to customers that live or work nearby, you need to focus on the recent advancements and tools that are built to help customers find local results.
Google uses these citations to determine the popularity (or relevance) of the business for its search results. So what should you do? InfoUSA (Free) – Get Listed. SEO Company Sydney- Affordable Local SEO @ LocalSEOAustralia.com | SEO solutions for Australian local businesses. *HOT* - Google Places: Local Citation Finder : WyseLabs Internet Marketing Forum :: Start Sharing. New! Local Link Building Tool: Citation Tool Finder | Google Live Search.