ALWAYS THINK LOCAL FIRST

Google loves you for loving local, yes that isreally true. To start with let us clear the misconceptions
related to local SEO or local search.
Some say that it is only for the mom & pop shop which iswrong; as any business can be benefitted
from the local search be it Small or Big.
After updates from Google especially the one that came in 2014 (Pigeon Update), which states that
the more relevant local search rankings and results for the local searches the better it is.
As per MOZ Google alone has more than 100 billion searches around the world per month and out of
these, a significant 4 billion desktop searches in US have local intent, 50% of mobile searches have
local purpose and approx 15-20% of all searches are mobile.
Thus we can conclude that approx 7 billion local searches happen per month on Google only for the
US region, isnt that huge.
I am sure by now you have clearly understood the importance of Local searches and Local Search
Engine Marketing, and the potential of local market is enormous.
The Question arises on how to get the Local SEO set for your business that works for you. Refer the
below points which certainly helps you grow in local search result and rankings.
A Detailed Audit of existing website on several parameters like
1. Google My Business page audit
i.
Locate the proper Google My Business Page Objective is to find and save the
Google My Business URL.
ii.
Find & Destroy Duplicate Local Pages Objective is to kill the duplicate listings
iii.
Check for a Local SEO Penalty Ensure that your local listing is not penalized and if
you are not sure, consult an expert.
iv.
Is the Login for My Business on their domain? Use email id of your company
domain.
v.
Is the page claimed and verified? Your page must be claimed and verified.
vi.
Is the correct business name used? Name, Address and Phone numbers has to be
correct and same across the web.
vii.
Is the correct address used? Use a single and most accurate address across the
web.
viii.
Is the Correct Phone Number Used? Same applies for the phone number and you
must verify it as well, use local numbers and never use Toll Free numbers.
ix.
Proper Category Association You must choose the category which correlates with
your business.
x.
Email Address Filled Out
xi.
Proper URL
xii.
Introduction Description It has to be about 250 words non spam description, must
be unique content and not copied, it will help you.

xiii.
xiv.
xv.
xvi.
xvii.

Profile Completeness
Map & Search Photos Share best images which helps
Business Hours Ensure you fill in the most accurate business hours
Post on Google + - You must post consistently across your G+ page at least once in a
week.
Trusted Photographer- You can also use Add Virtual Tour link this helps build
trust.

2. Website & landing page audit

i.
Correct Crawlable NAP on Landing Page
ii.
Site Structure
iii.
Business Hours
iv.
Landing Page Content Must be unique and engaging content of at least 400 words.
v.
Landing Page & Home Page Indexed? Ensure that your landing page is indexed,
and its very crucial.
vi.
Landing Page Meta Title, Description and Page H1 Tags It should include city, state
names in the Title, Description and H1.
vii.
Driving Directions Present? A Map to show the way is a big Yes.
viii.
Customer Reviews in Schema? At least one customer testimonial in the schema
helps and builds Trust.
ix.
ALT Text on Landing Page
x.
Landing Page URL
xi.
Page Authority of Landing Page
xii.
NAP in hCard / Schema
xiii.
Load time of landing page Try to get within 3.5 Sec
xiv.
KML File on Domain
xv.
Domain Authority of Website
xvi.
Footer Address
xvii.
Is the content Keyword Stuffed?
xviii.
Landing Page Easily Readable by Search Engines
xix.
Is your site design mobile friendly?
xx.
Is your site content mobile friendly?
xxi.
WHOIS Information Review
xxii.
Google Analytics
xxiii.
Google & Bing Webmaster Tools
3. Citation analysis
i.
Do the data aggregators have the correct listings?
ii.
Are the Top 50 Citations correct?
iii.
Identify new top citation sources
4. Organic link & penalty analysis
i.
Ensure there is no Manual Web spam action
ii.
Check for Algorithmic Penalties
iii.
Find the number of links your landing page & site have

iv.
v.
vi.

Review the anchor text of the links you do have

Review the link velocity
Review the Disavow File

5. Review analysis
i.
Review Google My Business Reviews
ii.
Identify top 3rd party review sites
6. Social analysis
i.
Facebook NAP Audit
ii.
Swarm NAP Audit
iii.
Google Plus Audit
7. Competition analysis
i.
Company Name
ii.
Address
iii.
Phone Number
iv.
Website
v.
Google My Business Landing Page URL
vi.
Google My Business Page URL
vii.
Page Authority of Landing Page
viii.
Domain Authority of Root Domain
ix.
Number of Links from Root Domain
x.
Number of Citations
8. Continuous review and Improvement
The above mentioned pointers helps you to Audit and implement the changes for your local search
engine optimization parameters.
Hope these pointers are crisp and gives you a quick understanding to your Local SEO efforts which
helps you gain the most relevant and useful traffic.

Source: http://articles.org/understand-the-importance-of-local-seo/

Understand the importance of local SEO