Category Archives: Company

8 Local SEO Tips for a Killer Local Search Strategy

Your customers are everywhere – in different locations, on different devices, and consuming different types of content. As you bolster your SEO strategy with the most up-to-date tactics, you’ll need to address that elephant in the room: local search.

But before we offer up our best local SEO tips, first and foremost…

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the art and science of ranking well in local search results.

Nearly half of the searches on Google are for local products and services, according to GO-Globe. Today, fifty percent of brands leverage location data to target their customers, and 85 to 95 percent of consumer engagement happens through location assets like local listings and local pages, Search Engine Land reports.

What does this mean for your business?

Your local search marketing game had better be good.

8 Essential Local SEO Tips

Research shows that 18% of local smartphone searches resulted in a purchase within a day. So it’s time you start snatching up spots in SERPs for local searches around your products and solutions. Here are some local SEO tips and best practices you can implement today.

Local SEO Tip 1: Get listed on Google My Business.

It all starts with Google My Business. Local searchers are primarily looking for a business’s address and location, and this free tool enables you to put your NAP (name, address and phone number) and other business information (such as hours and directions) on Google Search and Maps.

 

Make sure your profile is complete and keep it up-to-date. Once you get verified through Google (they’ll either call or send you a letter), you can get basic data regarding how people are finding you and where they’re coming from. From there you can use that info to inform your local search strategy going forward.

Local SEO Tip 2: Use Google Posts in your Google My Business account.

In June, Google launched Google Posts in every GMB account. Now, businesses can post updates about deals, local offerings, and upcoming events through their Google My Business account. These posts appear directly in the SERP, providing businesses a unique opportunity to communicate with their customers before they’ve even navigated to your site.

For more information on how to create and utilize Google Posts, check out our guide.

Local SEO Tip 3: Update your NAP and make them consistent across all channels.

It’s not enough to stay on top of your Google My Business listing — you need to make sure your contact and location information is updated and consistent across your website, social media pages, review sites and directory listings.

Local SEO Tip 4: Use schema markup.

Schema markup is a specific code you add to your HTML to improve the way your page is represented in search results. The code helps Google recognize certain elements of your page and tells them what the content on your page means and having it can boost your rankings and improve click-thru rates.

local seo tips
There are a number of DIY guides to implementing schema markup; here’s a good one from Kissmetrics.

Local SEO Tip 5: Optimize your URL, tags & content.

Your URL, title tags, headers, meta descriptions, and content should include your city or region and the target keyword of the page they describe. This tells Google what geographical location the page is relevant to and what content is on the page — and it helps them index your page accordingly.

Local SEO Tip 6: Engage in (smart, natural & relevant) local link building

Having a strong link profile is vital to performing well in search, and entire businesses (some with good link-building practices and some bad) have been built on securing such links.

This tactic is a marathon, not a sprint, and beware anyone who says they can nab you a bunch of fast links. Still, it’s an important part of a solid local SEO strategy, and you can build a decent link profile yourself.

 

Local SEO Tip 7: Get on relevant review sites.

Ninety percent of people in a Zendesk survey said their buying decisions were influenced by online reviews, and Moz estimates that online reviews make up 10 percent of how Google decides to rank your page. This makes your presence on the major review sites critical.

local seo tips

Review sites you should consider being on include:

  • Yelp
  • Yellow Pages
  • White Pages
  • Foursquare
  • Google+ Local
  • TripAdvisor
  • Angie’s List
  • Urbanspoon
  • Yahoo Local

Local SEO Tip 8: Track rankings for local searches.

Use marketing technology to track rankings changes for local searches. You’ll want to track ranking, search volume, device, result type, and whether your preferred URL is the top-ranked result for searches in each geographic location that’s relevant to your business.

local seo tips

Plus, create page segments and keyword categories so you can sift through your data and isolate any ranking or performance drops or spikes so you can spot issues, opportunities, and seasonal changes. Keep an eye on your striking distance opportunities — pages that are ranking just below the fold or high on page two for optimization opportunities that will make the most impact.

Now that you’re equipped to tackle local search marketing, what are you waiting for? Go local

Source: Conductor ” 8 Essential SEO Tips for a Killer Local Search Strategy”

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Social Media For Small Business: How It’s Different From How Big Brands Do It

Social media can make a big difference for small businesses at a low marketing cost. According to Social Media Examiner’s seventh annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 92 percent of marketers working with small businesses (between two and 10 employees) agree or strongly agree that social media is crucial to their marketing efforts.

Within two years, more than 50 percent of small businesses agree social media helps them increase sales; within five years, 70 percent of small businesses see ROI from a social media presence.

Rhett Rowe, President of Capital for Merchants, a small-business lender, says small businesses fail when they try to beat big companies at their own game. Most small companies can’t match the sheer volume of content corporations can create with their seemingly unlimited resources or the glitz of campaigns created by the world’s top marketing agencies. “Small companies don’t have that kind of money, time, or stamina,” he says. “Instead, they should focus on expanding brand awareness, increasing website traffic, and building a community of loyal followers.”

Spreading the News About Your Business

Brand awareness social media posts are like virtual flyers or the online equivalent of newspaper ads. They build name recognition and help your small business start to form a brand identity.

Get the most from social media by tracking metrics within your social media accounts dashboards. Rowe says to use these performance indicators to see whether your posts are boosting your brand:

  • Impressions and reach. An impression is a view of your post or the number of times it showed up in someone’s feed. Reach measures how many people saw your posts; the same post can show up multiple times in someone’s feed.
  • Mentions. Track how often your small business is mentioned on social media.
  • Follower growth. Track the number of followers on your networks and how much followers grow over time. If you notice one particular post or promotion attracts a lot of followers, create more of those posts or offers.
  • Sentiment. Track sentiment by searching for your company name or username followed by words like “love,” “best,” “sucks,” or “fail.”
  • Location. Gathering followers from a particular part of the city, state or country could open your eyes to expansion opportunities.

Increasing Traffic to Your Website

Making people aware of your small business is good. Enticing them to visit your website is even better. Share blog posts, promote your in-store and online sales and share important news about your products. When you share links on social networks, Rowe suggests sharing either specific website pages or dedicated landing pages. Directing visitors to your homepage isn’t as effective as sending them to pages optimized for conversion.

Start tracking which social network posts drew people to click your URL and which, if any, posts led directly to lead generation or purchasing.

  • URL clicks. Within your social network dashboard, track which URLs attracted the most clicks and which posts drew the most attention to those URLs.
  • Conversions. Use Google Analytics to set up Goals to track visitors from different social networks. Goals might include clicking URLs in a social post, filling out a contact form, or subscribing to a blog. To focus your efforts, analyze how factors such as network, content shared, and time of day affect your conversion goals.

Forming a Community

Forming community creates a network of brand evangelists and potential repeat customers. Rowe suggests asking followers to fill out surveys, answer questions, or share photos or videos of themselves using your products. He also suggests hosting a Twitter Q&A, if you have enough followers, so people can ask questions about your company or products.

Loren Taylor, CEO of Soothing Walls added “Encourage customers to reach out to social networks if they have a customer service question. Set up email or text message alerts for your team so they can respond immediately to customer concerns. If a customer question would benefit your community, turn your answer into a blog post, and invite other customers to share their experiences. When social media makes them feel like part of your small-business family, customers will return again and again.”

Additionally, encourage customers to reach out to social networks if they have a customer service question. Set up email or text message alerts for your team so they can respond immediately to customer concerns. If a customer question would benefit your community, turn your answer into a blog post, and invite other customers to share their experiences. When social media makes them feel like part of your small-business family, customers will return again and again.

Don’t Try to Beat the Big Guys

Rowe advises monitoring other small businesses and competitors to see how they’re engaging on social media. Note how they’re meeting their goals, and adapt their approaches to your business. Let the big guys do their own thing.

 

Source: Forbes -” Social Media For Small Business: How It’s Different From How Big Brands Do It”

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Special Offer | Mobile Website

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$100 off Mobile Website Development

Mobilegeddon is here! April 21 was the formal date when Google’s Mobile-Friendly Algorithm kicked in. Since then, Moovweb has tracked “1,000 important e-commerce keywords in a range of industries” to see whether and how it has affected mobile rankings on Google. The company found that 83 percent of the time, the top result was mobile-friendly, and 81 percent of the time, the top three results were. On page one of the Google mobile SERP, 77 percent of results (or 7.7 out of 10) were mobile-friendly.

Mobile-Friendly

While there has been some dispute and apparent variation in the impact of Mobilegeddon on different market segments, it’s beyond question that non-mobile-friendly sites in general are being negatively affected. The obvious next step for website owners whose sites are not mobile-ready is to update them ASAP. But the larger objective is not simply to comply with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Algorithm but to provide an experience that rewards smartphone searchers and advances the broader business interests of the company among mobile users.

Link2CITY has the knowledge, expertise, and experience to successfully build and market your mobile presence. Call us today to make an appointment!

To speak to one of our marketing experts
click here or call 305-259-7776 today!

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Special Offer | Google Click to Call Campaigns

Sign up today to take advantage of our Special Offer
$75 off your first month of a Google Click to Call Campaign!
Expires August 10

clicktocall_200If you want to increase phone calls to your business, we have the solution! Click-to-Call campaigns allow you to focus on getting more people to call you straight from your Google ads. With these campaigns, you’ll be able to use CPC bidding based on the value of a call to your business. You’ll also be able to add your existing phone information to your new ads.

There really is a world of opportunity right in your own community that is just waiting for you to tap into it. The searches are happening every day, you have an opportunity for them to find you.
When it comes to marketing, everything you do needs to get real, measurable results. If you think about other forms of advertising that you might choose none of them can provide the instant feedback that pay per response provides.

iphoneclicktocalscreenlHOW IT WORKS: We will be creating your Ad On all high-end mobile devices (such as iPhones and Android and Tablet devices with full Internet browsers) & Desktops/Laptops. When buyers & sellers do a search on Google for your business in your area, we make sure they can find you directly ahead of your competition in the premium ad section of Google. We shape our strategies and goals around what will work for your business.
Now you can make it even easier for people to get in touch with you by putting your name and adding a click to call icon when your ads also appear on their device. If you want to encourage searchers to call your business, make it easy for them to do so by utilizing the Call feature.

Additional Information:

  • We will build your ad and feature all of your information in the sponsored ad results of Google
  • Save time by having a certified marketing account manager manage your Ad Campaign
  • Feature a “Call” icon on mobile devices so potential clients can call you directly
  • Feature a link to your website on Desktops & Tablets
  • Top Active Keywords, Search & Phrases Relevant to your industry
  • Feature your name on all devices supported by Google (Mobile, Tablets and Desktop)
  • $500 Minimum Monthly Rate USD
  • $99.99 One-time activation fee
  • Calls Can come in during the days and hours you choose
  • 3 Month Commitment

To speak to one of our marketing experts
click here or call 305-259-7776 today!

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