…and get local search engines to list your site exactly where you want them to! — By Carrie Hill

I have a small confession to make. I almost chose to leave the words Local Search out of the title of this report. That’s because, to me, Local Search implies looking for something nearby (also known as Nearcasting). And though Nearcasting is a form of Local Search, we can’t forget about Farcasting either.

Farcasting is search performed with local intent but for a location that is not necessarily local. Travel searches are a great example of this. I’m headed to Tampa with my kids next week, so I searched online for Tampa Bay Family Restaurants to see where the best dinner places were in the area. I performed a geo-targeted search but my query was not local—it was for an area that was nowhere near where I live in Colorado.

It’s very important when optimizing for local search that you understand how customers use Nearcasting and Farcasting and the impact each can have on your business. We’ll discuss those topics, as well as Yahoo Travel, Google Maps and more. I’ll also provide a handy checklist at the end for you to use to evaluate a site’s geo-targeted local search readiness.

Although the ranking algorithm for geo-targeted local search is quite different from that used for the organic search results, we can identify several factors that will help your web site rank better for searchers performing geo-targeted queries.

There are an enormous number of online businesses targeting users looking for something located in a particular area. Hotels, plumbers, attorneys and more can all benefit from using enhanced geo-targeted search optimization tactics to out-pace competitors and capture market share for short and long-tail geo-targeted terms.

The Key to Getting Your Business Recognized for What AND Where it is…exactly!

It’s necessary to tell local search engines what the business is, where it is, and what’s nearby so they can find it, index it, and provide an enhanced user experience to the searchers performing queries for those targeted terms.

You will really need to carefully describe the products, services and operations of your business on your web site. The business is not just…

An attorney in California.

Instead, the true description of the business is…

A personal-injury attorney that specializes in trial law in and around Santa Barbara County in Southern California.

See the difference? We’re now telling the search engines exactly…

• What the web site provides (a personal injury attorney),
• Where their service area is (Santa Barbara county)
• What’s nearby (Southern coastal California).

Describing the site with text, links and addresses in very minute detail allows the search engines and local search platforms to be very sure of your intention and market. This helps them decide which results to show for a query.

When someone searches for personal injury Santa Barbara, Google or Yahoo can be very confident that your web site provides a positive user experience and they’re matching the user with a site that does exactly what they’re looking for. The user doesn’t want a site that does contract law in San Francisco — and the site owner in our example doesn’t want clicks that are from users looking for contract law in San Francisco.

Telling search engines exactly WHERE you are…

Is as simple as putting your street address and local phone number on every page of your web site, in text that’s easy for search engine spiders to read. You can also use descriptive keywords in your page titles, site meta data and in the text on your site.

Think about how you perform queries online when looking for local-related products and services. You’ll often include a city, state, zip code or feature such as beach or mountain. Work these kinds of keywords into your body text so that your pages will rank well for these types of searches.

And, if you have the capability — add the hCard microformat to your site. This is basically a coded business card for your web site. Yahoo Local has stated they definitely use the information in their process, and Google Maps claims they can use it but don’t always.

It’s fairly simple to use, particularly if you use the automated hCard Creator. Very likely most sites will use this format in the near future to deliver a standard set of location information to any engine that can use it.

Getting Your Site Indexed Exactly where you want it to (how to score a listing in Google’s 10-Box)

The search game is ALL about getting your listing in the top ten of google. Well here’s a tip that could potentially get you listed in Google’s top listings overnight – so pay attention.

With Google, users in different locations see the exact same local results for identical queries. Here is what I mean.

This query was performed by a friend of mine who lives in Myrtle beach SC—she sent me an image of the 10-Box Google displays (click image for larger view)

Here’s how the same 10-Box looks when someone in Colorado performs the search…

As you can see, they’re exactly the same. Which is why the Google 10-Box is so important—everyone sees the same thing, so sites listed there get MASSIVE exposure. If you’re targeting local search and Google is showing a 10-box for your keywords, then you absolutely need to be there.

Whether or not Google even displays a 10-box is based on competition and the quality of the information Google has. If a query is made for a very competitive term the 10-Box will show up nearly every time. If a term has only one or two competing sites, we typically don’t see the 10-Box.

Let’s discuss how to get your site added and be sure you’re doing every thing you can to compete for those spaces. First you need to do your research on the sites that are showing up in that 10-box for your keywords. What exactly are they doing that you’re not doing? Likely it’s a combination of items.

Here are the 4 main questions that you need to get answers for:

• What page of their site is optimized for that keyword? Remember every page on the site carries a certain amount of weight in the search engines. Pages that have more incoming links and weight will support a competitive keyword in a way that allows it to rank much higher.
• Do they have a street address and local phone number on almost every page of their site?
• Have they claimed their Google Maps Listing? Look at the listing in Google Maps and see if they’ve added categories, images, videos etc. If they’ve claimed & updated it then they’re ahead of you and you need to catch up.
• Do they have a large number of reviews? Just about every site with a 10-Box listing will have several reviews, indicating this is a big factor in getting listed.

Updating your Google Maps Listing

Make sure you have a free Google account before you start this process. It takes just a few minutes and will be the first step to claiming your listing.

Once a Google account has been created, perform a search for your business name and location to see if it’s listed already. If there is already a listing, choose to edit the listing. If your business isn’t already listed, follow the steps in this Google Maps help file.

There is a natural progression to updating information in Google Maps. Required info must be provided before the next button will work. Fill in the blanks as completely as possible and don’t skip boxes unless the information is not applicable.

I strongly encourage uploading any videos and images as these really make a Google Maps listing stand out. It’s a great way to enhance and deliver information to the user.

Claiming your Yahoo Local Listing

Many consider Yahoo Local’s ranking algorithm to be much simpler than Google’s, but that impression is changing. One thing to consider is that Yahoo Local generally provides more user-friendly options with their local listings.

Make sure your meta data is correct, that your listing has been claimed and updated, and that all pertinent information related to your location is on your web site. Reviews do count in Google, but carry even more weight in Yahoo Local. Thus, one of your best bets to ranking well with Yahoo Local is to get some reviews.

Yahoo Local also allows users to sort by reviews — so if you have the best reviews in your area and industry — you’re going to rank higher in the related queries that are sorted by reviews.

Justin Ziegler is an attorney who’s site is a great example of how to properly optimize for Yahoo Local. The site is large and well optimized, with an updated and fully utilized Yahoo Local listing and a large list of great reviews. If you want a web site to rank well in Yahoo Local, then do what this site has done.

Claiming your Microsoft Live Local Listing

Most people don’t realize that Microsoft Live even has a Local Listing Center where you can login and enhance or update your business’s information. Well they do and it’s worth the time to do a quick update here. While the local ranking factors for Google and Yahoo are straightforward, Microsoft Live Local Listings does not have clear optimization guidelines.

Distance from the central point of a geographic area (usually a post office or town hall) does appear to be an important factor. Adding text such as 2 miles from city-center to your pages may help in some cases, but your actual physical address is key to determining distance from this central location.

Also important to note is that the market share for local searches on Microsoft is still quite small, so start with Yahoo and Google if your time is limited.

Internet Yellow Pages

Many Internet Yellow Pages sites offer enhanced listings for a small fee or for free. Site owners who see a bit of traffic or rankings coming from these resources should consider upgrading their listing. Keep in mind that they will most likely try to sell what they call search marketing services. In general, their sales people are stumped by the simplest SEM questions, so avoid these services, as the return is rarely worth the investment.

Sponsored results take up a large amount of space in most internet yellow page queries. These are folks who have signed on to do some paid advertising and if that is what brings them a significant amount of business, that’s great.

A limited and controlled test is suggested if you or your clients choose to go down this road. It’s possible to blow hundreds and even thousands of dollars on these types of listings with little to show for it.

This doesn’t mean internet yellow page listings should be completely overlooked, however. They are an option for a small business owner who doesn’t have a lot of time to invest in a fully functioning web site. An internet yellow page landing page is better than nothing —but in my opinion it’s less than ideal and it’s probably impossible to infiltrate the top local listings in Universal Search queries with this type of landing page.

I will always recommend a full web site that has links pointing to it and that is optimized for keywords pertinent to the business if rankings are the goal. You don’t need anything fancy — just functional, user friendly and updateable.

Link Building and Local Search…

Just as in regular search results, good links are extremely important to ranking well in local or geo-targeted search. One new thing to consider is the local implications of your inbound and outbound links. Consider what kind of websites someone looking for your web site might be looking for. For an attorney they may need insurance or information on a particular municipal code or tax law in your area. Getting links from and linking to sites that provide this information gives your local presence and information more weight. So, when you are link building look to businesses local to your area.

Your Local Search Checklist

As promised, here’s a list of the most important factors to look at when optimizing for local search. Focusing on these factors will help you rank higher in both the Geo-Targeted searches and in regular search results.

• Do extensive keyword research to be sure you’re targeting terms that get searches every day. Incorporate long tail keywords and optimize your lesser pages for terms that get only 1 or 2 searches a day. Build more pages if you have terms that get quite a few searches but you don’t currently have a page that is relevant.
• Do competitive research. Outranking competitors often means doing what they’re doing, only better. Research your competitors and see what they’re doing on their pages and with incoming links to make sure you’re doing the same. Use the Site Strength Indicator (SSI) tool to see your competitor’s incoming links.
• Optimize your pages for geo-targeted search. Use the keywords mentioned in step one in your page title, meta description, H1 tag and in links pointing to that page. Make sure you use the phrase on the page a few times and mix it up a bit. Use synonyms. For example, Personal Injury Attorney could also be written as Attorney for Personal Injury, Personal Injury Lawyer, Accident Injury Lawyer and so on…
• Login and claim your listings in Yahoo Local and Google Maps. I also suggest spending some time updating your listings at Microsoft Live Local and some of the Internet Yellow Pages sites if you’re seeing traffic or interest from them.
• Put your physical address and local phone number in text format on every page of your site. You can do this in the footer of the page if you like, here’s an effective example where they also give some simple GPS coordinates…

  

• Get local links. Find service or product partners that you support and that support your business. Ask them to link to you and don’t be afraid to link back. Reciprocal linking penalties are reserved for sites that go out and spam people for reciprocal links that are irrelevant to their site offerings.

  Your links will be relevant and supported within the context of your site. The best way to set these links up is in a paragraph of text, not just as a list of links on a page.

• Utilize User Generated Content. Reviews have quite a bit of pull in most geo-targeted and local platforms. Yahoo Local allows sorting by highest review and other platforms do as well. We also saw how the top 10-Box results in Google showed quite a few reviews.
• Accommodate Nearcasting and Farcasting by using regional colloquialisms in your text. Someone who is looking for a plumber on the Outer Banks of North Carolina might search for OBX plumber instead of Outer Banks plumber This is an example of nearcasting with regional colloquialisms.

  Someone looking for a hotel in the Outer Banks area may not have any clue what OBX means when they first start doing their research. The different neighborhoods and boroughs of New York are a prime example. I have no idea where Tribecca is, but the locals can tell you from what street to what street is considered Tribecca. They’ll use these regional terms when searching for help.

The printed phone book on the kitchen counter very soon be be a thing of the past. Every computer, laptop, hand held and cell phone is being used to find information on local businesses. This report will arm you with the tools you need to get your site ranked on top for local search. The opportunities are huge and the time to get established is now.

‘Cause Local Search rules…

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