Helping small businesses succeed online.

@searchinfluence

• Louisiana Native

• University of Colorado Graduate – BS in Journalism(2010)

• Lived in Italy twice (Si, io parlo Italiano e mi piace la pizza)

• Moved to NOLA in 2012

• Account Manager at Search Influence

• Manage over 55 client accounts and another Junior Account Associate

Sarah GallagherABOUT ME

@searchinfluence

Local Claiming Vs. Local Presence

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Why is local search important, why is claiming important, and what’s the difference between the packages.

Why is LOCAL search

IMPORTANT?

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Because People Search Locally!

• If people are looking for a business or service they need, they most likely need it in there area

• And Google returns local search results- no matter if you use a geo-modified keyword or not!

UNDERSTANDING THE SEARCH RESULTS

PAIDSearch Results

LOCAL Search Results

ORGANIC

Search Results

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Local Search Factors• Geo-Modified Keyword

• Ex: alternations in New Orleans• IP Address

• Ex: Alterations• Physical Location of the Business

• Trying to rank in New Orleans when you’re actually in a surrounding city

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Here’s some EXAMPLES

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When I include the geo-modified keyword (with “in New Orleans”), local business directories and a map pack is at the top of the search results

Here’s a search for Alterations in New Orleans

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Even when I don’t include a geo-modified keyword, maps results for that area still show up because Google knows I’m physically located in New Orleans!

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Here’s a search for Alterations

So why is it important to have your listing

CLAIMED?

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A. Google thinks the business is bigger

B. Google thinks the businesses management is better

C. Google thinks the business is more relevant

D. All of the aboveE. None of the above

Google perceives claimed businesses as more authoritative and relevant

Google trusts a listing more that has been claimed by someone at that business

Think about it…if you’re going to take the time to go through the verification process, Google knows you’re not a robot, and therefore more trustworthy

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So what needs to be claimed in a listing?

Consistent NAP PhotosCategoryLinks to other sites/social mediaEVERYTHING filled out (including hours of operation)

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Consistent NAP…

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Photos…

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Category…

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This is the $$$ shot right here!

Having the correct, most relevant category associated with your business listings (especially Google+ listing) can make or break your listing’s rankings

Ex: Putting “University” when you’re just a community college, could hurt your rankings

Full list of Google Categories: https://blumenthals.com/Google_LBC_Categories

List of Categories according to Mozbar: http://moz.com/local/categories

Links to other business owned platforms…

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Everything else…Reviews, description, videos, hours of operation

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…SO, WHY DOES A LISTING HAVE TO BE OPTIMIZED?

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Goes back to AUTHORITY…

If you’re willing to provide a lot of information about your business, Google is going to trust that you are the authority in that subject matter.

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DID YOU KNOWYOUTUBE CAN HELP WITH YOUR LOCAL PRESENCE

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In the video manager of a YouTube channel

Under the advance settings, you can add a latitude and longitude of the business!!

This is advanced stuff, guys, and it definitely reinforces the client’s location to Google

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Local Claiming VS. Local Presence

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Local Claiming• These is a one-time fee where everything is taken care of up front!

• We claim Google, Yelp, and Bing as well as a big data push

• Also manually claim listings on Kudzu, Hotfrog, CitySearch, InsiderPages, Local.com, YP.com, SuperPages, and Manta

• No kickoff call is necessary; we just need a detailed client questionnaire filled out with all of the clients contact information

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Local Presence• This campaign is spread over a 12-month period, so a kickoff call is

needed to review the clients information, discuss the video topic, and present the deliverables

• We take care of Google, Yelp, and Bing as well as a big data push

• We also create an optimized YouTube channel with a general, informational video about the business (there’s that YouTube helping with the local presence part)

• We also manually claim and correct 2 listings per month that are listed in their reputation monitoring tool

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Which clients would benefit from each?

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Local Claiming• Clients who own a local business• Clients with a limited budget• Clients who want their listings claimed but don’t

have time to do it themselves • Clients who want everything to be done in a quick

time-frame (completed within 2 months)

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Local Presence• Clients who own a local business• Clients who don’t have the budget for a full

SEO campaign • Clients who want their listings claimed but

don’t have time to do it themselves • Clients who are interested in building their

branding with YouTube

HOW DO WE MEASURE SUCCESS?YellowBot Reporting Tool

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So in the end what is all of this going to do for my client?

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A lot of great things!!!

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• Give them a consistent NAP across the internet, which will help strengthen their branding

• It’s going to help them rank in the maps search results (remember the “alterations in New Orleans” screenshot?)

• Also, if someone searches the business’s brand name, the directories that have been claimed would also show up in search results

SERP Results& Maps Results

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Branding Consistency

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THANK YOU!-Sarah Gallagher

sgallagher@searchinfluence.comhttp://www.searchinfluence.com/author/sgallagher/

twitter.com/SarahGal318