step-by-step guide to search engine optimization · 2017. 10. 24. · if you want to show up in...

MAIN STREET ROI GUIDE TO SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Main Street ROI www.MainStreetROI.com 646-470-3753

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Main Street ROI www.mainstreetroi.com 646-470-3753

Step-by-Step Guide

To Search Engine

Optimization



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Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4

Who This eBook Is For ..................................................................................................... 4

Why Invest in SEO? .................................................................................................................. 5

Reason #1: It’s an Easy Sale ................................................................................................ 5

Reason #2: Get In Front Of More Customers Than Ever ................................................ 6

Reason #3: It’s Free ........................................................................................................... 6

The 4 Biggest Misconceptions About SEO ............................................................................. 8

Misconception #1: SEO Is 100% Free ................................................................................ 8

Misconception #2: SEO Is a One-Time Event ................................................................. 9

Misconception #3: The Rules Of SEO Are Always Changing ........................................ 10

Misconception #4: SEO Guarantees New Customers ..................................................... 11

SEO Ingredient #1: Research .................................................................................................. 12

2 Critical Keyword Factors .............................................................................................. 14

SEO Ingredient #2: Relevance ................................................................................................ 16

How to Optimize Your Google+ Local Page ................................................................... 16

How to Optimize Your Website ...................................................................................... 18

SEO Ingredient #3: Reputation .............................................................................................. 21

Verify Your Ownership .................................................................................................... 21

Build Citations ................................................................................................................. 21

Get Online Customer Reviews ........................................................................................ 23

Build Your Social Media Presence ................................................................................... 25

Link-Building Tactic #1: Blogging ................................................................................... 27

Link-Building Tactic #2: Guest Posting ......................................................................... 29

Link-Building Tactic #3: Press Releases .......................................................................... 30

Link-Building Tactic #4: Submit to Directories ............................................................. 30

Revenue: How to Get Customers from Google ..................................................................... 31

Tip #3: Third Party Credibility Indicators ...................................................................... 32

Tip #4: Make an Irresistible Offer ................................................................................... 32



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Tip #5: Call-to-Action ...................................................................................................... 32

Tracking Your Return on Investment (ROI) from SEO ................................................. 33

Google Places Dashboard ................................................................................................ 33

Google Places Offers ........................................................................................................ 33

Google Analytics .............................................................................................................. 33

Inbound Call Script .......................................................................................................... 33

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System .................................................... 34

Step-by-Step SEO Action Plan & Checklist ........................................................................... 34

Step 1: Research Your Keywords ...................................................................................... 34

Step 2: Demonstrate Your Relevance .............................................................................. 35

Step 3: Establish Your Reputation ................................................................................... 35

Step 4: Generate Revenue ................................................................................................ 35

How to Maintain Your Google Rankings Over the Long-Term ........................................... 36

1. On-going Citations ....................................................................................................... 36

2. On-going Reviews ........................................................................................................ 36

3. On-going Links ............................................................................................................. 36

Additional Resources .............................................................................................................. 37

Need Help With SEO? ..................................................................................................... 37

Main Street Inner Circle .................................................................................................. 37

The Local SEO Formula ................................................................................................... 38

Free InfusionSoft Demo ................................................................................................... 38

Final Words ............................................................................................................................. 38

Will You Be My Next Success Story? .............................................................................. 39



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Introduction

Thank you for purchasing The Business Owner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization

(SEO). In this eBook, I’m going to provide you with actionable advice you can use to start

attracting customers from Google.

But first, who am I, and why listen to me?

My name is Phil Frost, and I’m the owner of a company called Main Street ROI that

provides online marketing training for small business owners and marketing

professionals. Since 2010, we’ve helped hundreds of small businesses create profitable

online marketing campaigns. Near the end of this eBook, I’ve included some more

background information on me and my company, so you can learn more and get in touch

if you want to.

Who This eBook Is For

I created this eBook for business owners. My goal is to simplify SEO and make it easy for

you to take action and get results. For that reason, I’ve done my best to present

everything in a simple, step-by-step, easy-to-understand fashion.

And, as you’ll notice, this eBook isn’t very long. That’s by design. I’m a small business

owner too, and if you’re like me, then you’re short on time. While I could fill hundreds of

pages with SEO advice, I intentionally kept this eBook brief. I’ve only included the basic

information you need to start ranking in Google, so you can get through it (preferably in a

single sitting) and start seeing results – fast.

Here’s what we’re going to cover in this eBook:

The value of SEO

Why it’s easier than ever to rank #1 in Google



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The 3 biggest misconceptions about SEO

Our 4-part recipe for profitable SEO

How to track your return on investment from SEO

Your step-by-step SEO action plan and checklist

Advice on hiring an SEO company

How to stay up-to-date on the latest best practices

Why Invest in SEO?

But before we talk about how to get ranked in Google, let’s define what we’re talking

about, and make sure we’re on the same page about the value of search engine

optimization (SEO).

If you want to show up in Google, you have two basic options: you can advertise with

Google AdWords, or you can try to show up in the non-advertising results (known as the

“organic” results).

In this eBook, we’ll be talking about how to show up in the non-advertising results. This

process is known as search engine optimization (SEO).

And here are some good reasons to get started with search engine optimization right

away…

Reason #1: It’s an Easy Sale

SEO is one of the most straightforward ways to attract new customers because your

prospects are already looking for you. Your customers are already going to Google and

searching for exactly what you offer.



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If you show up in Google, they can find you, contact you, and hire you. SEO provides a

pretty simple sales and marketing process – much simpler than other methods of

marketing, such as radio or TV or direct mail, where you have to try and interrupt

customers and convince them to contact you.

When you’re ranking in Google, you have automatic credibility in your customers’ eyes.

Customers come to you pre-sold on doing business with you because they assume you’re

the best when you’re ranking at the top of Google. If you can attract qualified prospects

by ranking in Google, then the sale is basically yours to lose at that point.

Reason #2: Get In Front Of More Customers Than Ever

The second reason you should invest in SEO is because more customers are searching for

you than ever before. And this is especially true if you own a local business. As you know,

people are moving away from the Yellow Pages and are using search engines like Google

to find local businesses.

According to Google, 97% of consumers use search engines to find local businesses

online. Google estimates that 20% of all Google searches are consumers searching for

local businesses. Meanwhile, we’re witnessing a huge shift in the way people are searching

online. More and more, people are using mobile devices – and according to Google, 40%

of all mobile searches are for local businesses.

Put this all together and you’ll realize there has never been more people searching for

your type of business in your area. And that means there’s never been a better time to

invest in SEO.

Reason #3: It’s Free

And here’s the reason why you’re already interested. SEO can provide you with free

customers.



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That’s why many people consider ranking in Google to be like the marketing Holy Grail.

And it’s true that gaining top rankings for the right keywords can be incredibly valuable.

One of my colleagues owns a business that generates more than $20,000 in profit per as a

result of his SEO rankings. I sure wouldn’t mind getting a free $20,000 check every

month.

Reason #4: SEO is easier than ever

The fourth reason you should invest in SEO is because it’s actually easier than ever to get

ranked in Google – if you own a small, local business.

Over the past couple years, Google has realized that consumers are searching more and

more for local businesses… and so Google has started to really highlight local businesses

in the search results.

That’s why Google introduced Google Places – which was recently re-branded as Google+

Local. These are the map results you’ll often see if you search in Google for a local

chiropractor or restaurant or dentist or plumber. And this shift in Google’s search engine

algorithm has been a godsend for local businesses.

Previously, before this change, if you were a dentist, and people in your city or town

searched for a dentist, you’d have to be competing with tens of thousands of dentists

from all across the country. That’s way too much competition. There’s almost no way

you’d get found.

Meanwhile, your prospective client isn’t finding the results she wants, either. Google

understands that when a person is searching “dentist,” she probably wants to find a local

dentist. And that’s why Google re-designed the search engine results to highlight local

dentists.



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The introduction of Google+ Local is great news for you if you’re a dentist with a local

practice, because it means you’re no longer competing with tens of thousands of dentists

from all over the country. You’re only competing with the few dozen dentists in your

immediate area.

And luckily for you, most small businesses are NOT implementing best practices when it

comes to online marketing. So this can be your advantage. So that’s the third reason –

SEO is easier than ever, especially if you’re a local business.

The 4 Biggest Misconceptions About SEO

But before I outline my recipe for profitable SEO, I need to clear up some common

misconceptions business owners have about SEO.

Misconception #1: SEO Is 100% Free

Just a minute ago, I explained how SEO is valuable because it can provide you with free

customers. And that’s true. When you’re ranking in Google’s organic results, the clicks are

free.

However, it’s important to realize that SEO isn’t totally free. In reality, it takes an

investment of either time or money to achieve and maintain those rankings. Either you

have to do it, or you’ll have to hire somebody to do it for you.

If you’re considering hiring help, be sure to read the section later in this eBook that lists

questions to ask before hiring an SEO company.



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And either way, you should be sure to track your return on investment (ROI) from SEO,

so you know whether your investment of time or money is paying off. I talk about

tracking your ROI from SEO later on.

Misconception #2: SEO Is a One-Time Event

Too many business owners believe that SEO is just a setup process – that you can “set it

and forget it,” as Ron Popeil used to say on late night TV. But this isn’t usually true.

It’s possible that you have such weak competition that by making some basic edits to your

website, you will out-rank your competitors. However, if you want to be successful with

SEO over the long-term, you should stop thinking about SEO as an event – and start

thinking about it as an on-going process.

I like using the weight-lifting analogy to explain the proper long-term approach to SEO.

With weight-lifting, you need to keep it up and stay consistent with it if you want to build

strong muscles. You can’t just go to the gym one day or in one month and walk out

looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Also, just like in weight lifting, you don’t want to cut corners – you don’t want to take

steroids. I recommend you give up your search for an SEO “silver bullet” to improve your

Google rankings overnight, because those tactics often have disastrous long-term

consequences. You don’t want to do things that can get your website into trouble with

Google. It’s just not work the risk of getting your website banned from Google forever.

Google’s getting smarter and smarter every day. And the best practices I outline in this

eBook will keep you safe so you don’t have to worry about Google banning you.



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Now, that said – it still is pretty common to see very fast results with SEO, just by

following the simple, proven best practices we teach here at Main Street ROI. We

consistently receive success stories from new customers of ours who have followed our

best practices and suddenly started appearing on the first page of Google within 30 days.

How is this possible? Usually, these fast results are possible because of very weak

competition. Most small businesses aren’t following the best practices I’m laying out in

this eBook. And so, if you simply implement our best practices, you can often jump

ahead, quickly, and with no risk of getting penalized or banned by Google.

However, SEO will likely only become more competitive in the future, as more of your

competitors catch on. For that reason, we recommend that you continue to reinvest in

your SEO over the long-term, so you continue to stay ahead.

Speaking of long-term, another common misconception is that it’s nearly impossible to

stay ahead with SEO over the long-term, because it’s always changing…

Misconception #3: The Rules Of SEO Are Always Changing

In some respects this isn’t a misconception– it’s sort of true. Google is always changing

the details of its algorithm.

Over the past several years, Google has made some significant changes. Years ago, Google

introduced Google Places and started featuring local results more prominently. Then,

Google introduced Google+ and started to integrate social media data into the search

results. And then Google changed Google Places to Google+ Local… And when you

consider all of these changes, it can seem overwhelming.



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However, when you look at the big picture and take a long-term approach, you’ll see that

Google has actually been pretty consistent over the years. While the details of SEO are

constantly in flux, the fundamentals haven’t changed for years.

My business partner and I first got our feet wet with SEO way back in 2005, so we’ve

witnessed a lot of these changes over the years. Throughout all of these years, Google’s

approach has remained surprisingly constant. And, as a result, the rules of SEO remain

largely the same, from year to year.

So, what does Google want? Google wants to feature the best results, the best

information, and the best local businesses. And they want to prevent “spam” from

clogging up the search results and ruining their users’ experience.

Therefore, our long-term advice is to give Google what it wants. Don’t focus on trying to

“game” the system and forget about silver bullets. If you focus on giving Google what it

wants, you’ll win over the long-term. Follow our 4-part recipe and you’ll see your business

move up and stay at the top of the search results.

Misconception #4: SEO Guarantees New Customers

And there’s one more myth I want to clear up: The myth that if you get ranked in Google,

you’ll automatically get new customers. This can be true, but it’s not necessarily true.

Now, earlier in this eBook, I said that SEO is one of the most straightforward ways of

getting customers. However, it’s not automatic… and there are a number of ways that the

process can break down if you’re not careful.

In order to get customers from Google, all 5 of the following steps must occur:

1. Your prospect needs to search for something relevant to the services you offer.



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2. You need to show up in Google.

3. Your prospect needs to click and check out your website (or your Google+ Local

page).

4. She needs to like what she sees and contact you.

5. Finally, you need to close the sale.

Obviously, getting ranked in Google is a critical step. But you need to have all of the

points in that sequence working for you, or else it’ll break down.

For example, if you’re ranking in Google for some phrase that nobody ever searches, then

obviously you won’t get any website visitors. And if you’re ranking in Google for some

phrase that’s irrelevant to your business, then people may come to your website, but they

won’t contact you. And even if you attract website visitors and leads, you can lose

customers due to a lousy offline sales process.

So, with that in mind, now let’s walk through the SEO best practices we recommend

every business follows. We call this our recipe for profitable SEO, and it has 4 parts.

Here’s the recipe:

Research + Relevance + Reputation = Revenue

Now let’s dive into this recipe in detail, and I’ll explain exactly what we mean by each of

those ingredients…

SEO Ingredient #1: Research

The first step is to research the exact keywords your potential customers are using to find

your type of business in Google.



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This process is known as keyword research.

Luckily, you don’t have to guess about what people are searching in Google every day.

Google makes this information available to the public for free, through their keyword

research tool. This tool is called the Keyword Suggestion Tool.

Here’s the link to Google’s keyword tool:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

You can also find it by simply going to Google.com and searching “keyword tool” – it’ll be

the first result you find.

As you’ll discover, this tool works like a thesaurus. Just type in the words you think

people might use to find your type of business in Google, and Google’s keyword tool will

give you related search phrases, as well as data about how often the words and phrases

are searched.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when conducting keyword research for your

SEO campaign.

Before you use Google’s tool, start by brainstorming keywords on your own. What would

people search to find your type of business? Put yourself in your potential customer’s

shoes. You may even want to ask your current customers what they’d search to find you.

It’s really important to identify the actual words your customers would use, rather than

optimizing around jargon words that only your peers and industry insiders would use.

Once you’ve got an initial list of keywords that you think make sense, start entering

words and phrases into the Google keyword tool and see what Google comes back with.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal



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Then, the next step is to prioritize the keywords. There are two main factors you’ll want

to keep in mind when selecting the keywords you’re going to optimize for.

2 Critical Keyword Factors

Factor #1: Search volume

Obviously, if you want to attract a lot of new customers from Google, it’ll be important to

focus on keywords that are frequently searched. Google will tell you how often different

variations of keywords are searched. The search volume is quoted on a monthly basis.

Factor #2: Relevance

You want to make sure to focus on relevant keywords. Especially when you’re just getting

started with SEO, you want to focus on keywords that have the highest possible chances

of delivering qualified customers. You don’t want to focus on what we call “tire kicker”

keywords.

Additional Keyword Research Tips

Here are some additional tips to help you choose the right keywords.

Hiring Intent: You want to prioritize keywords that demonstrate strong “hiring intent” –

an obvious intent to hire a person or company like you. For example, if you’re a

chiropractor, I would recommend prioritizing “chiropractor” keywords above generic

“back pain” keywords. And the reason is that a person who is searching for a chiropractor

is much more likely to go see a chiropractor than somebody who is simply searching

about back pain.

Geographic Keywords: Also, if you want to attract clients in your area, pay attention to

geographical keywords. For example, if you’re a lawyer in Dallas, you’ll want to identify

the exact phrases people search when trying to find a lawyer in Dallas. For example, they



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may search: “Dallas lawyers” or “Dallas law firms”

When brainstorming local keywords, a good technique is to mix and match phrases that

contain your area and your service. For example: Dallas lawyers, attorney in Dallas, law

firms in Dallas, and so on. You’ll be surprised how often very similar phrases can have

significantly different search volume.

For example – according to Google, “Dallas lawyers” is searched 390 times per month, but

“Dallas law firm” is searched only 170 times per month. So, if you ranked #1 for “Dallas

lawyers” instead of Dallas law firm, you would potentially get twice as many leads and

clients. This is why proper keyword research is so critical to your success. A little bit of

extra homework up-front can pay significant dividends over the long-term.

Get Specific: And also, be sure to focus on keyword phrases related to your specific areas

of practice. So, for example, if you’re an attorney and you practice a specific type of law,

such as personal injury law, then be sure to research those specific keyword phrases.

This goes back to my earlier point about relevance. If you’re a personal injury attorney in

New York, it’s much more valuable for you to show up for “New York personal injury

attorney” than it is for you to show up for “New York attorney.” And don’t be afraid to

drill down even deeper. For example, if you specialize in car accident cases, then research

those specific phrases.

Identify Local ‘Trigger’ Words: And here’s another tip to keep in mind if you want to

attract local clients. Earlier I mentioned how Google is showing local business results

more frequently. This section of Google is called Google+ Local (and it used to be called

Google Places). Well, if you want to appear in these local results, I strongly recommend

focusing on keywords that are already triggering these local results. That way, you’ll have

the greatest likelihood of showing up in the local results and gaining maximum exposure.



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OK, so at this point you’ve conducted your keyword research. And you’ve picked the

keywords you are confident will deliver a steady stream of highly qualified customers to

your business. I recommend you keep track of these keywords in a spreadsheet, so you

can easily refer back to them.

Let’s move on to the next ingredient in the formula: Relevance.

SEO Ingredient #2: Relevance

Remember what I said earlier about how you want to take a long-term approach to SEO?

You don’t want to take short-cuts. That’s like taking steroids in our weight-lifting

analogy. You want to take a healthy approach that’s going to deliver results over the

long-term and not backfire. Well, that means giving Google what Google really wants.

And what does Google want? As I said earlier, they want to show people the highest-

quality results possible. And one very important aspect of quality is relevance. Google

wants to make sure that your website or your Google+ Local page is perfectly relevant to

the keyword searched in Google.com.

So how do you tell Google you’re relevant? You need to make edits to different parts of

your website and to your Google+ Local page.

How to Optimize Your Google+ Local Page

If you own a local business, I recommend you start by optimizing your Google+ Local

page, for a couple reasons. Google is making local results more and more prominent, and

local SEO is still low-hanging fruit in many cities and towns. Plus, it’s very fast and simple



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to edit compared to editing your website, because you don’t have to get a webmaster

involved in the process.

So, if you haven’t already, you’ll need to create your Google+ Local page. If you’re not sure

whether or not you have a Google+ Loca page, then search for your local phone number,

business name, and address in Google Maps (http://maps.google.com). Does your listing

already exist?

If not, then you’ll want to create one. When you go to http://maps.google.com, you’ll see

a link at the top-left that says “Put your business on Google Maps” – and that’ll guide you

through the process.

Next, you’ll want to fill out all the different categories, including your business name,

your description, and the relevant categories. And the most important places to include

your keywords are in the Description field and in the Categories field. Be sure to

include your target keywords in those two areas.

But here’s a word of caution: Don’t over-optimize by stuffing too many keywords into

your Google+ Local profile because Google’s becoming more sensitive about that, and

over-stuffing your keywords could backfire.

Here are a couple counter-intuitive points.

First, I recommend you avoid including your keyword as part of your business name. For

example, if you own a dental practice in White Plains, New York called Allan Weiss &

Associates, don’t enter your business name as “White Plains Dentist – Allan Weiss” – just

use your real business name.

http://maps.google.com/

http://maps.google.com/



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Google will eventually figure out your real business name based on information in other

local business databases. And once Google determines your real name does not include

the extra keywords you added, they will either change your name themselves or

completely remove your profile.

Also, only use basic keywords for your Category selections – don’t include geographic

keywords in those phrases. For example, if you’re a New York City cosmetic dentist, just

use “cosmetic dentist” as a Category (and skip “New York City”). Google already knows

where you’re located and using geographic phrases in category names is against their

Terms of Service.

Next, as you’re filling out your page, be sure to complete all of the fields, including:

Service areas and locations

Hours of operation

Payment options

Photos and videos

Additional details

Google wants to show complete business profiles in their search results so they are more

likely to rank your page high if you have filled it out completely.

Now let’s talk about the edits you’ll want to make to your website.

How to Optimize Your Website

There are two basic steps to optimizing your website for keywords. First, you need to

assign your target keywords to specific pages on your website. And then you’ll want to

optimize those specific pages for the specific keywords.



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If you only offer one service, then it’s really easy. You’ll just want to optimize your

homepage for the best keyword related to your service. But if you offer multiple services,

then you’ll want to have specific pages for your specific services, and you’ll optimize each

of your services pages for different keywords.

For example, let’s say you’re an attorney and you have several areas of practice, including

criminal defense, personal injury, and family law. During the keyword research process,

you would identify the keywords that correspond with each of your practice areas. If you

already had pages for the different practice areas, then you would optimize those pages

for those keywords. Or, if you don’t already have separate practice area webpages, then

you would want to create new pages.

So what do I mean by optimizing pages? When you optimize the pages for the keywords,

you’re telling Google that your pages are highly relevant to the keywords. The

optimization process is basically an editing process. And the 4 most important page

elements to edit are your title tags, meta descriptions, body copy and headers.

Title Tags: Your title tag is what shows up as the blue under-lined link in the search

results. It’s also the text you’ll see in the very top-left corner of your web browser when

you’re reading a particular web page.

Here are title tag best practices:

Keep it under 65 characters in length.

Don’t add more than 2 related keywords in the Title tag. That’s like using steroids

– it’s only going to hurt you. It’s better to just use keywords naturally.

Make your Title tag read like a short, compelling headline so people will see it in

the search engine results and want to click through to your website.

Create unique title tags for ALL pages of your website.



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Meta Descriptions: When your website shows up in Google, there’s often a snippet of

description text beneath your title tag. And that’s usually your meta description. A well-

written meta description can help increase the number of clicks you receive from Google.

And here are some meta description guidelines to keep in mind:

Incorporate your keywords, but again, don’t over-do it. Including your keywords

won’t help you rank higher in Google, but the keywords will be bolded in the

search results, which may increase the number of clicks you receive.

Write naturally – think of the Title Tag as your ad headline, and the Meta

Description as the body of your ad.

Keep it under 150 characters.

Try to include your phone number in the Meta Description to encourage phone

calls.

Body Copy: Body copy refers to the words on your web pages.

It’s important to have text copy on each of the pages you’re trying to rank in Google. We

generally recommend a minimum of 200 words per page, and ideally around 500 words.

Again, don’t try to stuff your keywords all over the page in order to impress Google.

That’s like using steroids – and these days, search engines are too smart for that to help

you. Plus, when you force keywords into your copy it looks unnatural, so it can turn off

your website visitors and make them less likely to want to do business with you. It’s

simply not worth it.

Headers: Finally, it’s a good idea to break up your website copy into chunks so it’s easier

for your visitors to read. I recommend you use headers (known as “H1” or “H2” or “H3”



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tags in HTML) and incorporate keywords naturally in them to break up your website

copy.

That’s it! Those are the major elements you need to edit to optimize your web pages to

rank in Google. See, it’s pretty simple.

At this point we’ve covered 2 out of the 4 R’s. We’ve covered Research and we’ve covered

Relevance. Now let’s move onto the 3rd R: Reputation.

SEO Ingredient #3: Reputation

There are several things you can do to improve your online reputation in Google’s eyes

and in your prospects’ eyes. Most of the readers of this eBook own local businesses, so

let’s start by talking about how to improve the reputation of your business within

Google+ Local, specifically.

Verify Your Ownership

First, you should verify ownership of your Google+ Local page. This is the bare minimum

step you need to do in order to prove to Google your business is legitimate. Google will

either call you or send you a letter in the mail with a pin code that you use to confirm

your ownership.

Build Citations

The second way to improve your authority is to build what are known as “citations,” and

in many cases, citations will be the deciding factor between the top spots in Google+

Local.



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A citation is the exact reference of your business name, address and phone number as it is

listed on multiple websites. For example, we strongly recommend that your website’s

contact page should include your business name, address, and phone number and this

information should be exactly the same as what is listed on your Google+ Local page.

Therefore, your contact page is a citation.

Why are citations so important? One of the biggest problems Google faces when ranking

local business listings is how to know the information listed is legitimate. Google looks at

citations as a way to verify the accuracy of the local business listing information.

Since the listings are free, anyone could create a business listing with bogus information

and try to get it to rank #1. This would be disastrous for Google because users would lose

faith in the results and start using another search engine (like Bing) as their primary

search engine instead.

Google had to find a way to calculate the credibility of the local business listing

information to prevent spam in their search results. And one of the main ways Google

measures the trustworthiness of your business listing information is by analyzing

citations.

How and where can you get citations? The best way to get citations is to create more local

business listings on other websites and directories.

Here are the 3 best places for you to get citations:

1. Major Business Directories: For example Yahoo Local, Bing Local, Best of the

Web Local and Yelp.



P a g e | 23

2. Geo-Specific Business Directories: These are the little directories specific to a

location. For example, Long Island, NY has a directory called “Long Island

Exchange” which is a directory for long island businesses.

3. Industry Directories: If you’re an attorney then I’m sure you’ve heard of Avvo

and Martindale-Hubbell. In every industry, there are many directories where you

can include your business.

As you begin submitting your business to various directories, you’ll soon find that some

are free and others cost money. I recommend you start by setting up your business listing

in all of the free accounts first, and see if that’s enough. If you’re in a more competitive

market, you may need to invest in paid listings as well. But if you’re not ready to invest in

paid directories, you can start with the free listings, give it 30 days, and see where you

stand.

I also recommend you continue to get new citations on an on-going basis, so you stay one

step ahead of your competition.

OK, so let’s move on to the next factor in building your Reputation in Google’s eyes:

online customer reviews.

Get Online Customer Reviews

Online customer reviews are not only important for Google’s algorithm, they’re also the

most important factor that your potential customers will analyze before deciding to do

business with you.

Why are online reviews so important? Online reviews give Google a method to measure

the popularity and quality of your business. The more reviews you have, the more popular



P a g e | 24

you appear to be to Google. The goal with reviews is to show that you’re popular and still

in business, and prove that you provide high-quality services.

In addition to helping you rank #1 in Google, reviews also help increase the response rate

from prospects who read your local listing. The end goal of ranking in Google is to attract

new customers, right? And the only way you’ll make money is if you can persuade

prospects to contact you after they see your listing.

So how do you get happy customer reviews?

The first critical factor is timing. If you ask too soon, then your customer hasn’t had time

to benefit from your service and if you ask too late then they may have forgotten how

great you are.

The best time to ask for a review is when your customer is happiest with your service. The

timing will be different depending on what type of business you have. For example, if

you’re a veterinarian and your client’s pet is sick, then the best time to ask for a review is

immediately after you help the sick pet.

Depending on the pet’s illness, you may “fix” the pet in the office, in which case you

should ask for the review before the client leaves your office. Alternatively, if it takes

several weeks for the pet to fully recover, you should ask for the review during a follow up

visit.

If you’re providing excellent products or services, then you’ll notice when your customers

are happiest because they’ll tell you. Make a note when this happens and then make sure

your staff is trained to ask for the review.



P a g e | 25

Speaking of staff, a great way to make sure your staff asks for reviews is to incentivize

your staff. This can be as simple as giving a monetary bonus or a small gift to your

employees for asking for and collecting a certain number of reviews. Your incentive

doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Just make sure it’s enough to spur your staff into

action so they ask every customer for a review.

Build Your Social Media Presence

Another component of reputation, which is becoming more important, is social media.

Google is now paying attention to how many fans and followers you have, and how many

people are “Liking,” sharing and discussing your website content across social media

platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. The bigger and more active social media

presence you have, the better.

If you haven’t already, I recommend you create your social media profiles for your

business. Then, add social media sharing buttons on your website, so it’s easier for people

to “Like” and share your website content with their friends and contacts online.

Top social media websites to focus on include:

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Google+

YouTube

Finally, there’s one more factor affecting your website’s reputation in Google’s eyes: links.

Attract Links

Over the years, links have historically been the #1 reputation factor that Google looked at.

In recent years, some of the emphasis has moved away from links, and more towards



P a g e | 26

other factors, like reviews and citations and social media. But by most expert accounts,

links are still a critical factor.

So what do I mean by links?

I’m talking about when other websites link to your website. A link is typically represented

by a blue underlined line (e.g. Click here or http://www.mainstreetroi.com). Links act like

votes attesting to the authority of your website. They serve the same function as citations

– they are a sign of your website’s legitimacy and authority.

As a general rule of thumb, if you have more links pointing to your website than your

competitor does, your page will rank higher in Google than your competitor’s website.

However, Google doesn’t only look at the quantity of your links; they also assess the

quality of the pages linking to your website. The quality of the links pointing to your

website is critical for gaining top rankings in the non-local results. In addition, Google

pays attention to the specific words in the links pointing to your site. This text is known

as “anchor text.”

Think about it this way… Let’s say you own a pizza restaurant. And let’s imagine a

random blogger posts a blog entry and how great your pizza is, and links to your pizza

restaurant website. That link has value and Google will factor that link into their

algorithm to rank you in the results.

But if The New York Times publishes an article crowning your pizza as the city’s best,

along with a link to your website, that holds a lot more weight — because it’s coming

from a source with a ton of authority. So Google will give more value to this link than the

link from the random blogger when ranking your website.

http://www.mainstreetroi.com/

http://www.mainstreetroi.com/



P a g e | 27

So how can you go about building links to your website?

First, let’s talk about how NOT to build links to your website. Don’t engage in reciprocal

link-building “schemes” where you agree to link to another website if they’ll link to you.

Those types of links don’t tend to have much value in ranking your website.

Also, you definitely don’t want to go buy links from some service promising you hundreds

of links for just $5 or $20. As a general rule, you don’t want to buy links – at all. Again,

buying links is like using steroids. It might work for a while, but over the long-term it’ll

probably just hurt you.

Finally, while having relevant anchor text can be helpful, be careful that you don’t over-

do it. Google has begun to penalize websites that have unnatural anchor text profiles.

Here are 4 link-building tactics we recommend you implement over the long-term.

Link-Building Tactic #1: Blogging

In reality, Google doesn’t really want you to go out of your way to attract links to your

website. Their ideal scenario is that you naturally attract links by creating awesome

content.

In other words, Google says that if you build great content, bloggers and other website

owners will naturally want to link to it. And then you’ll be rewarded with top Google

rankings.

Here’s Google’s verbatim advice, from their Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide:



P a g e | 28

“Interesting sites will increase their recognition on their own. Creating compelling and

useful content will likely influence your website more than any of the other factors

discussed here. Users know good content when they see it and will likely want to direct

other users to it. This could be through blog posts, social media services, email, forums,

or other means. Organic or word-of-mouth buzz is what helps build your site’s

reputation with both users and Google, and it rarely comes without quality content.”

Now, this is all true, but I wouldn’t bet on a purely “build-it-and-they-will-come”

approach. I’m too impatient for that — and you should be too.

If you want to maximize the amount of traffic you get from Google, then you shouldn’t

just create great content and sit back. You should also promote your content so that

people will be likely to link to it. And that’s where creating a social media following can

really pay off.

My advice: If you’re committed to positioning yourself as an expert in your field, then you

should be publishing expert content on your website on a regular basis. And the best way

to do that is with a blog. I recommend using Wordpress as your blogging platform. And I

recommend you install your blog on a sub-directory of your website (i.e.

www.domain.com/blog).

Next, create a list of topics you want to write about. I recommend you generate at least 10

topics for articles before you start writing. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Answer frequently asked questions

Address common mistakes or misconceptions

Clarify and simplify topics that are seen as complex or confusing

Organize your methodology into a series of easy-to-follow steps

http://www.domain.com/blog



P a g e | 29

In terms of the blog entries themselves, I recommend you write articles that are 500-800

words in length. Create a good, catchy title for each one. Aim to communicate one big

idea and a few supporting points. And try to make your articles actionable, so that people

feel like they got something useful out of reading your article.

(If you don’t like to write, then you can record yourself talking about these topics, and

then get that recording transcribed, and then edit the transcription into articles.)

But I wouldn’t rely on blogging as your sole link-building strategy… And that’s why I’m

recommending 3 more link-building strategies.

Link-Building Tactic #2: Guest Posting

Another great way to build links to your website is by contributing expert content to

other websites.

If you’re interested in using guest posts as a link-building strategy, I recommend you start

by authoring a blog on your own website. After you’ve gotten into a rhythm of posting

content onto your blog, the next step is to contact relevant media outlets and ask if you

can contribute an article to their publication. You might contact your local newspaper, a

relevant magazine, or perhaps an industry trade journal. You can also start by contacting

other blogs, and offering to provide a guest blog post.

There are two benefits to guest posting. First, you’ll usually get a link — typically a byline

link on the top or at the bottom of your article. But even more importantly, you’ll also get

your message in front of a relevant audience. Essentially, guest posting is a form of free

publicity.



P a g e | 30

Link-Building Tactic #3: Press Releases

The third link building strategy is press releases. Submitting press releases is an easy way

to build links to your website. The links are not the highest quality, but if you choose your

keywords carefully, the press release itself will often rank high in Google, so you can

generate traffic in addition to links.

In order to get the most out of your press releases make sure you add a link to your

website in the body and include one of your target keywords in the headline of your press

release.

The two websites I recommend you use are PRWeb.com and WebWire.com. Both are

very easy to use and their publishing wizard will walk you through the steps to submit a

press release on their platform. PRWeb.com releases currently cost $89 to $499.

WebWire’s syndication isn’t as good as PRWeb.com, but it’s far less expensive at only

$24.95 per release. So if you need to keep costs low, I recommend you start with

WebWire.com.

Link-Building Tactic #4: Submit to Directories

I already mentioned directories as a way to generate citations. But, in addition to your

company’s Name, Address, and Phone Number, you’ll often receive links to your website

when you are listed in directories. That’s another reason to submit to lots of directories.

So those are the 4 main strategies we recommend for building links to your website:

blogging, guest posts, press releases, and directories.

As a quick recap, our ‘Recipe’ for profitable SEO is:



P a g e | 31

Research + Relevance + Reputation = Revenue

We’ve covered Research, Relevance and Reputation. Now let’s talk about the final piece of

the equation… Revenue.

Revenue: How to Get Customers from Google

Let’s recap what needs to happen in order to get new paying customers from Google.

1. Your prospect needs to search in Google for something relevant to your services. That’s

where keyword research comes in.

2. You need to show up in Google. To show up, you need to demonstrate your Relevance

by making edits to your Google+ Local page and your website. And you also need to

establish your Reputation by verifying your Google+ Local page ownership, building

citations, getting reviews, and building links.

3. Then, your prospect needs to be motivated to contact you. This is a big leverage point,

and many small business websites fail to convert website visitors into leads and paying

customers.

5 Tips to Increase Your Conversion Rates

Here are 5 tips to improve your visitor-to-lead conversion rates.

Tip #1: Customer-Centric Copy

First off, make sure your website copy speaks directly to your prospect, and focuses on

solving your prospect’s problems, rather than just talking about how great your company



P a g e | 32

and your services are. Shine the spotlight on your prospect, instead of you. Remember,

your prospect is always thinking, “What’s in it for me?”

Tip #2: Provide Proof

I recommend you display proof of the results you provide to your customers, patients, or

clients. I’m talking about testimonials – in text, audio, photo, and/or video format. You

can also include endorsements from industry peers if testimonials are frowned upon in

your industry (or if you’re just getting started and you don’t have any testimonials).

Tip #3: Third Party Credibility Indicators

In addition, I recommend you include third party indicators of your company’s credibility

on your website. For example, if you are a member of the Better Business Bureau, include

their logo on your website. If you’ve won awards, showcase them. If you’ve been featured

in local media, show that off prominently on your website.

Tip #4: Make an Irresistible Offer

Next, give people a good reason to do business with you, rather than your competitors.

Maybe you offer a strong guarantee. Perhaps you provide a special discount to first-time

customers. Whatever it is, aim to make your offer so irresistible that potential customers

would be foolish to do business with your competitors. Also, I recommend you include

your special offer within your Google+ Local page. Simply click on the “Add an Offer”

button within your Google+ Local admin dashboard to get started.

Tip #5: Call-to-Action

Be sure to make it really easy for prospects to contact you. On your website, include clear

contact information, ideally on the top-right, so website visitors can find it without

having to scroll in their browser window. And in your Google+ Local profile, include a



P a g e | 33

direct call to action in your profile description (e.g. “Call 555-555-5555 for a free quote!”)

Tracking Your Return on Investment (ROI) from SEO

Last but not least, if you’re serious about growing your business, you need to be tracking

the results of your marketing – and SEO is no exception to the rule.

Here are some tools and tips for tracking your ROI.

Google Places Dashboard

Google provides you with a Google Places Dashboard with statistics and graphs to show

your listing’s online performance. You’ll be able to see impressions, visitor interactions,

and search queries. The key value in the dashboard is to view trends over time.

Google Places Offers

As I mentioned above, you can also create Google+ local offers, which allow you to track

sales directly from your local listing. Using these offers is a great way to track your return

on investment from local SEO.

Google Analytics

I also recommend you get set up with Google Analytics, so you can measure your website

traffic trends over time. You’ll be able to see which keywords are driving traffic to your

website. And if you set up Goals in Google Analytics, you’ll be able to see which keywords

are generating leads from people filling out contact forms on your website.

Inbound Call Script

A simple method for tracking ROI from SEO is to use an inbound call or in-person script

to ask the customer how they found your business. All you have to do is ask and then



P a g e | 34

have a system in place to document the answers. I recommend documenting the

information in a spreadsheet like Google Spreadsheets or Microsoft Excel.

Note: If you are advertising with Google AdWords, then I recommend you use special

call-tracking numbers for your advertising. That way, you can distinguish between calls

from advertising versus SEO.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

I recommend you invest in a customer relationship management system, especially if you

have a complex sales process. A CRM will allow you to track which lead sources

ultimately result in sales down the line. We use InfusionSoft for our CRM and we are big

fans of their web-based platform. At the end of this eBook, I’ve provided a link where you

can request a free demo of their service.

Step-by-Step SEO Action Plan & Checklist

As I mentioned earlier, my #1 goal with this eBook is to make it easy for you to take action

and get results. Here’s a checklist of the specific steps you should take to rank higher in

Google.

Step 1: Research Your Keywords

Brainstorm keyword ideas

Use Google’s keyword tool

Prioritize your keywords based on search volume and relevance



P a g e | 35

Step 2: Demonstrate Your Relevance

Edit your Google+ Local page

Fill out your profile completely

Include keywords in your Description and Categories

Assign your keywords to the different pages on your website

Optimize your web pages

Title tags, meta descriptions, body copy, and headers

But don’t “stuff” your keywords unnaturally

Step 3: Establish Your Reputation

Verify your Google+ Local page

Submit your business to directories to build citations

Get tons of happy reviews

Build links to your website

Blogging, Guest Posts, Press Releases, Directories

Start building up your social media presence

Step 4: Generate Revenue

Make it easy for customers to contact you

Track your return on investment (ROI)

Re-invest in profitable keywords to drive more revenue



P a g e | 36

How to Maintain Your Google Rankings Over the Long-Term

If you want to maintain your Google rankings over the long-term, then you should be

continually building your reputation on an on-going basis.

1. On-going Citations

In order to stay competitive in the local results, you should build new citations on an on-

going basis. After you’ve listed your business in the top national business directories, I

recommend you submit your business information to additional geographic and industry-

specific directories every month.

2. On-going Reviews

I recommend you set up a system to get customer reviews on a monthly basis. The

ongoing, consistent reviews will tell Google you deserve to stay at the top of the search

results because you’re a popular business providing great service. If you wait and try to

get a lot of reviews all at once, then your listing will look unnatural. This may turn off

prospects and could even hurt your rankings if Google thinks the reviews are fake. Try to

be consistent throughout the year rather than requesting reviews all at once.

3. On-going Links

We already discussed several ways to build links: blogging, guest posting, press releases,

and directories. You should already be submitting to additional directories every month

to build citations. But what kind of frequency should you use for blogging, guest posting,

and press releases?

In order to get maximum benefit from blogging, I recommend you try to publish one post



P a g e | 37

per week. If that’s just not feasible, then you should update your blog every two weeks or

at the very least monthly.

Your goal for guest articles should be one per month, but this obviously depends on what

opportunities you can find. It will take persistence but once you get a few guest posts

live, then you can leverage them to get your foot in the door with some more established

and well known blogs and news sites.

And finally, I recommend you issue at least one press release per month. By forcing

yourself to create something newsworthy every month, you’ll improve your Google+ Local

rankings, your website rankings, and also give your prospects and customers something

to talk about to help with word-of-mouth referrals. This is really something you should

do regardless of your search engine rankings.

Additional Resources

Here are some additional resources to help you attract more customers with online

marketing.

Need Help With SEO?

If you’d like help with your search engine optimization, we can help you.

If you’re already investing in SEO, we can review your website and give

your SEO a one-time tune-up. And we also provide ongoing SEO services. So

if you’d like help with your SEO, send an email to [email protected]

Main Street Inner Circle

If you liked this guide, and you’re not yet a Main Street Inner Circle member, you can

gain access to our other guides at this page: http://www.mainstreetroi.com/special-offer

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.mainstreetroi.com/special-offer



P a g e | 38

On that page, you can register to gain access to our Guides to Google AdWords and Email

Marketing when you try Main Street Inner Circle membership for 30 days.

The Local SEO Formula The Local SEO Formula is an online streaming video course walking you step-by-step

through the process of getting ranked #1 in Google Local. The course includes an updated

spreadsheet of the Top Free Directories to submit your business to in order to build

citations. In addition, the course includes a helpful tool for getting more Google+ Local

reviews. You can learn more about The Local SEO Formula at

http://www.TheLocalSEOFormula.com.

Free InfusionSoft Demo

Earlier in this report, I recommended InfusionSoft as a customer relationship

management (CRM) system. We use InfusionSoft for our CRM as well as for email

marketing. If you want to learn more about InfusionSoft, you can click here to receive a

free demo: http://www.MainStreetROI.com/infusionsoft-demo

Final Words

Finally, I want to say “Congratulations” for reading this eBook. Just by taking the step of

reading this eBook, you are now better informed and better equipped to get ranked in

Google and gain the edge over your competition.

But in order to get results, you’ll need to take action. So don’t delay, get started right

away. And then let me know how it goes.

http://www.thelocalseoformula.com/

http://www.mainstreetroi.com/infusionsoft-demo



P a g e | 39

Will You Be My Next Success Story?

I love hearing success stories from our customers. If you have experienced success as a

result of implementing our recommendations, please share your story with me by writing

to [email protected].

Here are some of the comments I’ve received from business owners who have

implemented my SEO best practices.

“After just 1 month, I started ranking in Google and I’ve already

gained 2 new clients! I would recommend this to anybody who’s just

getting started with online marketing.”

- Sharlene Alviar

Massage Therapist

Kamuela, HI

*********************************

“I’ve noticed my Google rankings moving up and right now I’m at the #1

position for my most important keyword in my area. I’m now receiving

phone calls from my listing, and I just started working on a case that

came in directly from Google Places!”

- Barney Connaughton

Family Law and Divorce Mediation Office of Barney Connaughton

Chula Vista, California

*********************************

“Small business owners like myself don’t have time to research this

stuff on their own and unfortunately there’s a lot of unreliable

advice online. Your material provides accurate and actionable

information that anyone can use to improve their Google Places




P a g e | 40

rankings and I’m very happy with my results so far.”

Rick Gresen

AA Best Choice LLC

South Milwaukee, WI

*********************************

“I am a software developer so I was afraid the information would be

for a novice. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find some great

tools and tips to get my business listing ranked higher in Google. I’m

seeing great results and I would recommend this to anyone starting

their journey with local SEO.”

- John M.

Boston, MA

*********************************

“Just a few weeks ago, when people were searching for a dentist in our

area, our practice was nowhere to be found. I purchased your material

to learn how to improve my Google rankings, I’ve followed all of the

steps, and it’s already working! Previously we were on the 3rd page of

Google for our keyword terms, and now we’re on the first page for most

of our keywords, including dentist, dental office, and dental care.”

- Adriana Settenhoffer DDS.

Fair Lawn Dental Care

Fair Lawn, New Jersey

*********************************

“I had doubts this would show me anything I didn’t already know

because I had done a lot of local SEO research already. But I’m so

happy I decided to give it a shot. I now have a complete understanding



P a g e | 41

of how to get my Google Places pages ranked #1 and in just a few

months I’ve seen great results!”

- Chris Azzari

Founder of Cornerstone SEO

Denville, New Jersey

**********************************

“It was only 4 days ago I purchased the product from you and now as of

tonight I made the first page in my market which is York,

Pennsylvania. I realize I still have a lot of work to do but WOW I am

excited that in such a short time that I made the first page I am now

#3 which hey not shabby and I am confident that #1 is within reach.”

Bill Neff

Neff’s Lock, Safe and Security Inc.

York, Pennsylvania

*********************************

Send your success story to [email protected].


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