the big a$$ guide to local seo for real estate

The Big A$$ Guide to

Local SEO

for Real Estate Agents and Brokers

Are you an individual agent? Take control of your marketing! Stop leaving your future in the hands of your broker? This guide will show you how to create your own visibility on local search, even if you work out of your house.

Are you a broker? Multiple locations? Lots of agents? Local search is paramount to creating

brand awareness…the steps in this guide will ensure you have the best chance at beating out

your competitors in your city and surrounding target cities.

2014 was one of the biggest years in local search yet. With the introduction of Google My Business and Google’s Pigeon update, the local marketing world got turned upside down. This guide is designed to take you through

the new local search, from top to bottom, and ensure you are setup to crush it.

-David Mihm, David Mihm Web Design / Local SEO

“From year to year, the only thing you can count on in local search results is change.”

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1: Six Reasons Why You Should Care About Local SEO

• Chapter 2: Local SEO Explained

• Chapter 3: Local SEO Ranking Factors (big a$$ list)

• Chapter 4: How to Setup Your Google My Business Page for Success

• Chapter 5: The Role of Social in Local SEO

• Chapter 6: Landing Page Optimization (this is critical!)

• Chapter 7: Be Everywhere with Citations

• Overview Checklist

Chapter 1 Six Reasons You Should Care About Local SEO

Nine in 10 home buyers today rely on the internet as one of their primary research sources.1

#1

Chapter 1: Six Reasons You Should Care About Local

30% of all Google searches are for local information.2 Google performs 3.3 billion

searches per day…you do the math.

#2

Sources: 1. 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers; 2. Statista.

1.1b Local Searches

http://www.statista.com/chart/898/number-of-searches-handled-by-search-engines-worldwide/

69% of home shoppers who take action on a real estate brand website begin their research with a local term, i.e. “Houston homes for sale” on a search engine.

7 out of 10 real estate website leads, come from local searches. 7 out of 10!

#3

#4


Source: Google & Compete Home Shopper Study, 2011; Google & Compete New Home Shopper Study, 2012

90% of home buyers searched online during their home buying process.1

#5

#6


Sources: 1. 2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers; 2. Google Consumer Survey 2012

Half of people begin their formal home search 6-12 months in advance. 2 in 3 researched prospective agents extensively online prior to working with them.2

Google is in the business of helping people find what they want. Google prides itself, and built its reputation, on the fact that when a searcher types something in to their simple, white search box, the results they are served are relevant, accurate, high quality and valuable. Need to hear it again? OK here goes… Goole wants to serve VALUE. Period. Big G doesn’t care about your traffic, your nifty lead gen tactics or your ROI, they care about serving their customers the best damn content they can round up. Fortunately their customers also happen to be your customers.

If you want to do well in the SEO game, focus your efforts on adding value to your audience…not executing tactics. Think about what the customer wants, not what you want. I promise you, Google will reward you for it. Congratulations, if you stop here, if you do nothing besides this, you will kick ass in SEO.

IMPORTANT! (Hence the red background)

“Can you tell me what the true essence of SEO is?

SEO is comprised of a bunch of tactics (keywords, landing pages, meta data and citations)…but these things aren’t the essence of SEO, they aren’t the common denominator, the root link…the essence is the reason for all of these tactics.

So what is it?…the heart of SEO is simple, it’s value.”

- Josh Brown

“Make your customer happy and you will make Google happy. In turn, you will be happy.”

-Old Chinese proverb*

*This is absolutely NOT an old Chinese proverb.

Chapter 2 Local SEO ExplainedWhat is SEO? Search engine optimization is the practice of getting your website ranked higher in search engines. Local search optimization focuses on ranking higher for local-specific inquiries.

You want to rank higher because…

Page 1 on Google search garners 92% of traffic! If you aren’t on page 1 you will not get seen!

Hi, I’m the author of this guide….Newberg, OR is my

home town ;)

Example search: “newberg oregon real estate agent”

Josh

Brown

Chapter 2: Local SEO Explained

1

2

3

4

5

6

7Chikita Insights June 2013

#6#5

#4

#3#2

#1

But page #1 is SUPER competitive The #1 position on Google search gets 33% of all traffic, #2 gets 18%, #3 gets 11% and #4 gets 8%.

That only leaves about 31% for the bottom positions 5 and up.

You don’t just want to be on page 1, but you want to be ranked #1!

#1

–Ricky Bobby

“If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

To keep the next few slides simple, we will use this example search:

City State Keyword

#1 - Keyword + Location: A broad, national search for “real estate agent” is going to provide very different results than a localized search like “newberg oregon real estate agent”

Google Has Two Methods For Determining Local Search Intent

#2 - Mobile GPS & Desktop IPs: Google can determine a persons location based on where they are on both mobile and desktop!


So Where Will You Show Up in Local Search? When it comes to local search Google has a few places companies can show up.

1. Local Pack

2. Organic Search

3. Google Maps*

4. Branded Search*

*Showed on later slides


#1. The Local Pack The local pack (also known as “the Local Carousel”) is where Google displays local listings. This is in contrast to the normal top 10 “organic results”. When it comes to local search, this is the main focus.

• Typically Google will show

up to 7 local listings

• Often this is called the “7

Pack”

• You must have a Google+

My Business page to show

up here

• Local listings are usually

listed higher than organic

results, so it is ideal to be in

the Local Pack!


#2. Organic Results Organic results are likely what you think of when when you make a Google search.

• Google always shows 10 organic

listings

• Besides website links, organic results

can also show up as News, Images,

Videos and Social Media Post posts

• You can show up in organic without

showing up in local and vice-versa

1

2

3

These are the top links to websites relevant to your search.


#3. Showing up in Google Maps Searches Lot’s of people skip google.com and search for businesses directly through Google maps.google.com/ or on their mobile app.


http://google.com

https://maps.google.com/

#4. Branded searches…compliments of Google+ If a person searches for your company by name (in this case “coldwell banker newer oregon”), it is important you have a Google+ My Business page. Additional details are populated to the right of the search results.

Additional Details:

• Map

• Business name

• Business category

• Address

• Phone

• Hours

• Reviews

• Social sites


Important:

• If you want to show up in Google Local Results (Local Pack, Maps, Branded Searches)

then you MUST have a Google+ My Business page.

• It is important that your My Business Page is optimized and posted to frequently! We

cover how to optimize Google+ to show up in local search results later in this guide.


Google is the local search leader and should be your top focus, but consumers are choosing other sites besides the local monster…

Including other search engines (Yahoo and Bing), review sites, business directories and even social media. Even Google is starting take notice of the

popularity of these sites. Oftentimes you will see sites like Yelp and YellowPages rank ABOVE the local pack results in Google!

The best local strategy is to be EVERYWHERE. Not just on Google.


Chapter 3 Local Search Ranking FactorsSince 2008 David Mihm has conducted a yearly survey asking Local SEO experts their opinions on the most important factors in local search marketing. The results make for an awesome breakdown of what experts consider important.

The survey is broken into 4 parts: 1. Overall Ranking Factors 2. Factors that affect your

Organic ranking 3. Factors that affect local

pack/carousel rankings 4. Factors most affected by the

Pigeon update

http://www.davidmihm.com/

http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

Chapter 3: Local Search Ranking Factors

“The 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors,” by David Mihm on moz.com (http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors)

The 8 Main Categories of Local Search Ranking Factors (%’s Imply Overall Importance)

Detailed explanations for the categories and all ranking factors on the next few slides

http://moz.com


“The 2014 Local Search Ranking Factors,” by David Mihm on moz.com (http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors)

1. Optimization of your Google+ My Business Page (Chapter 4)

2. External signals refer to your business listings on

other sites. These are called citations (Chapter 8)

3. On-page refers to optimization your website for local and organic search (Chapter 7)

4. Google gets a sense of the quality of your website based on how many other sites link to your website. The quality

and relevance of linking sites matters!

5. Exactly what it sounds like, gaining quality reviews on Google, other review sites and your website (Chapter 9)

6. If you are getting shared or talked about on social media,

Google sees this as a good sign and it will add to your

rankings (Chapter 5)7. The way people interact with your site and social media matters to the big G. It is important to have a good design, clear calls-to-action and a mobile ready site (Chapter 7)

8. Personalized marketing is offering custom experiences to different visitors based on

their actions (this is an advanced tactic not covered

in this guide)


http://moz.com


WARNING! NERD ALERT! The next 9 slides consist of a lengthy spreadsheet where I explain in detail each of the 50 ranking factors. Don’t feel like you have to read through all of this, rather pick the factors you aren’t familiar with from the list below and look them up for explanations. Happy hunting!


A quick note on what to do about these factors. For now, think of this purely as reference, just read through them and get a feel for them. Most of these factors will be covered throughout the steps in this guide, just by

completing the steps I outline you will capture the benefit of most of these factors. Once done, you can come back and check any missed factors off of your list.

1. Physical Address in City of Search

2. Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)

3. Proper Category Associations4. Product / Service Keyword in

Business Title5. Individually Owner-verified My

Business Page6. Proximity of Address to

Centroid7. Bulk Owner-verified My

Business Page8. Location Keyword in Business

Title or Title Modifier9. Quality/Authority of Structured

Citations10. Consistency of Structured

Citations11. Quality/Authority of

Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)

12. Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)

13. Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains

14. Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains

15. Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)

16. Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

17. Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains

18. Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain

19. Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain

20. Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

21. Velocity of New Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

22. Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

23. Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain

24. Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain

25. Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

26. Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain

27. Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain

28. Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

29. Diversity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

30. Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains

31. City, State in Landing Page Title32. Domain Authority of Website33. Page Authority of Landing Page

URL34. Product / Service Keyword in

Website URL35. City, State in Landing Page H1/H2

Tags36. City, State in Most/All Website Title

Tags

37. HTML NAP Matching My Business Page NAP

38. Geographic Keyword in Website URL

39. Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain

40. NAP in hCard / Schema.org41. Loadtime of Landing Page URL42. City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags43. Quantity of Third-Party Traditional

Reviews44. Authority of third-party sites on

which reviews are present45. Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native

+ Third-Party)46. Volume of Testimonials in

hReview / Schema.org47. Quantity of Native Google Maps

Reviews (w/text)48. Diversity of third-party sites on

which reviews are present49. Click-Through Rate from Search

Results50. Authority of Shares on Google+

Top 50 Local Search Ranking Factors Explained

The below table is not in order of importance! See the factors ranked by importance at Moz

• Factors for ranking in Pack/Carousel in order, see “Top 50 Pack/Carousel Factors”

• Factors for ranking in Organic Results in order , see “Top 50 Localized Organic Factors”


Category Category Explanation1 - My Business Signals

Physical Address in City of Search

You are more likely to show up in local results if your business address is located within the city being searched for.

1 - My Business Signals

Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)

Google knows where people are searching from based on their mobile phone GPS or their internet IP address. The closer the searcher is to your business the better chance you have of ranking for what they are searching for.


Proper Category Associations When you create or edit you Google My Business Page you can select categories that describe your business. The accuracy of these categories to what your business offers is paramount.


Product / Service Keyword in Business Title

The title of your business in Google My Business can have a descriptive keyword, i.e. “Coldwell Banker Real Estate” .


Individually Owner-verified My Business Page

When creating a business page, Google asks that you verify it by having an email address on your website domain, i.e. [email protected]. They will send you an email to confirm you have access to the email account. You cannot verify with generic accounts like @gmail.com or @hotmail.com


Proximity of Address to Centroid

This is the proximity of your business address to the center of the city being searched for.


Bulk Owner-verified My Business Page

If your business has multiple locations or My Business pages then it is important that each page be verified, more details here - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3217744?hl=en


Location Keyword in Business Title or Title Modifier

Adding a location to your business title, i.e. “Coldwell Banker Realty Newberg”. Please be very careful that you understand Google’s My Business guidelines before adding any extra words to your exact business title. If you are unsure, then only use your exact business name with no modification. Details - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177


mailto:[email protected]

http://gmail.com

http://hotmail.com

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3217744?hl=en

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177


2 - External Location Signals

Quality/Authority of Structured Citations

Citations are business listings with at least your business name, address and phone number in them. The authority of citations refers to the authority of the site the citation is coming from, i.e. Yelp will likely have a higher authority than a random small-time, third party business directory.


Consistency of Structured Citations

Google gets confused if your citations around the web are all different. Google won’t know if they are apply SEO juice to the right company, make sure your citations are the EXACT same everywhere on the web.


Quality/Authority of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)

Unlike Yelp or Yellow Pages, unstructured citation are from sources that are not specifically designed to host business information. It is still important that these sources have consistent and accurate NAP (name, address and phone number). The higher quality of the site and the more authority the site has the better the citation will be in helping you rank.


Quantity of Structured Citations (IYPs, Data Aggregators)

The more citations you have the better. There are hundreds of sites (i.e. Yelp, Yellow Pages, Foursquare and the like) that allow structured citations.


Quantity of Citations from Industry-Relevant Domains

These would be citations from real estate industry sources, for example: Zillow, Trulia, realtor.com or even association pages like National Association of Realtors or more local associations.


Quantity of Citations from Locally-Relevant Domains

There are many business directory sites that are designed for specific cities or regions. Where Yelp and Yellow Pages are national directories, these type of sites would be business directories specific to your area.


Quantity of Unstructured Citations (Newspaper Articles, Blog Posts)

Unlike Yelp or Yellow Pages, unstructured citation are from sources that are not specifically designed to host business information. It is still important that these sources have consistent and accurate NAP (name, address and phone number). The more of these local citations you have will allows Google to understand that you have a solid presence in your target area.

Category Category Explanation

http://realtor.com


3 - On-page Signals City, State in Landing Page Title

Every webpage has a title. You can find the title of the page in the tab of any browser. The title helps Google (and the site visitor) know what the page is about. By including location information like city and state in your landing page (the page you are trying to rank in a specific area) title you give yourself a better chance to rank for searches about your target area.

3 - On-page Signals Domain Authority of Website Domain authority is made up of a variety of factors that help determine your sites value. Many factors, including many of the factors in this table, go into creating authority. Think of it like a cumulative score for all SEO. The higher your domain authority the better chance you are to rank. This is especially tru after Google’s Pigeon update, as many speculate Google is trying to serve up higher quality websites. Authority scores can be synonymous with quality score.

3 - On-page Signals Page Authority of Landing Page URL

Page authority, like domain authority, is made up of a variety of factors that help determine your pages value. Each page has an authority rank, this is different from your domain authority in that domain authority is a single cumulative score for your entire site. Many factors, including many of the factors in this table, go into creating authority. Think of it like a cumulative score for all SEO. The higher your domain authority the better chance you are to rank. This is especially tru after Google’s Pigeon update, as many speculate Google is trying to serve up higher quality websites. Authority scores can be synonymous with quality score.

3 - On-page Signals Product / Service Keyword in Website URL

It seems rather obvious that a site with a domain like “ColdwellBankerRealty.com” would be about real estate, since the actual URL says so. The keyword does not have to be in the root domain only, it could also be placed in subfolders like “www.ColdwellBanker.com/realestate.” This tells Google that the intention of your site is real estate and people searching for real estate may be interested in your site.

3 - On-page Signals City, State in Landing Page H1/H2 Tags

H1 and H2 tags are simply header tags. The title of a blog post is the H1 tag for example. The subtitle and all following subtitles are usually H2 tags. Because the headers of a page are essentially an outline, Google can look at this information and determine that since your main outline contains city and state information in it that the page is likely relevant to that city and state. Having optimized header tags is very important for all SEO.


http://www.ColdwellBanker.com/realestate


3 - On-page Signals City, State in Most/All Website Title Tags

Every webpage has a title. You can find the title of the page in the tab of any browser. The title helps Google (and the site visitor) know what the page is about. By including location information like city and state in your landing page (the page you are trying to rank in a specific area) title you give yourself a better chance to rank for searches about your target area. By having city and state in most or all of the pages on your website this helps Google to understand that your entire site is intended for that geographic area and that all pages should be considered relevant to a local search for that area.

3 - On-page Signals HTML NAP Matching My Business Page NAP

NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone. Just like having an accurate NAP on a citation site like Yelp or Yellow Pages, you should also have accurate NAP on your website, especially your landing page (the page you are trying to rank for).

3 - On-page Signals Geographic Keyword in Website URL

It seems rather obvious that a site with a domain like “ColdwellBankerNewbergRealty.com” or “ColdwellBankerRealty/locations/newberg” would be relevant to Newberg, since the actual URL says so. This tells Google that the intention of your site is focused on Newberg and people searching in Newberg may be interested in your site.

3 - On-page Signals Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain

In most cases backlinks to your website are good (as long as the sites are quality and trustworthy). When another site links to your website they often use hyperlinks in text rather than showing the whole URL, i.e. “Newberg Coldwell Banker Real Estate” rather than http://www.coldwelllbanker.com/newberg. By having product/service keywords in the link text Google knows the source is linking to your site for a specific reason and this adds credibility to the link. In this ranking factor we are considering all inbound links to any page on your entire website.

3 - On-page Signals NAP in hCard / Schema.org Schema markup are little snippets of code (a website user never sees the schema tags because they are in the HTML code that makes up the web age). These tags mark certain things for Google to pay attention to. In the case of hCard schema these tags would go around your Business Name, Address and Phone Number on your site. For example you would want to tage your address on your website with an address page, your phone number with a phone number tag, etc. This makes it easy for Google to understand your business information and relate it to it’s algorithm. Google rewards site owners for making things easy on them!


http://ColdwellBankerNewbergRealty.com

http://www.coldwelllbanker.com/newberg


3 - On-page Signals Loadtime of Landing Page URL

Google wants to provide a good experience to their users (people searching). So Google does not want to send people to slow loading websites. People get annoyed by slow loading websites and it makes you and Google look bad. Fast and seamless loading websites will rank higher than slow loading sites.

3 - On-page Signals City, State in Most/All H1/H2 Tags

H1 and H2 tags are simply header tags. The title of a blog post is the H1 tag for example. The subtitle and all following subtitles are usually H2 tags. Because the headers of a page are essentially an outline, Google can look at this information and determine that since your main outline contains city and state information in it that the page is likely relevant to that city and state. If all or most of the pages on your site have outlines that refer to your geographic area then Google can safely say thatyour whole site is designed for one specific geographic area.

4 - Link Signals Product/Service Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

In most cases backlinks to your website are good (as long as the sites are quality and trustworthy). When another site links to your website they often use hyperlinks in text rather than showing the whole URL, i.e. “Newberg Coldwell Banker Real Estate” rather than http://www.coldwelllbanker.com/newberg. By having product/service keywords in the link text Google knows the source is linking to your site for a specific reason and this adds credibility to the link. In this specific case the backlinks are directed specifically at the landing page you are trying to rank in a specific area.

4 - Link Signals Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain from Locally-Relevant Domains

Links from other sites do not have to go to a specific URL on your site for that page to get “SEO juice”. If you have lots of links to many pages on your site this tells Google a few things: 1. your site has lots of good “linkworthy” content on a variety of topics, not just a single topic 2. Your site overall is popular. Links to any page on your site can help boost rankings for all other pages (as long as the links are from trustworthy sources).

4 - Link Signals Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain

In most cases backlinks to your website are good (as long as the sites are quality and trustworthy). When another site links to your website they often use hyperlinks in text rather than showing the whole URL, i.e. “Newberg Coldwell Banker Real Estate” rather than http://www.coldwelllbanker.com/newberg. By location keywords in the link text Google knows the source is specifically tying that link value to a certain area. In the example above if a searcher searches for “real estate newberg” the link would help Google determine that your website is more relevant to the “newberg area” because the link contains the keyword “newberg”. In this case we are talking about links that link directly to the landing page you are trying to rank for the Newberg area.





4 - Link Signals Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Domain

Again all links to your domain (as long as they are from trustworthy sources) are a good thing and will help boost your rankings on all other pages. If the website linking to your site includes your business title in the anchor text Google (i.e. “Berkshire Hathaway Realty” Google can more readily attribute that link to searches for your business. Again, added credibility.

4 - Link Signals Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

The more links you have to the specific page you are trying to rank for in an area the better (as long as they are from trustworthy sources).

4 - Link Signals Velocity of New Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

Google wants to know that you are earning your backlinks by creating valuable content on your website. Some sketchy tactics have led companies in the past to pay other websites for links. Some companies go on a blitz, paying for a lot of links all at once. Google is smart enough to recognize that you gained too many links too fast and that those links are likely unnatural. This is a lon-term approach. You want to gain links gradually over time by creating good content.

4 - Link Signals Business Title in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

Again all links to the page you are trying to rank (as long as they are from trustworthy sources) are a good thing and will help boost your rankings on all other pages. If the website linking to your site includes your business title in the anchor text Google (i.e. “Berkshire Hathaway Realty” Google can more readily attribute that link to searches for your business. Again, added credibility.

4 - Link Signals Velocity of New Inbound Links to Domain

Google wants to know that you are earning your backlinks by creating valuable content on your website. Some sketchy tactics have led companies in the past to pay other websites for links. Some companies go on a blitz, paying for a lot of links all at once. Google is smart enough to recognize that you gained too many links too fast and that those links are likely unnatural. This is a lon-term approach. You want to gain links gradually over time by creating good content. This goes for all backlinks to any page on your site, not just the page you are trying to rank.

4- Link Signals Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Domain

Links from higher quality, more authoritative and relevant sites will be better links, giving you more SEO juice than links from low quality, low trust and unrelated sites. Since your website is about real estate, links from websites in or similar to the real estate industry are best, i.e. mortgage lenders, real estate blogs, title companies, etc.



4- Link Signals Quality/Authority of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

Links from higher quality, more authoritative and relevant sites will be better links, giving you more SEO juice than links from low quality, low trust and unrelated sites. Since your website is about real estate, links from websites in or similar to the real estate industry are best, i.e. mortgage lenders, real estate blogs, title companies, etc. The same as above except this applies to links going directly to the page you are trying to rank for.

4- Link Signals Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain

Google wants to see links from many different sources around the web. If you have a lot of links, but they are all coming from just a few other sites, this does not give as much authority as if you have many different sites linking to you just once.

4- Link Signals Quantity of Inbound Links to Domain

The more links you have to any page on your site the better (as long as those links are from high quality sources).

4- Link Signals Location Keywords in Anchor Text of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

In most cases backlinks to your website are good (as long as the sites are quality and trustworthy). When another site links to your website they often use hyperlinks in text rather than showing the whole URL, i.e. “Newberg Coldwell Banker Real Estate” rather than http://www.coldwelllbanker.com/newberg. By location keywords in the link text Google knows the source is specifically tying that link value to a certain area. In the example above if a searcher searches for “real estate newberg” the link would help Google determine that your website is more relevant to the “newberg area” because the link contains the keyword “newberg”. In this case we are talking about any links to any page on your website.

4- Link Signals Diversity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL

Google wants to see links from many different sources around the web. If you have a lot of links, but they are all coming from just a few other sites, this does not give as much authority as if you have many different sites linking to you just once.

4- Link Signals Quantity of Inbound Links to Landing Page URL from Locally-Relevant Domains

The more links to the page you are trying to rank for the better (as long as the sources are trustworthy), but if those links also come from sources that are relevant to the location people are searching for then those links will add a little extra juice for searches specific to your area.

5 - Review Signals Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews

This is simply the quantity of reviews a company gets on sites like Google+ or Yelp. These reviews are noted as “third-party” as they are no published by the business itself.




5 - Review Signals Authority of third-party sites on which reviews are present

The more authority a review site has the more SEO juice a review will garner for a business.

5 - Review Signals Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party)

Reviews should be gained naturally. Google wants to know people are leaving reviews because of their excellent (or not so excellent) experience with your company, not because you asked them to or blasted your whole email list about reviewing your company. Again, reviews should be organic and natural. Too many reviews too fast will red flag Google that your reviews are likely not natural and either manufactured or incentivized.

5 - Review Signals Volume of Testimonials in hReview / Schema.org

Testimonials from customers are excellent way to gain credibility from people on your site. But if you want Google to give you credibility as well you need to tag your testimonial with code snippets so Google knows they are testimonials.

5 - Review Signals Quantity of Native Google Maps Reviews (w/text)

These are reviews left directly inside of the Google Maps interface. The more good reviews the better.

5 - Review Signals Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present

Google wants to see good reviews coming in about your site from more than just one third-party review site.

6 - Social Signals Authority of Shares on Google+

No two shares are alike. Although all shares are likely good on Google+, Google will give you more SEO points if your are being shared by authoritative individuals, AKA people with big followings and lots of activity on Google+.

7 - Behavioral/Mobile Signals

Click-Through Rate from Search Results

A click-through rate is simply the number of people that see your URL in a search result divided by the number of people that actually click your URL. This will tell Google if your website appears relevant to searchers or not. Google wants to provide searches with relevant and valuable links so a better click-through rate will be rewarded because people are getting what they want which makes Google happy.


It should be painfully obvious by now you need to get on the Google+ bandwagon. Whether you are a single agent working from home or a brokerage firm with multiple offices I will show you exactly how to kill it w/ Google My Business.

Chapter 4 How to Setup Your Google My Business Page for Success

Step 1. Go to -> https://www.google.com/business/ and click on the “Get on Google” button. *You will need a Google account to setup a My Business page

Step 2. Google will prompt you to find your business, in case it already

exists. If it doesn’t click “Add your business”.

*If your business is already listed and verified you will have to request admin rights, you will be prompted on

how to do this.

Helpful Resource: Google’s Guidelines - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177

https://www.google.com/business/


Step 3. Enter your business information.

Pro Tip: Business name & Address -‐ Use your exact business name and address as it shows up in the real

world, on business cards and signage. *It is not good practice to add keywords unless that keyword is already part

of your title, more details - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177

Pro Tip: Phone # -‐ It is best practice to use a local phone number, not a 1-800 number. Also, a landline is preferable

to a mobile or VoIP line.

Pro Tip: Category -‐ Accurate categories are arguably one of the most important aspects to a My Business page. You will have the opportunity to add more categories later, for

now pick the best single category. Here are my recommendations:

Individual agent -> “Real Estate Agents” Office - > “Real Estate Agency”

Pro Tip: You Want to Check This Box! -‐ See the next slide for why

Attention agents! - Not sure which address to use, home or business? Skip ahead 2 slides for more info.


Step 4. Setting up a Service Area Business.Yes, yes…I promise I understand you are in real estate and not a pizza delivery company or a plumber. By checking this box you will be setting yourself, or your company, up as a Service Area Business.

Why represent your company as a Service Area Business and not a normal local business? Well here are 2 reasons:

1. As Realtors, you do in fact serve people at their location…they are called appointments! 2. Being setup as

a service area business gives you the potential to rank for city searches outside of your address city!

I tend to think #2 is pretty important ;)

Pro Tip: Zip Codes or Radius? -‐ Opt for entering specific zip codes you serve rather than using the “Within ___ mi “

radius feature. This is more accurate (which Google loves) and gives you more customization over where you want

to be seen. Enter all zip codes you serve.

Agents: Only check this box if you have a physical location where you can receive walk-in customers. If you are using your home address, do not check this box. See next slide for more info.

Broker Offices: Check this box. Unless you do not accept walk-ins.

More info on service area businesses - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038163


Address: Physical v. Virtual

Agents

Broker Office

Since you are setting up your own, individual My Business page, this will be separate from your broker office’s page. In essence you will be competing in local search results with your own brokerage firm’s My Business page.

Some broker’s may be OK with this others may not be. If your broker is not 100% on board with this then you will have to use your home address AKA a “virtual address” -> do NOT check the above box.

If your broker is OK with it, after getting their permission, you can actually list your My Business page at the same address as your broker office. If this is the case then you CAN check the box “I also serve customers at my business address.”

Please keep in mind, that Google’s guidelines state that the hours you show on your business page should be in line with hours you spend at this office. Google wants to serve accurate information…so if you are never at the office, then you may want to opt for using your home address.

See section titled, “Chains, departments, and individual practitioners” - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177

This is quite a lot simpler for brokers. As long as you can accept walk-ins during the hours you have stated on your my business page then you SHOULD check this box.

Having this box checked will allow you to show up on Google maps searches. If this box is not checked you may still show up in the Local Pack, but you won’t show up in Maps.

If your firm has more than one location here are some guidelines and best practices, more will be covered on this topic later in this guide:

• http://moz.com/blog/local-landing-pages-guide • https://www.google.com/local/manage/?

hl=en&_ga=1.65438378.560822717.1424472613#/list


http://moz.com/blog/local-landing-pages-guide

https://www.google.com/local/manage/?hl=en&_ga=1.65438378.560822717.1424472613#/list

Step 6a. Confirm Your Business. Now you just need to confirm your

account! Hit the checkbox to authorize that this is indeed your

business and click continue.

Step 7. Verify Your Business.

Google may ask you to verify your business, to do this now, click “Mail me my code” if you prefer to do this later, click “Continue and verify later”. It is recommended to go ahead and just do this now. If you do not verify now some of your page edits will not show up until you do.

Step 6b. Google will automatically setup a Google+ page for you.

Step 9. NAP Consistency.

What is NAP!?!? Sorry for the jargon, but you might want to get used to it. NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone

Number. Pretty obvious stuff. No one ever said local marketing was rocket science…

just tedious!

Step 8. Delete duplicate pages. You shouldn’t have any duplicate Google+ My Business pages at this point, but if you do (maybe you changed your business name or setup a page and never finished it) you need to hunt them down and delete them…yep all of them.

If your business has multiple locations, we will cover that in this guide. It is OK to have multiple My Business pages for each location.

Time to OPTIMIZE Your My Business Page

So why…is this here? It is important that the way your NAP shows up on Google+ Page

matches the way your NAP shows up on every other site on the internet! i.e. Yelp,

Yellowpages, etc. So settle on a consistent NAP now and lock it in on G+ first . We will cover

more about where else you will put your NAP and editing other NAP’s around the web that

don’t match later.

See the section titled “Business Information” for info on how you can show your NAP on Google+ - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177


Step 10. Add more categories.

You can add up to 10 categories in Google+, why you would ever need that

many is beyond me, but the more descriptive you are of your business the

better.

You can search for categories that accurately represent your business

here: https://moz.com/local/categories

"Categories are a critical piece of how Google determines the relevance (not rank) of a listing in local

search .“ -Mike Blumenthal, local search expert

https://moz.com/local/categories

Step 10. Add a branded profile image.

This should ideally be your logo. Just click where the green circle indicates and upload your logo

Bigger photos look better! The smallest size you can use is 250 x 250 pixels.

Step 11. Add a branded cover photo. “Tip: We recommend that you choose a photo that's 1080 x 608

pixels. The smallest photo you can choose is 480 x 270 pixels, and the largest photo you can choose is 2120 x 1192 pixels.”

-Google, source

https://support.google.com/plus/answer/1057172?hl=en

Pro Tip: Cover Photo Design -‐ We aren’t all graphic designers. If you need help creating a cover photo head on over to https://www.fiverr.com/ where you can get just about any quick graphic design done for just $5!

Pro Tip: Cover Photo Branding -‐ Use real images of yourself or your team. This helps

keep your brand human and relatable. Generic cover photos with no people or

stock images with actors tend to look sterile and inauthentic. You are your brand!

https://www.fiverr.com/

Step 12. Make sure your profile is 100% complete.

An incomplete profile is a great way to tell Google, “I don’t really care that much.” Bottom line, be anal about your profile completeness and accuracy.

Google will prompt on what you need to do to complete your profile:

The bare minimum: • Photo and cover photo • Hours of operation • Business photos • Website URL • Introduction

WARNING! Most companies stop here…don’t be most companies.

Google ultimately controls the majority of your local SEO fate. You should take pride in your Google+ page to let Google know that you want to be on top. Just because your profile says 100% complete does

not mean it is done well. The next few slides will showcase some tips on how to have a standout profile.

Step 13. Add photos, lots of photos.When you finish adding some photos…go ahead and add some more. Google wants to see photos of your business! What kind of photos does Google want to see? Well they tell you on the manage photos page,

here are a few I recommend as well:

• Photos of your business store front and physical location • Photos of your products (houses duh!) • Scenic photos of your area and neighborhoods • Anything else related: events, awards, etc.

Pro Tip: Quality! Quality! Quality! -‐ The higher the quality, the better. Bigger and better resolution is what you are going for.

Super Pro Tip: Trusted Photographers & 360 Virtual Tours: You are all familiar with virtual tours for houses, but how about your business? Use a Google Trusted Photographer to take high quality images of your location.

Why do this? A few reasons:

• It’s awesome! And looks super professional • Many people try and cheat Google by using locations that aren’t

really theirs, this is one more layer of verification for Google • Finally…and most important, it will make you standout and

possibly rank higher.

More details on how to participate - https://www.google.com/

maps/about/partners/businessview/

https://www.google.com/maps/about/partners/businessview/

Step 14. Lights, camera, action!

Google+ is designed to be a very visual platform. Just like Google wants to see photos, high-quality videos

are just as important. Get some videos live on your page ASAP. Some good examples:

• About me/us video • Overview of services you offer • Specific services • Informational videos

Step 15. First impressions AKA your Intro.

Not only should your intro go into detail about your business, but it should be SEO optimized with keywords and relevant company information…but don’t be spammy!

Casey Meraz, a local SEO expert recommends your intro be a minimum of 250 words, but 400 would be best!

Pro Tip: Unique content: Don’t copy and paste from your website. This intro

content should be unique, this shows Google you care and you won’t get

flagged with duplicate content penalties.

http://moz.com/community/users/224592

Step 16. Links.Link to any other web properties you own or work on, this includes: social media, websites, blogs, industry profiles, YouTube channels, guest contribution to online sources, etc. Atlanta, Realtor Mark Spain does a great job of this.

Step 17. Seasonal hours.There is no automated method for adding seasonal or holiday hours. You have to do it manually, but it is a good idea. If you plan to change your hours, go into your page and make the changes the week of. Just remember to change them back!

Step 18. Post to your page consistently.You need to be active on your page and keep it alive!

This means posting to your page often and replying to comments or other page interactions.

I recommend posting a minimum of 1 x per week. Keep in mind this is a BARE MINIMUM. Ideally you

would be posting daily as you would to Facebook.

Step 19. Your final step is ENGAGEMENT!Go add some people into your circles: industry leaders, local business people, partners, potential customers, etc. Make circles for each type of person you want to follow.

Why does this matter? Google wants to see influential people sharing, commenting on and +1’ing your content. The more authority a person has interacting with your page the more SEO juice you get!

So go rub some digital elbows with the big dogs!

What to post: • Post like you would to Facebook • Audience-centric content • Listings • Articles • Local news and events • PHOTOS & VIDEOS*

*comments on G+ videos show up in your YouTube channel as well = 2 birds, 1 stone!

You are almost done! Drum roll please!!!!

Chapter 5 The Role of Social in Local Marketing and SEO

Chapter 5: The Role of Social Media in SEO

“Social Media…I Thought This was an SEO Guide?” Damn straight this is in SEO guide! And I would like to be the first to welcome you to the new world of digital marketing…where everything is interconnected.

The technical term is “integrated marketing” and you may here other marketers mention, “taking marketing out of silos”.

But simply put the idea is that every part of digital marketing influences every other part. You don’t have SEO with out social, you don’t have social without content marketing, you don’t have content marketing without SEO or social, you don’t have branding without social…and…and…and…the connections go on-and-on.

But since this is and SEO guide we are going to focus solely on the connection of social to SEO.

69% of consumers are more likely to use a local business if it has information

available on a social media site. (comScore and TMP, 2011)

It’s All About “Social Proof” The thing is social media is a powerful

tool for influencing others. If your customers notice other people

interacting with your content, they are more likely to interact as well…this is a marketing fact that has been know for

ages, but is more important than ever in our infinitely connected society because

we are constantly shown what our friends, colleagues and family are

“liking.”Search Engines Love Social Proof Remember how I mentioned earlier that Google (and other search engines) have a simple goal to provide exactly what people want? Then doesn’t it make sense they would be interested in social proof because, simply, people like what other people like? So why not rank more liked/shared/+1’d/retweeted content higher? In fact that is exactly what they do.


http://www.yola.com/blog/17-small-business-marketing-statistics-that-will-help-you-succeed-online/#sthash.oUXLm2Uc.dpuf

Hey, everybody else likes this stuff…

maybe we should too…

Key Takeaway 1. Well shared and liked content provides social proof.

Key Takeaway 2. Social proof gives search engines cause to rank content higher.

Key Takeaway 3. Social media isn’t just about getting seen in social channels…

Not only will better social metrics rank you higher in the search engines, but the higher you rank in the search engines, the more likely your content is to get seen, and then more your content is

seen the more it is going to get shared and liked…it’s a self-perpetuating cycle!


“OK, you have my attention, but what do I do about it?”

It’s Simple, but Not Easy The best way to get people to like your content is to make content that is likable! Mind blowing, I know. But here is the thing…so many marketers spend tons of time finding ways to game the SEO system with tricks and schemes…but both social media channels and search engines are getting very good at weeding out the crap… If you want to win in SEO and social create AWESOME content!

Awesome Content = Valuable Content Value can come in a lot of different ways,

but the bottom line is your audience has to get something out of your content. Gary

Vaynerchuck says this about valuable content:

“Consumers…they are there [on social media] for value. That can take many forms. Sometimes it’s in a few minutes respite from the stress of a

busy day. Sometimes it’s in the form of …entertainment, information, news, gossip, friendship, a sense of connection, a chance to feel popular,

or an opportunity to brag.” Gary Vaynerchuck, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook


1. Focus on one or two channels (maybe 3 if you have help). I

suggest, for real estate, in this order: Facebook, Google+,

Twitter*

2. Setup a posting schedule and stick to it!!!! Carve time out

every day to do this…it only requires a few minutes.

3. Use tools like Hootsuite and Buffer to make posting easier!

4. Search engines put weight on social authority…link up and

engage with influential people in your immediate area and in

your industry. Find influencers using these tools: Buzzsumo &

Topsy

*If you are located in an urban area where Twitter adoption is likely higher you may want

to consider this as you #2 channel.

So Where Do Is Start First things first…this is not a guide on social media best practices or a social media how to…maybe I will make one of those on another date. This section is simply here to inform you of the implications of social media on SEO and how it is tied in. But since most people can’t stop salivating over social media here are a few tips to get you started:


https://hootsuite.com/

https://bufferapp.com/

http://buzzsumo.com/

http://topsy.com/

Chapter 6 Landing Page Optimization

Landing Page? Is That, Like a Website? A landing page is a specific page you are hoping to rank for a specific keyword or location, the page you want people to “land” on after a search.

Shouldn’t my landing page just be my home page? Not necessarily! This is the page you will link to directly from your Google+ My Business page. In some cases, yes, this is your home page. For instance if you only have a single location, then in almost every case you should be looking to use your home page as your local landing page.

When you shouldn’t use your home page, is if you have multiple locations.

Technically every page on your site can be a landing page, but when it comes to trying to rank for local search results you want to focus on just a single local landing page, for each business location.

Chapter 6: Landing Page Optimization

Site Structure for Muliple Locaions

www.mywebsite.com

www.mywebsite.com/locations

/locations/newyork /locations/boston /locations/miami

www.mywebsite.com

In this example Green Realty has a single location. Their local landing page should be their home page (www.greenrealty.com) and they should connect their home page directly to their Google+ My Business Page and any

other digital citations. On the other hand Blue Realty Company has three locations in different cities. Each location should have it’s own landing page (www.bluerealtycompany.com/locations/city) that ties back to a main page listing all locations at www.mywebsite.com/locations/. Each of Blue Realty Company’s locations should have it’s own Google+

page. Multiple Google+ locations should be managed through this interface Google My Business Locations.


http://www.mywebsite.com



http://www.greenrealty.com

http://www.bluerealtycompany.com/locations/city

http://www.mywebsite.com/locations/

http://www.apple.com

Step 1. Optimize Meta Title, Description and H1 tags

Onward! Now that you understand landing pages, let’s talk about optimizing them!

• Title should include: business name, main keyword and city and state.

• Description: should include all of the above + your phone number

• H1 tag should have the city and state , and if you can do it without looking unnatural, add a keyword as well.

Step 2. Embedded Map and Driving DirectionsGo to http://www.google.com/maps, search for your business and click on it. In the bottom right corner is a little gear. Clicking on that will reveal an option to link to the map or embed it. You may need web developer assistance for this. You should also include written driving directions.


http://www.google.com/maps

Step 4. NAP on Landing Page in hCard/Schema

• The copy should be original, DO NOT copy and paste from another site.

• If you can fit keywords in without being spammy or grammatically incorrect do so.

• Have some one working at that location write the copy to try and capture the essence of the location accurately.

Step 3. ContentYour landing page needs to have a minimum of 400 words of copy, but more can be better. Here are some things to keep in mind when writing this pages copy:

You should have your business name, address and phone # on your landing page. These should be in text

that Google can crawl and in hCard/schema.org formatting. You will need a web developers help with this or you can use a simple generator tool Microdata

Generator. <div itemscope itemtype=“http://schema.org/LocalBusiness”>

<div itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/RealEstateAgent">

Pro Tip: Schema Opimizaion -‐ Most businesses put a generic “local business” markup in their schema. But you can do better! Instead of the generic “localbusiness” markup use “RealEstateAgent” it is a legitimate markup tag and can be used for agents and brokers alike.


http://schema.org


http://schema.org/RealEstateAgent

Step 6. Image Alt Text

Step 5. Reviews On Landing PageWhile we’re on the schema markup topic any text

reviews you have from customer should be placed on your landing page. Be sure to tell Google the are

reviews by using good ol’ schema markup! Again you can use the Microdata Generator tool, but this time

for hReview schema. You may still need a web developer to add this HTMl to your site and style it.

Any images on your landing page (I recommend you have at least one) should have proper ALT tags. This is a web-optimization best practice. If you have pictures of people, then tag it with their names and titles and toss in the location information as well. Since this is your location landing page if you have images of your place of business, simply add your company name, city and state to the image tags. This requires HTML coding skills, unless you use a CMS like Wordpress.

Properly tagged reviews can show up like this in Google Organic results.

<img src=“smiley.png” alt=“Smiley face”>



Step 7. Mobile Friendly Site

It’s 2015 people! If you don’t have a mobile site or responsive site design then don’t count on getting a glorious blessing from Google. If pleasing Google isn’t enough to get you to make the switch maybe these facts will:

• As the market heats up, more and more house hunters are relying on their smartphones to stay competitive. Mobile phones account for 27% of total searches related to buying a home.

• Most people would use their mobile device to do at least one of the following: search for listings, find directions to a house, look for more information on a listing, call or e-mail an agent directly, or watch a video while out looking for a home (Google Consumer Survey, April 2014).

• Searches related to home buying are highest over the weekend when people are likely out touring neighborhoods and visiting open houses (Google Data).

• House hunters used their mobile device most to search for listings and find directions while out looking for a home (Google Consumer Survey, April 2014).

• According to Google (heard of them?) 50% of all mobile search is for local. - See more at: http://blog.wamenterprisesllc.com/10-facts-on-local-seo-for-small-businesses#sthash.LEru77iY.dpuf

AKA if you don’t have a mobile design, plan on throwing away 1/3 of all site traffic you generate…seriously just forget about it!


http://blog.wamenterprisesllc.com/10-facts-on-local-seo-for-small-businesses#sthash.LEru77iY.dpuf

Chapter 7 Be Everywhere with Citations

Be Everywhere!

The internet is a big place! There are tons of directories and websites where you can get your business listed beyond just Google+ My Business. Anytime your business information is listed somewhere on the web, it is called a citation. In this chapter will are going to focus on building up a large base of citations, some tools and services you can use and finally citation best practices.

Chapter 7: Be Everywhere With Citations

“I Need Lot’s of Citations…but Where?When it comes to gaining citations there are many places you could start, but here are two lists to get you started - 1. Local Visibility and 2. Whitespark. Overwhelmed after seeing hundreds of citations on those lists…that’s not unreasonable. Focus on the 80/20 rule pick one of these lists (they are some of the best sources after all) and complete citations on all of them first. Later on you can worry about more citations, but let’s get you up on the biggest and best first.

“Ok, Now I Know Where I Need to Have Citations, but What Do I Do Exactly?”

Besides having citations up on as many places as you can, you need to make sure of the following:

• You don’t have duplicate citations on any sites • Your citations match, aka CONSISTENCY! (more

on this next slide) • Your citations are complete…remember NAP, you

need Name, Address and Phone # on each of them.


http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/definitive-local-search-citations/

https://www.whitespark.ca/citation-audit-and-cleanup-service#

Step 1. Gather Your Current Business InformationI recommend using the spreadsheet created by Casey Meraz (@CaseyMeraz), it is a simple way to gather all of the pertinent business information you may need when creating or editing citations. Also, citation creation and editing is TEDIOUS having this in hardcopy is excellent for outsourcing…interns anyone?

Link

Step 2. Citations Audit and Consistency

Before tearing through each citation source in the list above one-by-one, check MOZ Local’s listing tool to

help you find any conflicts that may already exist - https://moz.com/local/search. Once you have done

this it is time to get into the manual portion of the audit. Check each source, if a citation doesn’t exist

then create one, if it does then you will want to ensure consistency and edit it.

Don’t worry about minor details like “W” v. “West” or “St.” v.”Street”.


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K02NuLaA-Ps7YZDHPeqngszr_d6oa28i72t8YW5h_tc/edit?pli=1#gid=1947086086

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K02NuLaA-Ps7YZDHPeqngszr_d6oa28i72t8YW5h_tc/edit?pli=1#gid=1947086086

https://moz.com/local/search

Step 3. Research Out Local or Industry Specific Directories and Add Citations

Part of the local chamber of commerce, Rotary or another local group? Make sure you have a listing on their website if they offer it. Are you in any industry associations? Ask for a citation or check and see if the provide a directory service.


Ok, so this isn’t really a step, but if you don’t have time for this or a fresh supply of interns to abuse, then try a citation service.

Here are a few top choices:

Step 5. This is Too Much Work!

• MOZ Local • Whitespark • Brightlocal

https://moz.com/local/overview

http://www.whitespark.ca/

http://www.brightlocal.com/

Did you find this guide helpful?

Please Share It!

Thanks for reading my guide, if you have any questions please reach out to me

personally at:

[email protected]

To your success,

-Josh Brown

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