GOOGLE BUSINESS TECHNIQUES

Google’s Local Business Center is a directory of Businesses that are organized by location and keyword relevancy in Google Maps and in Google search results. Often times, you will see Google’s local business results above organic results in search engine results pages for search terms that include a geographic location (example: Santa Monica Dodge). The image below shows Google local business results on top of organic search results for the term ‘Santa Monica Dodge’. bigbroseo You can see how important having a local business result can be – after all, even after getting ranked #1 organically, you can still get pushed down several result spots by a large local business listing. It is very important to get listed in these results.

How to set up a local business account:

Go to the Google Local Business Center and add your company to their system. Follow the simple set up instructions and include as much information as possible on your company (store hours, pictures, videos, descriptions, multiple phone numbers, etc) – this will provide search engines with more info on your company to rank you with.

Google Local Business SEO:

There are a number of factors that come into play when Google decides to rank your business in the local search results – these include (but are not limited to):

Using the target city in your business address:

The most successful local business seo news campaigns are actually located in the city that they are attempting to optimize for. This is not to say that you need to move your business, or lie about your location, just that it is a very important (if not the most important) factor in getting ranked in local search results. You can get ranked in the local search results for a city if you are in a city nearby (especially if Google Local has a small number of competing businesses for that city).

Getting citations or business mentions from highly accredited outside sources:

Perhaps the most important aspect (that is within your control) of getting ranked highly in local search results is outside citations. Getting listed with local directories and IYPs (Internet Yellow Pages) can be the boost you need to get to the top of local search results. These outside sources serve as votes of legitimacy for your business – make sure to include the same city, address and keywords you used in Google Local Business Center in each IYP or directory listing in order to get the maximum benefit.