6 Tricks to Improve Your Company’s Local Search Results
As Google continues to update its search algorithm, the results more and more commonly favor sites that emphasize their geographic locations. With this in mind, show your local pride by using proven tricks that can improve your local business search results.
Trick No. 1: Don’t forget to NAP.
Your NAP is your business name, address and phone number, and it should be somewhere on every page of your website. In addition to just posting the information on your Web pages, do some research to make sure it’s presented consistently on outside Web pages. Try these steps suggested by David Mihm, a recognized authority on local search who compiles the well-respected Local Search Ranking Factors survey.
- Search Google.com as well as Maps.Google.com for your business name and city.
- Use a resource like GetListed.org to see how your business is listed on multiple search engines, including local search engines.
- If you see an incorrect NAP in any search engine, then search that incorrect NAP using Google.com. Make a list of the major data sources that list your NAP incorrectly.
- Search Google Maps for any incorrect NAP listings that you’ve found so far. Use the “Report a Problem” button to correct the listings.
- Update your information with big data brokerages like Localeze, Acxiom and Infogroup.
- Create an account on the major search engines, like Google and Bing, as well as local search engines that are used prominently in your area. Update the listings as needed, especially if you move to a new location or change your contact information.
- Search Google MapMaker for any incorrect NAP listings. Mihm thinks that MapMaker is becoming more important to Google’s search algorithm, so it’s worth your time to correct any errors.
Trick No. 2: Do a Google Authorship markup.
A Google Authorship markup will add your photo to any pages that you author on the Internet. Take the following steps to perform an Authorship markup:
- Create a Google+ profile for your business.
- Upload a great profile picture of yourself.
- Link to the profile from your Web page using a “rel=author” string (e.g., <a href=”[profile_url]?rel=author”>Google</a>)
- Find the “Contributor to” section on your Google+ profile.
- Link back to your site from your Google+ profile.
Trick No. 3: Add testimonials to your website.
Obtain written testimonials from customers in your area. Make sure to add the customer’s city and state of residence after the testimonial.
Trick No. 4: List any local events in which your business participates.
If your business participates in local fundraisers, social activities, fairs or other events, then be sure to list those events on your calendar. Always include geographic information including city and state. If you feel confident in your coding abilities, then you can use Google’s Data Highlighter for Events to help Google crawl and display your event data.
Trick No. 5: Highlight your employees and your management team.
Add profiles of your employees and managers to your website, and, as always, include geographic information. Encourage the people that you profile to list their hobbies and interests, particularly if those activities have strong community connections. Link to any local civic organizations or other appropriate local groups with which your employees are involved.
Trick No. 6: Get reviewed.
Look up review sites that could be relevant to your business. These sites may include TripAdvisor, Yelp or UrbanSpoon. You should also set up a Foursquare profile if your company is a customer destination. Then, encourage your customers to review your company on these sites to improve your local search results.
Improving local search can boost your business, but it can also involve a lot of work. Let Infintech take some of the work off of your hands. Fill out our contact form or call us at (504) 717-4837