I found this great article by John Jantsch. You know the author of Duct Tape Marketing.
The article is titled, 5 Relatively Simple Steps to Dominate Local Search. It is a great article with all kinds of useful information. I highly recommend you check it out.
Here are a few takeaways that I found greatly helpful and I will implement with my clients.
TAKEAWAY #1
I’ve always preached and am a big believer that local businesses should create local content. And John talks about this same thing. He mentions how we not only need to talk about our products and services but also provide valuable content to help people. His example is how a plumber should write content about how to fix a leaking faucet and not just about their 12-point inspection system. Make it about the customer not the business.
TAKEAWAY #2
John also talks about taking online reviews seriously. WAY too many businesses ignore the importance of online reviews. He gives a great example screenshot of when he searched for a florist in his home town and how one stood out over all the rest. Not only were they ranked #1 on Google but they had 43 5-star reviews. They stood out like a sore thumb – but in a good way!
TAKEAWAY #3
John also stresses the importance of working the online directories. He talks about how its important to claim your business in these listings as it gives you data points for rankings. And you don’t won’t someone else to claim your listing. Yes, that actually happens.
For the past few years I’ve created a best selling PLR product titled, Top Online Directories. This product is perfect for the offline consultant who wants to implement online directory marketing services in their business. Which can be highly profitable by they way.
To help you implement this service as part of your business you can combine my Top Online Directories PLR product with a tool like Grade.us. Grade.us has a special package for marketing consultants that allows you to sell online directory services to as many local businesses as you want. Definitely something you should look into.
There are several other takeaways but you’ll have to check out John’s article to get them.
Click here to read it now.
Very good information. If you have your name, address & phone number exactly the same every where and list them or claim them in as many places as possible then your chances of ranking well will greatly increase.
Great insight Tony! Thanks for sharing!!
Drew – great info on local seo for businesses and a recap of takeaways from Jantsch’s article.
Do you recommend UBL vs Local Moz vs Yext vs Whitespark, to help manage and monitor local business online directories?
Ed
Hi Ed,
Thanks for your question. Unfortunately I can’t really give you an answer as I outsource the management of local directory monitoring. I keep things simple using a company on Elance. I realize this is probably not what you were looking for but I don’t want to suggest something that I haven’t used personally.
Thanks!
Drew