In an earlier blog post, we discussed how listing your regional business on Google Local can help build your local following. If you’re already listed on Google Local and not achieving a top ranking among area businesses in your industry, you can take a few cues from your more successful competitors to help direct and expand your local SEO strategy.
1. Perform Google searches related to your business and region.
Research how your business, as well as your competitors, ranks with different search phrases related to your area and industry. For instance, let’s say you have a cupcake bakery in San Diego. In that case, you would want to look at search results for the following terms:
San Diego, CA, cupcakes
Cupcakes San Diego
San Diego cupcake bakery
Cupcake shop San Diego
Try searches with as many variations on your regional (i.e. San Diego, San Diego, CA, Downtown San Diego) and business keywords (i.e. cupcake, bakery, dessert, cake) as you can think of, using both plural and singular keyword spellings whenever applicable. With each search, note which businesses consistently achieve top Google Local rankings. In our example, it’s:
2. Look at the local business profile for each top-ranked competitor.
To visit a business’s local business profile, click on the reviews section of its Google Local listing.
From the local business profile, go to the More About This Place section. Click More to view all listings:
Look at the sources that have listed the business. For example, Cupcake Squared has profiles on well known sites such as Facebook, UrbanSpoon.com and CitySearch.com, but it’s also listed on smaller sites such as CityVoter.com and CitySquares.com and even food-specific sites such as CupcakeFetish.com and GlutenFreeFoodReview.com.
Each listing source offers an opportunity to get the word out about your business and potentially up your Google Local ranking. For even more listing results, look at the Reviews and User Content sections as well.
3. Add/update your profile for each listing source that applies to your business.
Adding your business to as many quality, relevant listing sources as possible can only help you get the word out about your business. Use your competitors’ profiles to find out about potential listing sources and then make sure to add your business. If you’re already listed on these sites, make sure your information is accurate and up-to-date.
This manual process is, admittedly, intensive, but a competitive local web presence can help inform and attract a larger local customer base.
At CyberMark, we can help develop an organic local SEO strategy for your business. Contact us for more details.
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