1. Search Engine Optimization For Local Search Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Mary Bowling Twitter: @MaryBowling Blog: www.MaryBowling.comwww.MaryBowling.com Google+: MaryBBowling@gmail.com Mary Bowling Twitter: @MaryBowling Blog: www.MaryBowling.comwww.MaryBowling.com Google+: MaryBBowling@gmail.com www.LocalU.org

2. For Local Businesses, SEO is Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Making it as easy as possible for prospective customers to find information about YOUR BUSINESS wherever they may be looking online for you or for the goods and services you sell! www.LocalU.org

3. To Achieve That, We Need To: Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Create and improve your website so that it will rank highly on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) to help potential customers find the business’ website. Create and improve business listings in important local places across the web to help potential customers find the business’ information on other websites. www.LocalU.org

4. SEO Helps You Rank in 2 Ways Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com PAID ADS LOCAL MAP PAID ADS LOCAL RESULTS ORGANIC RESULTS www.LocalU.org

5. Who Gets The Clicks? Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com US Search Engine Market Share January 2013 67% GOOGLE Other 5% Bing 16% 12% Yahoo BingHoo 28% www.LocalU.org Bing provides organic search results for Yahoo! Search Source: ComScore

6. Aim for Ranking on Page 1 ! Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com #1 - 42.13% #2 - 11.90% #3 - 8.50% #4 - 6.06% #5 - 4.92% #6 - 4.05% #7 - 3.41% #8 - 3.01% #9 - 2.85% #10 - 2.99% www.LocalU.org

7. The SEO Process Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Pick the right keyword phrases Decide which pages on our website to optimize for which terms Implement the keyword phrases within the content of your web pages appropriately Link between your own pages Gain links and citations from other websites Eliminate technical problems www.LocalU.org

8. The Algorithms (What’s the secret formula?) Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com www.LocalU.org

9. Google Algo Super Simplified! Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Incoming Links On page Keyword Use Everything Else www.LocalU.org

10. Google Says: Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com “People often talk about “the Google results” but the truth is there is no single “Google” — at any given time there are 50-200 different versions of our core algorithm out in the wild. Millions more when you realize your search results are personalized to you and you alone.” In other words, we are all seeing differing results all the time. Source:http://www.google.com/insidesearch/playground/underthehood.html www.LocalU.org

11. What Search Engines Want Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com To return the most relevant and useful results for every search query. So, we have to demonstrate and reinforce the relevance and usefulness of our pages to searchers. www.LocalU.org

12. Relevance=Location Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Google knows where we are: via automatic detection via our settings and info in our Google account The business’ location and distance from the searcher help Google determine usefulness. www.LocalU.org

13. Relevance = Keywords in Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com HTML titles and headline tags we place on our web pages: www.LocalU.org Headline tags appear on the page Page titles appear in the SERPs

14. Relevance = Keywords in Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com The text content we place on our pages www.LocalU.org

15. Relevance = Keywords in Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com The text in the links that point to our web pages Link text: insurance agent Link text: Cannizzaro Insurance Link text: austin renters insurance Link text: car policy Link text: affordable auto coverage www.LocalU.org A link tells Search Engines and humans what the page it points to is about.

16. Recap on Relevance Signals Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Our location in relationship to searcher’s location Keywords in page titles and html tags website text text in links pointing to pages www.LocalU.org

17. On-Site Optimization (What we put on our own web pages) Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com www.LocalU.org

18. Start with Keywords Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com On-page Keyword Use www.LocalU.org We have total control over what we put on our own pages

19. Which Keywords? Don’t Guess! Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Keyword research = foundation of SEO It enables you to learn: What terms? How many searches? How hard to rank? www.LocalU.org

20. What Makes a Good Keyword? Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Is someone searching for that term likely to turn into a customer for your business? Those are the terms to optimize for! www.LocalU.org

21. Use Google Suggest Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com www.LocalU.org

22. Research Local Keywords Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Google Trends Tool http://www.google.com/ trends/explore www.LocalU.org Add search terms Choose location Choose time period

23. Keyword List Tips Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Put your terms into a free tool* to get an idea of how many people are searching for it and how hard it might be to rank for it www.LocalU.org *See your handouts for a list

24. Keyword Mapping Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Create a plan of how your keywords will be used to optimize your website. Critical step that will guide all of your ongoing search engine optimization efforts Begin by reviewing your site structure. www.LocalU.org

25. Map Your Site Structure Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com The higher up a page is in the site structure the more natural potential ranking power it has. www.LocalU.org

26. Match Pages to Keywords Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com What is that web page about? What keyword term(s) best describe it? How many people are searching for the term(s)? How hard will it be to rank for the term(s)? How much potential ranking power does that page have? There is no exact formula for doing this! www.LocalU.org

27. Sample Keyword Map Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com www.LocalU.org

28. Where to Use Keywords Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Use assigned keywords in the important TEXT areas of your pages: URLs HTML Page Titles H1, H2 (headlines and subheads) Text-based content Navigation links Other internal link text Image file names, alt tags and captions www.LocalU.org

29. Page Title URL Header (h1) Subheader (h2) Navigation Content Image WHERE TO USE KEYWORDS

30. Optimize Your Search Results Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com When a page appears in the SERPs, people usually see: www.LocalU.org HTML Page title HTML metadescription URL Page title + Meta description + URL = “Free Ad” in the SERPs

31. Check Your Own Ads! Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com www.LocalU.org

32. Make Ads Enticing Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Focus on the searcher, who’s thinking: What’s in it for me? What problem can this help me solve? Why should I go to this page instead of another? Include a call to action : call today, get a free quote, get help, learn how, download, etc. Ads read better if they are not cut off in the search results Page Title: No more than 65 characters Meta Description: No more than 150 characters. www.LocalU.org

33. Local SEO Tips for Your Website Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com www.LocalU.org

34. Make Location Unmistakable Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Place your business name, full street address and local phone number on all pages of your website in text form Consider using www.Schema.org microdata format for thiswww.Schema.org www.LocalU.org

35. Check Your Website Crawlability Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com If the Search Engines can’t find or crawl your pages, they cannot appear in the Search Results. www.LocalU.org

36. Check What Google “Sees” Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com www.LocalU.org Check your home page and all other important pages on your website

37. To Rank for Multiple Locations Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com With a physical presence (you have an office, shop or store in a location) you qualify for a Google business listing for each location. It is eligible to rank in Google Maps and in the organic Google results. Without a physical presence (you service the location, but do not have an office or shop there) you do not qualify for a Google business listing and you are not eligible to rank in the Google Maps results. You are eligible to rank in the organic results. www.LocalU.org

38. To Rank for Multiple Locations Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com In either case (with or without a physical presence), create a separate website page for each location. Unique, useful page for searchers about that location Optimize the page for main service or product + location Use good internal linking (between your own pages) Build external links to each page (from other websites) For each local page on Google+, point your link to your website URL about that location www.LocalU.org

39. Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Manhattan Insurance Office Located Here Bronx Insurance Service area – No Office Brooklyn Insurance Service Area – No Office Website pages Queens Insurance Service Area – No Office Manhattan Insurance Local Business page on Google+ Maps SERPs Organic SERPs www.LocalU.org

40. Internal Link Text Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com When linking from one of your pages to another, use descriptive link text to tell SE’s what page is about Replace click here, view more, learn more, etc to location+keyword terms to point to the page optimized for those terms. For a page optimized for Austin Accounting, change Click Here to See all of our Austin accounting services or Tax advice in Austin Mix up link text – don’t use the exact same term over and over www.LocalU.org

41. Recap: On-site Optimization Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Pick the right keyword phrases Map keywords to pages Implement keywords on chosen pages Make your “ads” enticing Put location information in text form Give each location you wish to rank for its own unique page useful to searchers www.LocalU.org

42. Off-Page Optimization (aka link building) Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com www.LocalU.org

43. Off-Page Optimization = Links Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Incoming Links www.LocalU.org

44. Links = Votes Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com The more votes you have the better, BUT not all links are equal. Quality counts and crummy links can hurt you! www.LocalU.org

45. Improve Existing Links Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com You can see links with this tool: http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/ http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/ Look at the pages that link to you Is all the information correct? Can you add more detail? Description, photos, videos, services, hours, payment types, etc. Are you in the right categories? Can you add a link? Can you improve the link text? www.LocalU.org

46. Links from Relationships Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Business groups Social groups Charities and sponsorships Local school and college websites Clients and partners Businesses you already have referral relationships with www.LocalU.org

47. Links from Local Directories Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Yelp Kudzu CitySearch InsiderPages DiscoverOurTown Topix WCities AngiesList CitySquares MerchantCircle CityVoter JudysBook Foursquare Internet Yellow Pages Pages www.LocalU.org

48. Links from Local Sites Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Better Business Bureau Convention & Visitor’s Bureau Local Media - Newspapers, Magazines, TV Chamber of Commerce Local Business Directories Local city guides Local blogs Local and regional tourism sites www.LocalU.org

49. Links from Niche Sites Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Free Wifi ATM Minority-owned Woman-owned Non-profit Other Languages Maps Adult only Handicapped accessible Blog Product Types Videos Images Coupons In something Near something Kid-friendly Pet friendly www.LocalU.org

50. Links from Social Media Sites Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Set Up Social Media Profiles here: LinkedIn Flickr Facebook Fan Page Twitter YouTube Channel Google+ profile www.LocalU.org

51. Recap: The SEO Process Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Pick the right keyword phrases Decide which pages to optimize for which terms Implement the keyword phrases appropriately on your pages Link between your own pages using good words Make sure the Search Engines can see your pages and what’s on them Gain links from other websites – you cannot ignore this step! www.LocalU.org

52. THANKS! Optimized! Optimized!www.MaryBowling.com www.MaryBowling.com Mary Bowling Twitter: @MaryBowling Blog: www.MaryBowling.comwww.MaryBowling.com Google+: MaryBBowling@gmail.com Class information: http://www.marybowling.com/local- search-optimization/local-search- classes-at-planet-ocean/www.LocalU.org