{"id":1739,"date":"2017-10-25T09:03:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T09:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/?p=1739"},"modified":"2017-11-07T09:50:53","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07T09:50:53","slug":"getting-wrong-local-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/getting-wrong-local-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is It That You Are Getting Wrong in Local SEO?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">For all we know, SEO is one of the most imperative aspects when it comes to establishing the online presence of a business. In the present times, however, more than SEO it is the Local SEO that is becoming exceedingly significant for any business. The reason behind it is simple. Since the year 2011 searches with the suffix near me have multiplied by 34 times. In fact, today, about 50% of the customers visiting a store\/business in a day, are prompted by local searches. Now, those are some figures you simply cannot ignore.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">So how exactly do you go about ensuring an efficient Local SEO strategy for a business? Well, it is rather simple. All you need to do is take the following steps<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Ensure a correct and verified \u2018My Business Listing\u2019 on Google<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Make sure the business\u2019 website is SEO optimised and is user-friendly<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Maintain an active local blog<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Make sure the Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) of the business is consistent across all channels<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Spur high-quality backlinks<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Ensure a compelling presence of social media platforms<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">That being said, it cannot be denied that Local SEO is easier said than done. As a matter of fact, a large number of businesses get it wrong at some point or the other. Read on to know whether you\u2019re getting wrong with any of the following aspects &#8211;<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><span style=\"color: #11487f;\">Overlooking the Competition<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Google\u2019s Local Pack has increased the underlying opportunities for Local SEO by manifolds. Today, a little above 90% of the searches are directed towards local businesses which gives an upper hand to small enterprises over the large corporates. However, this doesn\u2019t mean that small businesses can sit back and relax without worrying about the competition.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">In fact, every business, irrespective of scale must conduct a comprehensive competitive analysis to understand the SEO content of the competition, analyse their traffic and accordingly tweak its own SEO Strategy. Here, simply targeting the keywords that aren\u2019t used extensively by the competition can do the trick.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><span style=\"color: #11487f;\">Opting for the Wrong Categories<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">For any business to come to the limelight in searches, it needs to be categorised on Google\u2019s \u2018My Business Page\u2019. The categories that are chosen for the business not only helps Google to determine the type of business and the kind of services offered but also help the local customers find your name in relevant search results.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Hence, picking the wrong categories could mean that you end up in a pickle. It can have an adverse impact on the business\u2019s ability to rank. This doesn\u2019t mean that you go on picking every category that the business is even remotely related to. In fact, it is the opposite. Google suggests that a business must pick as few categories as possible, but these must be the categories that represent the business in the best and the most extensive manner possible.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">For example, <i>Butcher Block <\/i>is a food delivery service serving the areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn. It doesn\u2019t own any restaurants and hence cannot offer seat-in dining services. Hence, it makes more sense for the brand to use categories like \u2018Multi-Cuisine Takeout\u2019, \u2018Pizza Delivery\u2019 or \u2018Rice Bowls Online\u2019 as opposed to \u2018Multi-Cuisine Restaurant\u2019 or \u2018Brooklyn Restaurants\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><span style=\"color: #11487f;\">Overlooking The Reviews<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">It is extremely important for any business to understand the significance of online reviews. More often than not, people only click on businesses which enjoy a good rating or have positive reviews. Given that search results on Google are now accompanied by the \u2018Star Rating\u2019 of any business, the impact of reviews, positive or negative, has grown tremendously.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">In case of negative reviews it becomes highly unlikely for a potential customer to click on the link to the business. This, in turn, hurts the SEO. So much so, that beyond a point the business listing simply stops appearing in the search results, at least in the first few.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">See the below example for a greater perspective.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-1743\" src=\"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/search-results.png\" alt=\"wrong-seo\" width=\"672\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/search-results.png 2057w, https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/search-results-300x205.png 300w, https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/search-results-768x526.png 768w, https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/search-results-1024x701.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 672px) 100vw, 672px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Notice how only those Brooklyn Restaurants make it to the top of search results which have great ratings and positive reviews!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><span style=\"color: #11487f;\">Duplicate Content<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">More often than not, concentrating on Local SEO leads businesses to end up with duplicate content. Needless to say, this is highly deterrent for SEO marketing and may do more harm than good for the business.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Duplicate content may come up in the form of &#8211;<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Duplicate NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) listings.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Several web-pages with similar content, only with different locations.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Duplicate product descriptions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Duplicate customer reviews.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">While in most cases, duplication leads to lower ranking on SERPs, however, in case of excessive duplication of content, Google Bots may even entirely remove the business website from the search index.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Hence, it is the best interest of a business to avoid duplication at all costs. If in case, it is absolutely required, Google suggests the use of <i>noindex meta tag <\/i>on the duplicated pages. If needed, you can take the help of SEO Tools to this end.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 align=\"justify\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><span style=\"color: #11487f;\">Mounting Number of Links<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">When it comes to enjoying greater visibility by small businesses, making sure that the NAP appears in almost all relevant searches proves to be an ideal strategy. In addition, this helps the business enjoy enhanced link-building opportunities.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\"><a name=\"_GoBack\"><\/a> However, in a bid to get popular, many businesses end up linking their NAP to numerous local directories, without paying heed to the quality of the backlinks. While these may be easy to get, the fact of the matter is they harm the SEO efforts. Hence, it is not the number of backlinks that a business should bank upon, but the high value of these links. Trust us, this is one of the most important Search Engine Optimisation tips that you\u2019ll come across.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"justify\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><span style=\"font-family: Calibri, serif;\">Now that you\u2019re aware of some of the most common and rampant aspects that businesses go wrong with, we bet you will only put your money where your mouth is!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For all we know, SEO is one of the most imperative aspects when it comes to establishing the online presence of a business. In the present times, however, more than SEO it is the Local SEO that is becoming exceedingly significant for any business. The reason behind it is simple&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,28],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribelocal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}