Numerous industries from tech to recipes, health and finance, have been rocked by Google’s latest May 2020 Update which has rolled out in the midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Google announced the update on May 4 and called it the ” May 2020 Core Update”. The rollout of the algorithm will continue for up to two weeks from the release date when all changes will be live.

We are currently seeing search engine results continuing to churn days later. Many websites are noticing significant traffic losses.

Most updates settle relatively quickly with small modifications to results along the way. The May 2020 Algorithm updates appears a little different that those that came before it and it is becoming apparent that this update may be a big one.

Searchmetrics provides further reports from webmasters and SEOs on the ranking changes:

• Health: “We lost in May 2018, we lost in August 2018 (Med). But this update is the worst update (for us) I ever saw in my years of SEO. We lost everything again. At this moment we got hit harder then 2018.” Sofie77 via WebmasterWorld Forum
• Tech: “It’s getting rough…. – 40% Traffic compared with last week. Tech related website.” ChokenBako via WebmasterWorld Forum
• Finance & Health: “Okay, now I am seeing crazy swings. Monitoring KWs in various verticals, and so far, the volatility appears massive. Some major national brands that were rank at the top for very competitive financial KWs dropped 10+ rankings. Seeing massive swings in health as well. This looks big so far.” HereWeGo123 via WebmasterWorld Forum
• Dating: “Over 40% down so far for a relationship advice site.” Dantes100 via WebmasterWorld Forum

The changes are felt by many and the results apparently are fluctuating hour-to-hour and day by day. I haven’t witnessed an update as widespread as this one since Google’s first major algorithm update, Florida, in 2003.

Why Updates Cause Ranking Volatility

Due to the fact that it may take some time to roll out the changes to all the information centres worldwide, one of the reasons the search results ended up being unpredictable is: when your web browser displays a data source it might be receiving old information or the brand-new data.
Another reason to discuss the continuous changes is that there are multiple elements that are changing. Are people’s behaviour changing due to Covid? Is the web in general changing? of is Google changing something?

What commonly happens is an update present followed by a duration of relative calm that is then disrupted by more changes that in some cases reverses the losses. This updates has seen 16 days straight of ranking volatility, which hasn’t happened in recent years.

Google has different algorithms for every industry, and seeing changes across industries indicates a major update.

As I comprehend it this referred to as reversing incorrect positives. Incorrect positives are when relevant websites are inadvertently impacted by an update. After an update, the Google engineers will measure the feedback, review the search results page and modify it to ravel the false positives.

First Impressions

Many individuals I spoke with explained this update using words like “carnage” and mentioned how troublesome it was to do this to companies at such an alarming minute in time.

One Search marketer provided this impression: ” This appears to be among the most substantial updates in current memory. It’s prematurely for anything besides analysis, but I’ve seen sites in numerous verticals affected.
It’s not clear who the winners are yet …”.

Several individuals shared that while it is yet early, they are seeing changes throughout numerous industries, significantly in the health-related subjects.

Local Search Fluctuations.

There are many reports that reference fluctuations in local type search results page. One individual tweeted a graphic that reveals local search has been increasing since late April 2020.

Covid-19 Effect on Search Algorithm?

Some thinking that sounds plausible is that Covid-19 may have impacted some parts of Google’s algorithm that determines what it is that individuals want to see when they make a search question, especially covid related.

Without question, the pandemic affected search patterns.

Is it possible that Google added a change that makes Google’s algorithm more conscious about these changes? We actually don’t know.

Another aspect I’ve seen is that some are reporting that websites with stable brand names have actually gained increased rankings, while less top quality sites have actually lost.

Worldwide Update Rollout.

Google’s update appears to be impacting SERPs worldwide. Reports on WebmasterWorld indicate volatility from the United States to Europe to Australia all at once.

Japanese search engine marketer Kenichi Suzuki (@suzukik) told me that the update is being acutely felt in Japan.

This is what Kenichi said:
” We’re seeing a big change. … The May 2020 Core Update appears a normal core update.”.

Thin Content Losing?

Another point is that there are multiple reports of thin content losing positions. Because of their thin material or for other factors has actually not been determined, whether they are losing positions.

What Do Updates Target?

It’s crucial to understand that Google broad core updates do not generally target a particular industry. A change in the algorithm might have a strong result on an industry, however that does not imply the industry was specifically targeted.

Google has an established recent history of presenting broad core updates that impact factors like understanding user search intent and for comprehending what web pages have to do with and how those pages pertain to search questions.

A change to much better understanding search intent can impact how Google ranks medical-related sites are ranked.

If Google figures out that searchers want scientific responses for health inquiries then that’s going to negatively affect sites with so-called “natural” treatments.

If medical-related sites appear to be disproportionately impacted, that might be the impact of a modification in understanding search intent.
Link associated elements have likewise belonged to recent Google algorithm updates, like when Google decided to selectively use some no-follow links for ranking purposes.

What Do Algorithm Updates Reward?

Google does not actually reward websites for any specific quality. Google ranks sites for how appropriate they are to a search question.
Google likewise uses the link signal to determine the appeal of a website and what it is pertinent for.

Do Algorithm Updates Focus on Quality?

Google constantly aspires to not rank low-grade websites. What matters most is whether a web page pleases a user when they make any specific search query.

Due to the fact that it’s on a premium site, Google doesn’t rank a web page. Because it is pertinent, it ranks a web page.

Key Takeaways from 2020 Google Algorithm Update

It’s essential to wait until the search results page calm down before making any changes. Those who have seen ranking losses haven’t violated Google Webmaster Guidelines. The updates are intended to improve the overall quality of search results.

The best way to rank highliy is to “focus on delivering the best possible content” and confirming your website offers:

1. original and valuable content. Meta titles and descriptions are appealing and match the content.
2. Expertise. is your content trustworthy?
3. Presentation and Production: does content look well researched?
4. competitive comparison: does your site offer added value compared to other competitors?

Are you wondering how to verify Google Business?

Don’t worry, it’s easier than you might think. With over 1.2 trillion searches made on Google each year, Google understands the importance of streamlined processes. That’s why they design their tools with simplicity in mind.

Well, we won’t keep you waiting. When you’re ready to verify your business and master local SEO, read on.

How to Verify Google Business

Several ways to verify your Google My Business account exist, though some may not be available for your particular business. Though knowing some tips for getting around Google isn’t required, it certainly helps. Your verification options include the following:

• Postcard
• Email
• Phone Call
• Instant Verification
• Bulk Verification

After you create or claim your Google My Business listing, you’ll see the options available to you. The most common option is postcard (or mail) verification. It’s available for all business types and locations.

Phone, email, and text verification options are less common options. Instant and bulk verifications are much less common.

Verify by Postcard

After you’ve created or claimed your listing, it’s time to verify your information. The process is different for those of you who are in the middle of creating your listing and those of you who created it a while ago and clicked on the Verify later button.

If you just signed up, you’ll see Mail in the top left corner of your page. It’s on top of the map that shows your business location.

1. Check to ensure your business information is correct and click Mail.
2. Type in the name of the person to whom the verification postcard should be addressed.
3. Then click the Send postcard button.

If you signed up for your account a while ago but put off your verification, then follow these directions instead.

1. Sign in to your account at Google My Business, and your dashboard will appear.
2. Look for the red banner at the top of your page and click the Verify now button on the right-hand side.
3. Now check for the Mail button in the left-hand corner at the top of the page.
4. Make certain your business information is correct before pushing the Mail button.
5. Enter the name of the person to whom you’d like the postcard sent.
6. Finally, click the Send postcard button.

Now you must wait for your postcard. Warning: it will likely take a few weeks. On that postcard, you’ll find a unique verification code which you’ll need for the next step.

Simply sign in to your Google My Business account and click the Verify location or Verify now button from your menu. After you enter the 5-digit verification code from your postcard, you’re finished. It’s that easy.

While you’re waiting for your postcard, don’t change any information on your Google My Business account. If you do, you’ll have to send for a new postcard which will delay its arrival time by 1-2 more weeks. It’s also worth noting that Google makes a Google My Business mobile app which you can use for the steps above.

Verify by Phone

If you’re wondering how to verify Google Business without postcards, the phone is your next best bet. If your business is eligible for verification by phone, you’ll find a Verify by phone option when you request your verification. You can perform your verification by opening up your Google My Business account or by using Google My Business mobile app.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Google My Business account.
2. Pick the business you want to verify and click the Verify now button.
3. Make certain you have access to the business phone number you registered with your business account.
4. Click the Verify by phone button and Google will send you a 5-digit code via automated message.
5. After you get the message, enter the code in the appropriate line on your My Business account page.

If you’re doing this over your mobile app, follow these steps:

1. Open your app.
2. Tap the Call me now button.
3. Google will call and give you a 5-digit code with their automated message.
4. Enter your code into your app on the appropriate line.

After you enter your code, hit Submit. Then you’re done! Each of these methods should take you no longer than 5 minutes.

Verify by Email

You can also verify business on Google by email which is almost the same as verifying by phone. You want to get a hold of Google’s unique verification code for your business. Then, you enter it into the appropriate line in your Google My Business account.

Whether you’re performing the verification through your computer or mobile app, the process is much the same:

1. Choose the verification through Email option (if it’s available to you).
2. Check your email inbox for the letter in question.
3. Find the 5-digit code in that letter.
4. Enter the code into the appropriate line in your Google My Business account.

After you’ve put in your code, hit Enter, and you’re finished with the verification process. The entire process takes less than 2 minutes.

Verify Instantly

This option is available only if you’ve set up Google Search Console on your business’s website. If you have, make sure you’re signed into the Google My Business account for the business in question. Then click on the instant verification button.

Bulk Verification

This option is only available if you have 10 or more business locations. The steps differ slightly, for each business. If you’re interested to learn more, click on the Bulk verification option in your Google My Business account to learn more.

Other Local SEO Essentials

For those of you who run your own marketing campaigns, Google offers you Google My Business Insights. The tool shows you how your customers are finding your listing on Google Search and Google Maps. It also tells you what those customers do after they find your listing.

Be sure to keep track of your progress with an Ultimate Local SEO Checklist for small businesses. Though the process is mechanical and fairly straightforward, it has a long list of steps. It’s common to forget at least one and then wonder why your local SEO isn’t ranking.

What’s Next?

Now that you know how to verify Google Business, consider other ways to increase your local ranking. One of the most popular ways is to redesign the content on your site to cater to voice searches.

Voice searches differ greatly from typed searches. They use more natural keyword phrases. That’s one of the reasons “Frequently Asked Questions” sections rank so high on voice searches.

If you’d like to learn about other ways to improve your local ranking, hop over to our library full of other brilliant SEO and PPC articles.

7 Reasons to Pay Attention to Local Search

When it comes to local search, it needs to be your top priority. See why it’s essential to dominate it so you beat out your competition.

When you offer a specialised service, it’s important to pay attention to your location-based clientele. People within your region will be your biggest customers because accessibility is key when making buying decisions. You need to optimize your site to ensure it pops up when people conduct local searches. Not only will site optimization help your search rankings, it will also help you convert leads into customers. Here are some of the biggest reasons why local search is important.

1. Reviews from Local Customers Will Boost Your Sales

A lot of businesses have a so-so attitude towards reviews. On one hand, they can really help your business stand out and attract customers if they’re good. On the other hand, a bunch of negative reviews can be disastrous for your organization. Especially, if they’re the first things people see when they search your company. Websites like Yelp have built an entire business on reviews. Yelp allows people to search for your business to find reviews, pictures, contact and location information. Yelp also uses a star rating system and lists the top rated businesses in the area. People who join Yelp are called Yelpers. They get to create a profile page with their picture and name. They can leave business reviews and photos. The Yelper system gives Yelp credibility. You know the reviews are made by real people who have patronized the business. In addition to Yelp, Google also has a feature that allows customers to leave reviews. Organizations can create a Google “My Business” page to promote their company. Customers can also leave reviews on the business page and post pictures. Reviews also help with search rankings. Google takes your digital imprint into account. If people are talking about your page and visiting your site, they’ll take notice.

2. Location-Specific Keywords Help You Target Customers

Keyword planning and research are going to set your business apart from the competition. Once you’ve found the right keywords, now it’s time to start creating keyword rich content. Avoid keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is when webpage content is filled with the same keyword used repetitively in an unnatural way. For example, the keyword “maid service” can be used to show that a company offers cleaning services. If page content features the phrase “maid services” 50 times, then it’s considered keyword stuffing. Google will give you negative rankings for keyword stuffing. Instead, try using a keyword planner to find the right keywords for your business. A keyword planner will show you the search volume for specific keywords. Search volume is the number of hits a keyword or keyword phrase gets. It’s best to rank for a variety of keywords to encourage web traffic to your site.

3. Google Local Pack Displays Local Businesses on the First Search Page

The Google Local Pack is a list of local businesses that are displayed underneath a map on the first results page. The Local Pack shows the business’ name, location, and business hours. It will also list the number of Google reviews your business has. The Local Pack used to display several entries but Google changed the display. The biggest reason for the change was mobile optimization. Several entries couldn’t be displayed comfortably on a mobile device. The key to getting your business into the Local Pack is consistency. Your business’ contact information should be clearly displayed on your website and on other websites and directories. Make sure your contact information is registered with the local Chamber of Commerce and other community organizations. Google trusts these sites and it’s more likely to promote your business if you’re linked to these networks.

4. Reputation Management is Vital to Business Growth

In all honesty, your business is only as good as its reputation. Poor reviews and ratings will not lead to new sales or customers. When you’re business receives poor reviews, it’s time to start analyzing company culture and productivity. It can be hard to thoroughly access your business when you’re fully engrossed in the company, so the best way to see how customers feel is to interact with them. Conduct surveys and let the customers tell you what you can improve on. You should also interact with customers online and through social media. If you’ve created a Google My Business page or Yelp listing, you can respond to customer complaints. Openly interacting with angry customers online in a respectful manner makes you look good. Potential customers see that you have the right customer service skills and attitude to remedy uncomfortable situations. A positive online persona can help you win over users conducting a local search.

5. Most Users Conduct Local Searches on Their Phone

Google changed their entire display format for a reason. In 2015, research showed that people conducted more mobile searches than desktop searches. In this high-paced environment, people need to access information when on the go. They don’t have time to go to a desktop or wait for a website to load. Americans spend approximately 87 hours per month browsing their smartphones, so the majority of their local searchers will be from their phones. Mobile optimized sites perform better within searches and get higher rankings from Google. How do you optimize your site for mobile devices? You improve the user experience through faster page loading times, incorporating fluid layouts, and designing web content for touchscreens.

6. The Majority of Your Customers Will be Local Residents

Service-based industries such as food services thrive from local support. The fact remains that most of your customers will live within a 25-mile radius of your business. That’s enough reason to make them a priority. Their proximity increases the chances they’ll be repeat customers. If they enjoy your service, they’ll also encourage their nearby friends and relatives to support your business.

7. Link-Building Helps You Gain Relevancy

One of the best things link-building does is build local traffic. When local sites and influencers post links on their page to your website, it boosts your search rankings and drives new traffic to your site. But link-building can turn into keyword stuffing if it isn’t done properly. You need to reach out to the local newspaper, journalists, bloggers, and critics to encourage them to write about your company. Try hosting a mixer or another event and invite local influencers. Once they start talking about your company, it will create some internet buzz and new site visits. You can also post coupon offers on deal sites like Groupon. Most Groupon users conduct local searches and will patronize your business if they see a good discount. Groupon also offers links back to your website, so it’s a great link-building resource.

Conclusion

If you need help building the right local search strategy, Felicity Jane Digital can help! Contact us today to start a conversation about taking your business to the next level.

6 Local SEO Strategies for Traffic and Lead Generation

Using local SEO strategies can help to grow your traffic and boost lead generation. Keep on reading to learn effective SEO techniques that work.

Did you know that if somebody looks for you on their phone, and finds your business, they will most likely visit or call you within the next 24 hours? This is why your local SEO strategies need to be airtight. It’s very easy to do your own SEO optimization these days. But it’s incredibly difficult to do it correctly. First of all, you need local SEO strategies that work in 2018, not 2011. So let’s take a look at how to win the local SEO war, and turn the traffic into leads.

How to Instantly Beat 50% of the Businesses Out There

You’re not going to believe this, but there is a free, 15-minute task that can put you above half of the businesses out there today. Make sure Google My Business has your most recent business information. This is so incredibly simple and completely free to update. And yet, 50% of surveyed businesses admit that their Google My Information business is either inaccurate or incomplete. This is basically gift wrapping valuable local SEO traffic to competition that is more on the ball. So take the five minutes to ensure that Google has your most up-to-date and accurate business address, hours of operation, products or services, customer reviews, and photos.

Don’t Mistake PPC for SEO

A lot of business owners will buy paper click PPC ads to try to help their local SCO strategy and optimization. These are actually two completely different things. It seems counterintuitive, you are buying these ads from Google, so you would think they would help your organic ranking with Google. There is no data to prove this. Try to think of it this way: PPC is paid traffic that you buy through bidding on keywords. SEO is earning organic traffic by optimizing keywords. PPC ads are a great way to show up in local searches and send traffic to your website, to hopefully convert into a qualified sales lead. Which is great. Just don’t assume it’s going to help your organic rankings.

How to Convert Paid Clicks Into Leads

Contrary to popular believe, you don’t half to spend the most money to have the most success from your PPC ads. You can see better results by being a bit smarter and more strategic. Let’s say your competition is outspending you, so they have the number one position when people Google your business. That number one spot is not guaranteed to get the click from the searcher. More people will click your ad if it’s better written, and speaks directly to their pain point. Your ad copy needs to strike in emotional cord with them in the headline, then inspire them to click with a compelling offer in the second line. And if you do that better than the other guys, people will choose your ad over theirs. Bonus Tip: One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make in their local SEO strategies is sending their traffic to a generic landing page. Make sure you set up a dedicated landing page for each PPC campaign, so you can:

• Measure the true performance of this ad, and make adjustments
• Match the messaging and offer to exactly what the actual ad said

If the ad promised a 14-day free trial, but the landing page makes no mention of it, you will lose the click because the reader will assume they’re in the wrong place. or that they’re the victim of a bait and switch offer.

How to Turn Your Blog into a SEO and Lead Goldmine

A blog should be the most important part of everybody’s local SEO strategies, but it is one of the most miss used tools in the world of digital marketing. The SEO value of your blog has never been higher. Google wants organic content like this. In fact, websites that have a blog have 434% more indexed pages than non-blog sites.

Write About the Right Things

Clearly, the first thing you need to do is write about things that will generate the most traffic. Most businesses today right about themselves, and promote their various events, products, services, or promotions. People don’t care. They want to click on and read something that has actual value to them. So you need to find out the questions they need answered and the problems that are keeping them up at night. That’s what you should blog about. Go on social media and sites like Quora and Reddit to find the questions that people are asking about your industry. Now take those exact questions, word-for-word, and turn them into block titles. These are actually what you call longtail keywords. Because they are the long questions that people are asking Siri, Alexa, and Google. You want your business’ blog to be the answer to these questions.

Is Your Blog Set Up to Generate Leads?

A lot of businesses struggle with a blog that generates pretty good traffic, but produces no leads. That’s probably because they are not giving their reader a clear next step. Your reader had a question, came to your blog, read the whole thing, and got an answer. Now you have their trust in their attention so you need a call-to-action (CTA) to turn them into a lead. That CTA could be to:

• Fill out the lead form on the right
• Click to read more blogs
• Join our mailing list
• Leave a comment

You can’t waste this click. You’ve captured their attention, now you need to capture their contact information so you can get them to buy today, or nurture this lead with re-marketing efforts. If you ask them to do nothing at the end of a blog, that’s exactly what they’ll do. And then they’re gone forever.

Ready to Talk About Your Local SEO Strategies

Felicity Jane utilises her background skills in psychology, marketing, IT, graphic design and urban and regional planning, to bring real world solutions to clients. How can she help you? Click here to find out.

The Ultimate Local SEO Checklist for Small Businesses

Is your local SEO strategy all over the place? Our ultimate local SEO checklist will help you to get organized, set goals, and start taking action.

Search engine optimization strategies for local businesses are similar to those of national companies. You need to make sure that your pages rank higher than those of your competitors. Still, there are some major differences when you’re advertising to a local market. For instance, you’ll need to focus on regional keywords in your content. According to a Google study, half of the customers who searched for a local business on their phone visited that business the same day. To help you out, we’ve compiled a local SEO checklist. If someone is searching for a product or service in your area, you need to rank higher than other businesses. With these tips, you’ll get that opportunity.

Content and Backlinks

Top-notch content is the backbone of every SEO strategy. It’s also one of the most important elements in this local SEO checklist. When it comes to local businesses, online content is one of the primary ways new customers will find your company. The search engines prioritize fresh, original content. Creating engaging blog posts is the best way to climb the ranks of search engines. Focus on readability in your blog posts. User experience is paramount. You can’t jam a bunch of keywords into a post, so it climbs the ranks. This is called “keyword stuffing,” and search engines are wise about it. Eventually, those less-engaging posts will affect your website traffic in the long run.

Provide Interesting, Necessary Information

No local SEO checklist would be complete without mentioning backlinks. Backlinks are links to your website that users find during their online searches. You can develop a log of backlinks in several ways, especially by creating engaging content. Give local bloggers and journalists a reason to link to your website by providing informative information. You should also reach out to them with a link to your site. Request that they include a link if they find an appropriate place in their posts. Write a comment on a blog or contact creators via email or social media. If they like your content, they won’t have a problem throwing you a bone in a future article.

Know Your Demographic

Knowing your audience is an essential element of any SEO strategy. It’s especially important for local businesses. Besides prioritizing local keywords, you need to develop content that will engage your target audience. Write blog posts and informative content that appeal to the type of people who are most likely to visit your company. Write some posts that capitalize on search results from your area.

Be Aware of Trends

Search engines are aware of what’s trending on the Internet and can give you an idea of what you should include on your company website. Take a look at Google trends to see what people are searching for. Additionally, capitalizing on seasonal trends is always a good strategy. Google will help you here as well. With this information, you can create a content calendar for your website. Once you know what local people are looking, tailor your niche content accordingly.

Customer Reviews

Optimizing customer reviews is one of the best ways to attract customers to your local business. Use Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and social platforms to get your name out there. This will also make it easier for your customers to leave feedback. Try to find out what social media sites your audience visits the most, and prioritize these first. If you can, hire someone to manage your social media profiles to increase engagement. Respond to reviews – both good and bad – to make sure customers feel as though their opinions are valued.

No Fake Reviews

Unfortunately, many websites buy fake reviews from various sources to boost their ratings on certain sites. This is effective for some, but it’s unethical and can lead to an SEO penalty down the road. If you’ve paid for positive reviews, those reviews probably don’t sound natural. Google will eventually catch on, and after that, your page ranking will drop. Additionally, fake reviews are relatively easy to spot. If a customer perceives a review as fake, he won’t trust you anymore. In the long term, it’s not worth paying for fake reviews.

The Real World: Fantastic Service

Of course, transparent customer reviews means your service will have to be exceptional. About 97 percent of customers look for online user reviews before visiting a local business. This means that a few bad reviews could tarnish your reputation. As long as your customer service is up to the task, customer reviews will do nothing but help your business grow.

Get the Most from Your Website

Optimizing your website is the most important tip on this local SEO checklist. Without a fully optimized website, your marketing efforts will be in vain. Ahead are some quick tips to make sure you’re getting the most from your online presence

Make It Easy to Find You

Add a Google Maps feature to your website. Include your contact information on every page. Get customers to think about contacting or coming in with every blog post they visit.

Create an “About Us” Page

The “About Us” section is critical for local businesses. Customers want to know your story, and this is the best place to give it to them.

Including Customer Reviews

Make your reviews easy to see, so that future customers know what fantastic service you provide.

Make It Mobile Friendly

You’ll get a large percentage of your traffic from mobile devices. Thus, it’s essential to make your website easily viewable on phones and tablets. If it isn’t, chances are customers will look elsewhere.

Use This Local SEO Checklist to Gain More Customers

Providing great service isn’t enough to get new customers. Nowadays, you have to prioritize your online presence as much as helping your customers find what they need. With this local SEO checklist, you should be on your way to shooting up the local SEO rankings. If you need any help, take a look at how we can get the most from your website’s SEO!

How can we help you with your LOCAL SEO?

The importance and value of SEO are well documented. Local SEO is, however, yet to be fully exploited. In fact, only 44% of businesses have laid claim to their Google My Business local listing. The few who employ local SEO strategies are raking in huge profits. A Recent survey shows local searches make up 46% of all Google searches with 78% of all local mobile searches resulting in a purchase. We help businesses, like yours, to enjoy the benefits of all manner of SEO strategies. Our aim is to help you see your enterprise rank high in search engines (Google, Bing, e.t.c) and, online directories (Citysearch, Yelp, e.t.c). Local directory marketing boasts of the highest conversion rates of any advertising tool. The rate is as high as 50% in some popular directories. So, according to the statistics mentioned so far, good local SEO will help you i. Increase the number of visitors to your site. ii. Convert close to half of the visitors into customers.

How Do We Help Your LOCAL SEO Rankings?

Before working with any business, we usually consider two things. i. Have you claimed your local listings? If the answer is yes, we go to part two below. If it is no, we help you claim the listings. Local SEO begins with controlling your local listings. ii. Does your business have duplicate listings? If the answer is no, we roll out the main SEO process outlined below. In the case of duplicate listings, however, we get rid of the additional listings. Duplicate listings confuse both customers and search engines. The confusion affects ranking and consumer trust. When these two issues are resolved, we roll out the

Main steps of our SEO strategies.

Baseline And Future Goals.

We understand just how far good Search Engine Optimization can push a business. The first step is to determine where you rank and where we can take you in about five months. The idea is to rank you as high as possible. Good local listing, for example, exposes you to the 71% of clients who look up businesses before visiting them. One thing to understand is that some unchangeable factors may determine just how far you rank. One such factor is industry centers. When similar businesses in a locality occur clustered together, Google interprets the clusters to be an industry center. The closer a business is to such a cluster, the higher Google ranks it. No amount of content and local SEO strategy may change that fact. The two, however, still guarantee you of better ranking despite the fact.

Content Is Still King.

Localized content speaks to local clients in a manner they can associate with. Nothing builds trust faster. We carry out extensive keyword research and use our experience with Google’s search algorithms to help your rank. Below are other strategies we employ to help your content convert.

NAP Synchronization

NAP (Name Address Phone) synchronization is another approach we use at this stage. The NAP in your listings should match what you submitted to Google and any other body. Having different NAPs for your business across different forums has the same effect as duplicate listings. Finally, the appearance of NAP on every page of your site also helps content to convert.

Data Aggregators

Data Aggregators are entities that compile data on local businesses from various sources. They rationalize the data to come up with clean and accurate representations of the business environment. The aggregators are important because they are responsible for availing the data to search engines, at a fee. We help you submit your data to aggregators. The result is more control over the type of data available to search engines.

Structured Data Markup/ Schema Markup

Schemas are fairly new SEO advancements. Only 31.3% of websites are using schema markup. They are technical and why you should use an expert for your SEO needs. Schemas are codes that help Google spiders analyze a page quickly. Google algorithms have a preference for sites with the schema. Employing them helps our clients rank higher than their competitors. For purposes of professionalism, however, we only offer our services to one business per category in any given region. This way, we ensure our clients enjoy solid leads over the competition.

Encourage Reviews

You can never have too many citations. Reviews form the most important citations. 72% of people trust online reviews. They give them the same validity as a personal recommendation from a trusted friend. The more reviews you have, the better your rank. Good reviews are the main objective. This means that your business should deliver exactly what is promised. We give advice on how to offer services that attract positive reviews. 52% of clients are moved to make a purchase by positive reviews. No matter the importance and value of SEO, product delivery remains key if you are to succeed. Get people talking nice about your business, and more people will come. Our SEO strategies will only bring clients to you, maintaining them is entirely up to your delivery. Good reviews and content will eventually help build your business a vast amount of backlinks. Links back to your site are ranking gold. They improve ranking faster than even the black-hat tricks out there.

Continued Health Analysis Of Progress

When all is in place, we check how well you rank. SEO is a race that more and more people are getting into. You may rank well today and lose the position tomorrow. This fact has led our company to continually assess the progress of clients. It is not always just a matter of improving your ranking. The idea is to maintain the high ranking. Google, for example, continually updates its search algorithms. What works today may not work tomorrow. Our team of experts is always on the lookout for any such developments. This is another reason why you should avoid trusting your computer guy with your SEO needs and why you should use an expert. Finally, the entire process of SEO and local SEO strategies is a long one. The above steps are not meant to highlight the entire process. Instead, it is an overview of the main steps in a way intended to educate and build your confidence in the process. We would love to help you rank in the LOCAL map pack .. get in touch jane@felicityjane.com.au

7 Reasons to Maximise Your Local SEO in Brisbane

Local SEO in Brisbane is essential to staying ahead of your competition. Learn how your business can benefit by emphasising local SEO in your marketing. Is local SEO a hurdle for your business? It doesn’t have to be. When done right, optimizing your website for local searches can increase brand awareness, get more customers through your doors, and boost your profits. The best part: you don’t need a marketing degree to make it work for you. Here are seven reasons to use local SEO in Brisbane to maximise your company’s success.

Higher Search Rankings

If your business isn’t on the first page of a search engine query for your keyword, it doesn’t matter how great your business is. Your website probably isn’t going to be seen. Research shows that 75 percent of users don’t even scroll past the first page of their Google search results. In order to achieve the bare minimum goal of visibility, long-tail keywords are your friend. Long-tail keywords are basically ultra-specific, niched down versions of your basic keywords. For example, for this website, a root keyword could be “SEO.” Using geotargeting, an effective long-tail keyword might be something like “SEO in Brisbane” or “local SEO Sunshine Coast.” This eliminates a ton of competition who are likely located elsewhere (and therefore aren’t the best matches for the potential customer) but would rank higher than you on Google. Don’t forget to use those keywords in your meta tags, too. That’s what users will see on their search page as a preview of your site, and it will seriously boost your rankings if that includes your long-tail keyword as well. Include it as close to the beginning of your text as possible for maximum benefit.

Reaches Mobile Users

When you use your mobile phone to run a search, Google automatically does some geotargeting for you based on your location. That’s why, if you’re out of town and run a search for places to eat on your mobile, Google will ask if you’d like to use location-based services, and you’ll get results based on what’s nearby without even having to get specific in the search bar. Over half of all searches now take place on a mobile device. If you’re going to get the exposure you need, especially with customers near enough to be interested in purchasing your product or service, you need to make sure your site is optimized accordingly. Using a responsive design for your website isn’t optional anymore. It’s a huge factor in whether Google is going to give you a good ranking, and if your site is difficult or confusing to use on a mobile device, your potential customer is immediately going to hit the “back” button in a rush to get back to a friendlier interface. There are other potential issues to consider as well. Take care not to use image sizes that are too large for smooth mobile viewing, and could increase loading times (another surefire way to drive your user away from your site). And be conscious of how you format videos and other media — Flash isn’t usable on most mobile browsers. Try a different method to make sure your content is visible to most of your viewers, like HTML5 and/or JavaScript.

Maximises Pay-Per-Click Advertising

If you’re using AdWords to maximise your Google visibility, you have the power to make sure you don’t spend your marketing budget on people who have no need for your website or services. AdWords gives you the ability to tailor your ad precisely to your target customer persona. If you’re using local SEO, that should absolutely include location. If you own a sandwich shop in Melbourne, there’s no reason you should be paying for someone in Queensland to see your advertisement. PPC advertising can also optimize your keywords in a clever way. Mobile searches are the exception to the long-tail keyword rule, and shorter words and phrases are often more effective on mobile searches (like “SEO” instead of “SEO in Brisbane”). You can categorize which keywords you use in your campaign based on device, which allows you to use your long-tail phrase for a desktop, and shorter ones in a mobile search, when location is already a factor.

Easy-to-use Tools

If your company hasn’t claimed its Google My Business listing (and 56 percent of businesses haven’t), you could be seriously missing out. This is the tool that creates a map of nearby businesses on your search results page. It’s how Google verifies details about your company in order to provide up-to-date information for its users, like hours, address, and contact information. Customers are twice as likely to consider your business to be reputable if you have a complete Google listing. And best of all, it’s absolutely free. Bing Places for Business is Bing’s equivalent program, and you should absolutely take advantage of that, too. Other easy tools include directories like Yelp, Superpages, YP. Knowing what options are available for local SEO in Brisbane can maximize your brand awareness.

Boosts Profits

Local SEO is a nearly-guaranteed way to increase your revenue. 97 percent of consumers start their sales process online, largely with a search engine query. And in terms of mobile users, 88 percent of users who search for a nearby business will make contact or visit their store within 24 hours. The window to access these users is huge and wide open for your business. By making sure your local SEO is optimized for any user on any device, you’ll have increased visibility, and with it, increased sales.

Incentive-based Marketing Campaigns

When you’re making sure that most local customers are seeing your web content, it becomes that much easier to give them a slight push through your door. Offering coupons and deals for your social media fans and website visitors will help to draw customers to your business even more consistently after you pop up on their web searches. This will have a couple of benefits for your business. First, customers using a coupon outspend those without by 24 percent, adding a natural boost to your revenue. Having a tangible way to directly link a coupon-carrying customer to your website is also a way to measure ROI from your local SEO campaign.

Easy To Track KPI

There are several ways to track key performance indicators (KPI) when you’re using local SEO. This will give you a measurement of how effective your campaign is, and provide accurate results. Checking your rankings on both search engines and local directories will show you how likely you are to be seen. As you move up the ranks, you’ll know that your efforts are working. If not, you’ll know that it’s time to go back to the drawing board. If you’re using a web data tracker (and you absolutely should be), you can see where your traffic is coming from, and which sources are most consistent. You can use that information to niche down your target audience even more and tailor your content accordingly. There are so many reasons to make sure your content is optimized for local searches. For more information on SEO in Brisbane, check out our blog.

The importance and value of SEO are well documented. Local SEO is, however, yet to be fully exploited. In fact, only 44% of businesses have laid claim to their Google My Business local listing. The few who employ local SEO strategies are raking in huge profits. A recent survey shows local searches make up 46% of all Google searches with 78% of all local mobile searches resulting in a purchase. We help businesses, like yours, to enjoy the benefits of all manner of SEO strategies. Our aim is to help you see your enterprise rank high in search engines (Google, Bing, e.t.c) and, online directories (Citysearch, Yelp, e.t.c). Local directory marketing boasts of the highest conversion rates of any advertising tool. The rate is as high as 50% in some popular directories. So, according to the statistics mentioned so far, good local SEO will help you i. Increase the number of visitors to your site. ii. Convert close to half of the visitors into customers.

How Do We Help Your Rankings?

Before working on any business, we usually consider two things. i. Have you claimed your local listings? If the answer is yes, we go to part two below. If it is no, we help you claim the listings. Local SEO begins with controlling your local listings. ii. Does your business have duplicate listings? If the answer is no, we roll out the main SEO process outlined below. In the case of duplicate listings, however, we get rid of the additional listings. Duplicate listings confuse both customers and search engines. The confusion affects ranking and consumer trust. When these two issues are resolved, we roll out the main steps of our SEO strategies.

1. Baseline And Future Goals

We understand just how far good Search Engine Optimization can push a business. The first step is to determine where you rank and where we can take you in about five months. The idea is to rank you as high as possible. Good local listing, for example, exposes you to the 71% of clients who look up businesses before visiting them. One thing to understand is that some unchangeable factors may determine just how far you rank. One such factor is industry centers. When similar businesses in a locality occur clustered together, Google interprets the clusters to be an industry center. The closer a business is to such a cluster, the higher Google ranks it. No amount of content and local SEO strategy may change that fact. The two, however, still guarantee you of better ranking despite the fact.

2. Content Is Still King

Localized content speaks to local clients in a manner they can associate with. Nothing builds trust faster. We carry out extensive keyword research and use our experience with Google’s search algorithms to help your rank. Below are other strategies we employ to help your content convert.

NAP Synchronization

NAP (Name Address Phone) synchronization is another approach we use at this stage. The NAP in your listings should match what you submitted to Google and any other body. Having different NAPs for your business across different forums has the same effect as duplicate listings. Finally, the appearance of NAP on every page of your site also helps content to convert.

Data Aggregators

Data Aggregators are entities that compile data on local businesses from various sources. They rationalize the data to come up with clean and accurate representations of the business environment. The aggregators are important because they are responsible for availing the data to search engines, at a fee. We help you submit your data to aggregators. The result is more control over the type of data available to search engines.

Structured Data Markup/ Schema Markup

Schemas are relatively new SEO advancements. Only 31.3% of websites are using schema markup. They are technical and why you should use an expert for your SEO needs. Schemas are codes that help Google spiders analyze a page quickly. Google algorithms have a preference for sites with the schema. Employing them helps our clients rank higher than their competitors. For purposes of professionalism, however, we only offer our services to one business per category in any given region. This way, we ensure our clients enjoy solid leads over the competition.

3. Encourage Reviews

You can never have too many citations. Reviews form the most important citations. 72% of people trust online reviews. They give them the same validity as a personal recommendation from a trusted friend. The more reviews you have, the better your rank. Good reviews are the main objective. This means that your business should deliver exactly what is promised. We give advice on how to offer services that attract positive reviews. 52% of clients are moved to make a purchase by positive reviews. No matter the importance and value of SEO, product delivery remains key if you are to succeed. Get people talking nice about your business, and more people will come. Our SEO strategies will only bring clients to you, maintaining them is entirely up to your delivery. Good reviews and content will eventually help build your business a vast amount of backlinks. Links back to your site are ranking gold. They improve ranking faster than even the black-hat tricks out there.

4. Continued Health Analysis Of Progress

Finally, when all is in place, we check how well you rank. SEO is a race that more and more people are getting into. You may rank well today and lose the position tomorrow. This fact has led our company to continually assess the progress of clients. It is not always just a matter of improving your ranking. The idea is to maintain the high ranking. Google, for example, continually updates its search algorithms. What works today may not work tomorrow. Our team of experts is always on the lookout for any such developments. This is another reason why you should avoid trusting your computer guy with your SEO needs and why you should use an expert. Finally, the entire process of SEO and local SEO strategies is a long one. The above steps are not meant to highlight the entire process. Instead, it is an overview of the main steps in a way intended to educate and build your confidence in the process.

VIEW OUR LOCAL SEO KICKSTARTER PACKAGES to get you started on the journey to beat your competition!

Citations refer to mentions of your Name, Address and Phone number (NAP) on different online directories and equally authoritative websites. With all factors impacting on local SEO promotion held constant, businesses with more citations online often rank higher on Google, Bing and other search engine results in local listings.  With the map pack being reduced from 7 listings to 3, it is more important to have your ducks in a row when it comes to local. With search engine sites gradually shifting towards more organic ranking fundamentals, getting your name out there consistently would come in as a great boost to your other local SEO strategies.  For citations to have a positive impact on your online marketing strategies, you have to learn how and where to place them for maximum visibility. However, before you even start working on them, you have to appreciate why you even need them the first place.

What is the importance of Citations for your local SEO?

When ranking for local searches, Google gives priority to businesses with a verifiable physical location and to the location of the searcher.  Help increase the degree of certainty of your location for search engines have about your business’s contact information and categorization through efficient citation listings.  In effect, the further away your business, and the less mentions across the web to confirm your location is to the searcher, the smaller your chances of being picked up by search. It, therefore, pays to have your business Name, Phone and physical Address highlighted on different online listings. Some of the reasons Google favours citations include: Consistent citation of the business address proves to Google that your company fits in a given community. In such a case, your business will be given priority when matching consumers with your service offering for localized searches around that community. Note that these listings don’t necessarily need to be linked back to your site and in many cases a nofollow attribute if more relevant.  The goal is to get your Business name “out there” not necessarily to link back to your website.

How to cite your business online?

If the citations are not to be linked back to your business website, how then will they be captured by the search engines? The current algorithm changes that include such ranking fundamentals as Google My Business, local citations and proximity have provisions for that. Nevertheless, if your citations are to be picked up by these search criterions and associated with your business, they have to be unique and consistent. Ideally, your business contact information should be different from that of your competitors. Even when they run the same business as yours next door, you have to make it unique. But this shouldn’t be hard considering the fact that the only thing you are likely to share with such a competitor is the physical address and not the name or phone address. Understandably, all the effort you put into this will be worthless if the contact information displayed online is not consistent. This means that the business name, physical, and phone addresses on your website should match the ones cited on other platforms. TIP :  Always, where possible, use the same NAP in your citation listings as your Google My Business listing:  this will increase the link between the two for search engines.

Where should you cite your business?

Apart from having clear and precise contact information on your website, preferably in the footer and linked to your Google My Business listing, you should consider other authoritative sites and associations across the internet. For starters, your business visibility can achieve a boost with citations on such sites as: • National and local directories :  Yellow Pages to Hotfrog to Gumtree • Listing in your business association directory : • Mentions on the local Chambers of Commerce – find the list of Sunshine Coast Chambers here.

Summary

In expanding the reach of their local SEO, most business website administrators, including your competitors, have paid too much emphasis on backlinks and keywords while neglecting citations. Take advantage of their loss of focus and forge ahead by properly citing your business name and contact information on every local business directory and association lists as well as press releases and journal publications. Drop me an email and I’ll send you a list of the citations I used to get Felicity Jane Digital ranking in the first position of the map pack for “SEO Sunshine Coast”

 Why Google+ local is important

• customer reviews matter to your local rankings! (#1 rank has 33% MORE customer reviews that the average #7)
• Having Google reviews can generate more clicks from potential customers – those golden stars catch your eye!
• The reviews your customers’ write are automatically shared with their friends (the people in their Google + circles) – which leads to extra visibility for you in “social media” and potential customers

The thought of joining Google+ is what puts most people off from leaving a review.  However there is a way around this.

Step 1  (lets find your local listing on google maps)

• head over to google maps (https://maps.google.com.au/)
• type in your business name and address – when your G+ listing shows, copy the URL  (you will notice that it is very long and at first glance quite meaningless)

Example only https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/The+Canine+Classroom/@-27.4027106,153.0028507,9z/data=!4m5!1m2!2m1!1sdog+trainers+:0x5a7659aecfe270

Step 2  (we are going to make the long url into something more aesthetically pleasing and more meaningful)

• head over to http://tinyurl.com/
• paste the long url
• complete the custom alias (where you can make the url more meaningful eg. PTreview)

Finished URL = http://www.tinyurl.com.MyRevies TIP:  you can also use http://tiny.cc/ to do the same thing + you can also create a QR code here (great for printing out and putting on your front desk, or your website for iphone users to scan and leave reviews)

Step 3 How to put this into action and start getting reviews!

1.) Ask your customers if they enjoyed their service, follow that up with: “Would you mind leaving us a review on Google?” and giving them your new link. 2.) Put up a small card at your reception area, on a noticeboard or on the tables of your centre. Direct iPhone users to the QR code you created above. 3.) Have a contest between your employees to see who can get the most Google+ Local reviews. Give the winner a nice gift card and repeat every month. 4.) Send a thank you and follow-up email to clients with a closing asking for a review on our Google My Business page, including the new link. P.S. This technique works flawlessly as long as the person is signed in to any type of Google account. Whether it’s just a regular Google account (using your own email address), a YouTube account for person to access their subscriptions, or Google Play, etc.  If the person literally has no Google Account, they will be ask to create one within Maps, and then they will be asked to sign-up for Google+. BUT if they have any type of login, they will just be asked to “continue as you” without any mention of Google+. Lets get started today on building your online marketing strategy. Working exclusively on the Sunshine Coast we’ve had some great feedback from clients!