The customer is always right. In the world of local SEO, however, the customer is the cornerstone on which every strategy rests.

Local SEO has one purpose - to drive traffic to web pages, targeting consumers through proximity and relevant content. These elements alone, however, aren’t enough to sustain viable sales. Instead marketers must understand the needs of their consumers (beyond keywords, conversions and social media).

According to Search Engine Land, users will choose local businesses over national chains based on:

Personalized Service: 96%
Trustworthiness: 91%
Customer Relations: 88%
Quality Products and Services: 86%
Reliability: 79%
Professional Staffers: 75%
Stability: 30%
Competitive Prices: 23%

The key to success isn’t local SEO. It’s instead the ability to fuse this tactic with superior service and products. Marketing will only lead consumers to the door. It’s up to the company itself to guide them through.

Launching a new local SEO strategy? Contact Webstager today! We’ll happily help you create content that showcases your brand’s value.

A series of addresses and directory listings, a collection of title tags and page URLs: localized data shapes your site, with all HTML elements optimized. You’ve fused every page with Webmaster tools, certain they will attract engine crawlers and generate high SERPs.

Webstager knows, however, that local SEO goes far beyond source codes. It instead requires consistent (and relevant) content - with real-time data powering consumer interest and search queries alike. Pair every city-centric strategy with these localized options:

Case Studies

Create case studies to showcase both your services and your client base. These studies - which should feature references to local businesses, addresses, phone numbers and more - will provide tangible proof of your community involvement.

Local News

Local events make the local news, and your participation can as well. Sponsoring a promotion, festival or community drive? Create a flurry of social posts about it, driving traffic through phrase match queries and long-tail keywords.

Client Testimonials

According to Bright Local, 72% of consumers let online reviews shape their opinions about businesses. Integrating client testimonials is essential, therefore, in establishing your company as a local force.

By incorporating these content options onto your site, you ensure a greater local presence - one that will fuel high rankings and steady traffic.

To learn more about local SEO contact us today.

It’s the smallest of discrepancies. A local directory has inverted your company's phone number, switching the last two digits out of order. You make an absent note to change it later, concerned instead with more pressing matters: such as organizing your branding efforts and launching your blogs. This, you’re sure, can wait.

It can’t.

Recent tweaks to Google’s Pigeon algorithm stress the importance of consistent local citations. Directory profiles - like the ones found on Yelp, TripAdvisor or the YellowPages - must now feature identical information. This information includes:

Company Name
Company Address
Company Phone Number
Company Email
Company Website URL

This data is typically featured on directories, which Google’s engine-crawlers scan repeatedly. If these crawlers find differences between the profiles, they’ll flag the content as black-hat SEO (this is an early protective measure against spamming). Social authorities will tumble and brand credibility will follow - all because of a few simple typos.

Webstager emphasizes, therefore, the importance of local citation correction. Claim all directory profiles and fix the information presented there. Even the littlest of errors could prove damaging.

To learn more about local citations and how to implement them contact us today!

Landing pages are far more than strings of code and keywords. They’re also the best way to generate local leads, with engines propelling them to the top of SERPs, ad spaces and more.

This propulsion only happens, however, if the pages are locally optimized.

To achieve strong SEO results content creators must include the following information on each of their store landing pages:

NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number) information.

Social media icons and contact links.

Store hours.

Store services (be precise with descriptions, appealing to both engines and consumers with clear, concise inventory listings).

Store photos.

Store directions (embed maps whenever possible to attract engines).

Inbound links to promotions and content.

These elements combine to optimize each page for local searches, allowing companies to generate traffic, sales and social authorities. They validate stores for search engines and ensure consistent indexing - and this proves essential for SEO.

To learn more about local landing pages contact Webstager today! We’ll be happy to create optimized content for you and your store.

2015 will forever be known as the year of local SEO. Consumers are streamlining their queries, focusing all attention to city-centric services and nearby goods. This combines with a rise in mobile language - with smartphones, tablets and laptops accessing local signals - for specialized results.

Applying these results to content, however, still proves challenging. Marketers must understand both the need for local SEO and the factors that shape it. These factors - which determine the overall ranking abilities of each post and push information through engines - are:

On-Page Signals (including domain keywords, title keywords and optimized NAP content).

Link Signals (including anchor text and outbound affiliations).

External Signals (including citations in directories and business forums).

Review Signals (including amount of independent reviews, quality of independent reviews and validity of independent reviews).

Social Signals (including strong social authorities on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus).

Consumer Signals (including ad click-throughs, mobile conversion rates and social mentions).

By combining these elements marketers achieve local saturation, propelling data to the top of Google, Bing and beyond. This connects them to their target audiences and solidifies branding.

To learn more about local SEO contact Webstager today!

Local content is successful content. This truth defines the SEO world, causing a flurry of directory links, media affiliations and keyword string creations. Writers and designers alike spend their days crafting city-centric data.

Trying to find publishing sources for that data, however, often proves challenging. Companies are forever seeking new ways to saturate the web, wanting more than traditional networks and blogs can offer. To compete on the local market niche targeting is needed.

This is why Webstager suggests using these underrated - but crucial - publishing options:

Community Newsletters

Link local content (such as product promotions or sales opportunities) to digital newsletters. This information will then be sent through a series of mailing lists, connecting it to relevant demographics. It can also be published online to allow for stronger indexing.

Community Forums

Though often dismissed for their low social authorities, community forums can prove vital to local SEO. Post content (such as press releases or event schedules) directly to neighborhood boards. It will be seen by a small, but targeted, audience and generate results.

These postings also establish channels of communication, enabling companies to answer any questions or comments their customers may have. This improves service and often translates to better reviews.

City Directories

City directories are an oft-ignored options that can deliver steady results. These sites - which are managed by local authorities and administrators - provide profiles of current businesses and services. Not all of these profiles are optimized, however, and they don’t generate SERPs.

Take control of the listing! Contribute as much information as possible (business name, address, phone number, images and more) to strengthen the content and ensure higher rankings among engine crawlers.

By taking advantage of these local SEO options companies can bolster their efforts and invigorate their sales.

Want to learn more about local SEO? Contact Webstager today! We’ll be happy to answer any questions, as well as create custom social strategies. 

Ornithophobia (a fear of birds) has been spreading among SEO creators. With every update of Google’s Penguin, Pigeon and Hummingbird programs - a series of algorithms that strip rankings and undermine once proven techniques - sites have been suffering. Content has been penalized and links have been blocked, causing SERPs to change quickly and frequently.

Webstager has learned to adapt to these changes. Other companies, however, have not - and a recent reveal of Google’s local SEO penalties proves why. Many sites are failing to gain traction because:

Lack of Substance

Search spiders feast on content - words, links and images. A common issue among sites, however, is a lack of (relevant, user-friendly) substance. Information is presented sparsely and gateway pages are few. This leads to plummeting ranks.

Keyword Spamming

Flooding pages with localized keywords once yielded fantastic results. Now, however, Google’s algorithms recognize this tactic for what it is: black-hat spamming. Sites that rely on spamming will see their SERPs fall and their authority scores weaken.

Broad Tactics

Local SEO is meant to contain searches to specific areas. It’s not meant to highlight entire countries. Too often do site creators target the broadest audiences possible, stringing together keywords too weak to be ranked. Limiting the focus becomes essential.

These methods prove all too damaging online, drawing ire from Google’s many bird-themed algorithms. To avoid the feathery fallout site owners must utilize modern SEO techniques - and let Webstager redefine their content and their strategies.

To read more about Google’s penalties click here.

To start a new local SEO campaign contact us.

It’s the easiest of steps: a phone number is typed across a page, meant to provide consumers with direct access to your business. You format it as you always have, with a series of parentheses and extension dashes; and you then move on to more pressing matters, thinking this task is complete.

It may not be.

Formatting phone numbers is problematic. Special characters often prove difficult for engines to understand, and improper spacing can cause reader discomfort. It can be a challenge to choose the right style - one that will be pleasing to the eye and optimized for local searches.

Webstager offers advice on what to avoid.

Don’t Use Periods

Occasionally phone numbers will be written in a period format: 123.456.7890. This provides less space between the numerals and makes them harder for guests to read. It's also disastrous for engines, with crawlers unable to catalogue the area code. This reduces the local search value.

Be Sparing With Parentheses

The parenthetical format is the most common: (123) 456 - 7890. Avoid adding too many parentheses, however, since these are considered special characters and may confuse search engines and readers like.

Only surround the area code. Do not enclose the extension: (12) (123)-456-7890.

Stay Away From Spelling

Often businesses will choose numbers that spell out a particular phrase or slogan: 1-800-EXA-MPLE. Avoid this format. Search engines will not recognize it and will, therefore, refuse to index it within local directories. 

A phone number should be simply displayed and easy to find. This is the only way to ensure local SEO success.

To learn more about the formatting process contact Webstager.

Pinterest is more than a collection of photos and playful captions. It’s also a superior marketing opportunity - if you fully utilize your profile.

Local SEO (that oh-so-crucial but oh-so-elusive technique: blending keywords, directory links and optimized pages to achieve high SERPs) demands a proper Pinterest profile. Consumers are flocking to this social network, exchanging images and sharing content. It’s become the 49th most popular desktop hub in the world and its membership exceeds 300 million.

Targeting readers with it is, therefore, essential - and this is possible only with a fully updated profile:

Optimize the Account

Be certain that your account name and username both reflect your business. Try to do an exact brand match if possible.

Write a Description

Less is often more - but not on Pinterest. Take advantage of the description box and use keyword-infused sentences to explain your company’s products and services.

Write a Biography

Provide readers with an insightful biography about your company. List pertinent information, such as: founding date, top-selling products, other social accounts and more. Encourage users to seek out your official site and mention any sales or promotional events (these should be replaced as needed).

Pinterest is a site defined by images. Creating a detailed profile, however, can bolster local SEO efforts and increase overall visibility. Contact Webstager to learn more.

A bad review can destroy a good product. With a few scathing words a company’s reputation can disintegrate - and consumers will scurry away, afraid of poor service and misspent dollars.

Reviews have a lasting impact on the success of a business, defining overall sales and search engine rankings. Consider these statistics, as provided by BrightLocal:

88% of users read reviews to determine the quality of a local business.

72% of users say that positive reviews make them trust a business more.

88% of users say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

As consumers seek out services, they simultaneously seek out reviews about those services - and companies with less than stellar rankings are quickly passed over. Traffic falls; sales plummet; and brand interest sputters into silence. Poor quality is as unforgivable as a poorly designed homepage.

And this proves damning for search engine rankings.

Local engines arrange their SERP positions based on customer preferences and reviews. A low score results in a low page placement, drastically reducing the chance for traffic.

It’s imperative, therefore, to strive for good reviews: through exceptional customer service and organic content.

Webstager can provide both. Let our automated system bolster your site and connect you to the people who matter most - your customers.

Contact us today to learn more.