How I can improve Local SEO in 2018
-
Hi. I have already applied this strategy:
- Capture Your Space on All Local Business Directories.
- Leverage the Power of Local Link Building
- Focus on Reviews and Ratings
- Use Local Structured Data Markup
What could I do to improve my strategy in 2018?
-
Last day, MOZ Team publish a post about it.
https://mza.seotoolninja.com/blog/how-to-optimize-your-google-my-business-listing
-
And Google also encourages you to respond to all good and bad reviews too
-
Good question! So, replying to reviews doesn't directly correlate with increased rankings, if this is how you define SEO. But, reviews have a massive impact on your reputation and your revenue. And both of those elements then indirectly impact your SEO, in terms of what people are saying about you (and linking to) regarding your brand, and the financial picture you achieve, which enables you to invest more in your SEO. So, think of it as a circle, if you can.
Given the importance of closely managing your reputation, owner responses have become a critical vehicle for contributing to how consumers feel about your company. Negative reviews, in particular, need responses to defend your reputation and revenue, and also, to keep existing customers happy instead of having to spend so much more in replacing them with new customers.
So, owner responses do not = any known, direct ranking benefits.
But, owner responses definitely do = core benefits to the health of your brand.
You might like to read: https://mza.seotoolninja.com/blog/mastering-owner-response-quintet-google-my-business-reviews
-
Thanks for the reply. I have a question about whether it is important or not to answer the reviews on my business page. How important is this for SEO?
-
Good morning!
Great question and good discussion happening here. I have two recommendations for you:
-
Harness all possible features of the Google Knowledge Panel, including description, posts, photos, reviews and review responses, Q&A, etc. Set up UTM tracking wherever you can to assess which particular activities and features are driving traffic and conversions. Google is slowly but surely on a path the replace your website as the interactive level your customers experience for more and more searches. While your website still definitely matters, viewing the Knowledge Panel as a secondary, quite powerful mini-website is appropriate in 2018. Experiment and analyze.
-
Focus on in-store experiences that drive consumer content (reviews) and loyalty. Take advantage of the fact that, for many businesses, Google is still driving new customers their way, basically for free, except in those verticals where free packs are being replaced with paid packs. If Google gives you a customer once, it's up to your in-store staff to turn them into a repeat customer. Emphasize building a loyal consumer base now, while Google leads remain "free", as a preventative measure against the future in which less and less of these leads will be free. What can your business do to create the kind of consumer experiences that win customers for the long term, and prompt word-of-mouth recommendations to their network of family and friends?
Hope these two ideas help!
-
-
Hola elenaglop. Thanks for the link!
-
Hola elenaglop. Thanks for the ideas!
-
It sounds like you're on the right track to me.
With regards to business listings, I have found regularly adding posts to GMB listings quite helpful. While it's not a 'ranking factor', there have been a few case studies done which suggest they can be helpful. E.g. https://searchengineland.com/google-posts-impact-ranking-case-study-285668
Since they take about 5-10 minutes to do, it definitely doesn't hurt!
And then yes if you can create more localised blog content that could help too
-
¡Hola!
Something that always works is writing an article for your blog listing the best specialists in your area or city. In your case it would be something like: "Los mejores logopedas Madrid", of course you can include yourself on the list. Usually this kind of article gets to the first page of Google quite fast because it is quality content. With this little trick you will appear in the first positions when somebody searches "logopedas Madrid".
I hope this helps!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Can I use two feeds for Products Reviews Stars
My client has two sources of reviews - productsreview.com.au and judgeme.com - both have about 30 reviews each and we would like to combine these to get to the required 50 (so that they both show on the product ratings feed). I cannot find any information on this so would be grateful for some guidance - thank you!
Reviews and Ratings | | E2E0 -
How can I improve my rank on Google Local?
I am bringing this topic up again. Last year, I suddenly stopped ranking for Google Local search results. I tried backing away and hoping it would correct itself, but it has not. When I do a search for myself, I rarely show up in the results anymore, and this image shows AFTER I've zoomed WAY in just to find myself. I think it has something to do with many fishing charters having the same address. I read the Moz article about which signals are most important, but to be quite honest, I don't think any of these competitors really bother with SEO or even have filled out their Google My Business in its entirety. They all have way less reviews than I do as well. I really try to do everything right, but it doesn't seem to help. Is there something small ad obvious that I am missing. Any ideas on what to do?
Reviews and Ratings | | CalicoKitty20000 -
Local Business Page Ranking Issue
**Concern:- **Please try to understand my concern. I'm not worried or talking about my ranking. #1. Business Name - Law Office of Paul M. Marriett
Reviews and Ratings | | jeenu_svs
Address - 308 West State Street #97 B, Rockford, IL 61101 #2. Business Name - Law Office Of Brendan Caver, Ltd.
Address - 308 W State St #96, Rockford, IL 61101 These are two business pages and both have different location as you can see in mentioned address. If #1 (Law Office of Paul M. Marriett) ranked on any keyword then #2 (Law Office Of Brendan Caver, Ltd.) does not appear anywhere in result. That's not for a single keyword. Issue is running for all keywords Approx (8-10). Keywords :-
DUI Lawyer Rockford,
DUI Attorney Rockford,
Criminal Lawyer Rockford,
Criminal Attorney Rockford,
DUI Lawyer Rockford IL,
DUI Attorney Rockford IL,
Criminal Lawyer Rockford IL,
Criminal Defense Attorney Rockford, Law Office of Paul M. Marriett ranked for upper mentioned keyword and you can see Law Office Of Brendan Caver, Ltd. is not appear anywhere in search.
....................................................................................................................................................................................... Keywords :-
Best Criminal Attorney Rockford IL,
Best Criminal Lawyer Rockford IL,
Best Criminal Lawyer Rockford,
Best Criminal Attorney Rockford,
Best DUI Lawyer Rockford,
Best DUI Lawyer Rockford IL,
Criminal Defense Lawyer Rockford,
Criminal Defense Lawyer Rockford IL,
Criminal Defense Attorney Rockford IL, Law Office Of Brendan Caver, Ltd. is ranked for upper mention keywords and Law Office of Paul M. Marriett is not appear anywhere in search.
Please check deeply and let me know.0 -
My local search results don't seem to line up with the numbers.
After a year looking at the SERP's of the competition vs our listings I can't figure out what we are not doing by the numbers that is keeping the rankings down. Even looking at the Moz My Business report I don't see what's missing here. https://tools.brightlocal.com/seo-tools/admin/location-dashboard/location/353989/gpw/view#tab-1685931
Reviews and Ratings | | mwaters19790 -
Google Local Results - Incorrect Listing Url's
I have decided to re launch a small side project that I had to abandon a few years ago. I want to specifically target Google Local Results. I do need to overcome a proximity to centroid issue in a fairly competative niche. Unfortunately a number of my listings i.e. Facebook and Yelp have less than optimal URL's. For example: https://www.facebook.com/businessname.targetlocation.keyword/
Reviews and Ratings | | GrouchyKids
http://www.yelp.com/biz/business-name-key-phrase-and-keyword-location Well you get the idea. NB: None of these listings currently have reviews. Now I know that its best to keep the info consistent across the board, so I wonder if I would be better off scrapping these listings in favor of ones with URL's that match the business name. I can see that I can merge FB pages so am guessing that this would work for FB, has anyone any experience of this? Am assuming yelp will have to be deleted in some way. Any thoughts?0 -
Why does Google return 1 star reviews in local listings as the "most helpful"?
I have a client who has recently received two 1 star reviews on Google local (unhappy customer and unhappy customers boyfriend). This is affecting an otherwise flourishing business as these two 1 star reviews are displayed prominently when you search for the brand in Google. They have since received more positive reviews, however Google insists on displaying, what they term, the "most helpful" reviews first. Why are these 1 star reviews deemed "most helpful"? In all honesty, they aren't even really that helpful, with the latter verging on slanderous. We are in the process of reporting this one as it personally attacks a member of staff, however, whilst we tentatively wait weeks for a response, I wondered if anyone has any idea on how G decides which reviews are "most helpful"? When there is no option for other users to rate these reviews as helpful (such as on play store).
Reviews and Ratings | | Silkstream0 -
Google Local Reviews : Creating a Recipricol Reviewing Network
Hi All! I recently came across an invitation for a group on Facebook (created by an internet marketer likely trying to drum up business) that is designed to get a bunch of business professionals to leave reviews for each other (not knowing each other or having worked with one another in any way) in an attempt to build good review profiles on Google local for all. Obviously this is frowned upon, but is it actually dangerous at this point? Are there filters or methods Google has to identify and punish businesses for this type of activity? As someone who always tries to do the right thing, it makes my skin boil when the scammers in our industry use manipulative tactics like this and even more annoyed when they actually work! Look forward to any specific info you all have on this. -Ricky
Reviews and Ratings | | RickyShockley0 -
Google reviews only show up in local results, right?
Two quick questions: 1. google reviews only show up in local results right? 2. If you're 100% e-commerce business with no office location, can you even get a google review? Thanks, Ruben
Reviews and Ratings | | KempRugeLawGroup0