SEO for local business

[JoshCa]

Hi everyone,

I have been approached by a client of mine for SEO services.

We're in the UK, he's trying to clients local to him & in the surrounding areas.

I am not very clued up on SEO & I don't want to penalise his current rankings - how can I start?

I have what he wants to rank for and he is fixed on these, bunch of link building? Blog posts? EDU links?

Advice would be appreciated or if anyone can recommend a service that is reliable that would be good too for future reference?

Cheers
Josh

 

[Krypt]

you need to build citations to rank for local

 

[ArtVandelay]

Keep it totally whitehat.
LOCAL directory submissions. There's something called Whitespark that can help you find these (I'm assuming it works as well in the UK as it does in the US).
Also make sure all of his listings are properly optimized (NAP consistency is key here... meaning Name, Address, Phone#).

Check out this thread:
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...tations-local-search-engine-optimization.html
It's a goldmine of information from a select few very knowledgeable members.

 

[fc-dh]

you need to build citations to rank for local

That is only for Google Places not organic search.

The best thing you can so is get a new domain (aged is the best to get) install wordpress, create a single post for ever town, village, neighborhood + service or product (there is a plugin called local page ninja that does this all for you) rank it and ad your phone number or email or whatever to collect the leads.

You can use spung content when you use LPN or even when you do it manual and it doesnt matter if it is on the same domain, i still have old LPN sites with 300+ post with 99% duplicate content ranking and getting me leads for three years now. thatis the same article 300 times and the only difference is the city name

Now you backlink the bigger places and collect the leads of redirect the traffic to his/her laningspage.

It is that simple

Goodluck.

 

[SkyrocketSEO]

Check http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/seo-link-building/646774-local-search-engine-optimization-analysis-buy-before-you-buy-any-links-get-proper-optimization-now.html

 

[grim111]

Best way in your case in to get links from authority local sites. Like city hole, some libraries or whatever with good reputation.

 

[xoziggieox]

If you want to get a Whitespark local citation report but don't want to subscribe monthly to the service, I have a Fiverr gig for reports. Just look up Whitespark on Fiverr.

 

[jaselc]

I agree that you should keep it white hat. If you don't want to get their site penalised then you should read this case study, titled 'My failed attempt at Local SEO'. You will learn a ton from it!!

http://doseoyourself.com/my-failed-attempt-at-local-seo/

It also outlines the things you should be doing to rank a local site!!

 

[seocrab]

That is only for Google Places not organic search.

The best thing you can so is get a new domain (aged is the best to get) install wordpress, create a single post for ever town, village, neighborhood + service or product (there is a plugin called local page ninja that does this all for you) rank it and ad your phone number or email or whatever to collect the leads.

You can use spung content when you use LPN or even when you do it manual and it doesnt matter if it is on the same domain, i still have old LPN sites with 300+ post with 99% duplicate content ranking and getting me leads for three years now. thatis the same article 300 times and the only difference is the city name

Now you backlink the bigger places and collect the leads of redirect the traffic to his/her laningspage.

It is that simple

Goodluck.

Google Places results dominate organic Page 1 for local keywords. Citations, plenty of directory listings and customer feedback will help. Onpage requires rich snippets to make sure the address and map details are sent to Google.

 

[banders]

citations, local schema markup on important pages, g+ local page optimization (ive seen citation building to these pages work really well)

 

[WebMeUp]

We're in the UK, he's trying to clients local to him & in the surrounding areas.

These are 5 tips that will help you to promote your client's website on the local level:

Conduct in-depth keyword research. First and foremost, you need to identify the search terms that will result in providing a great amount of local searchers to your client's website. And once you target such words, you need to properly optimize the website for them.

Complete Local Places Pages. It's a well-known fact that Google+ Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing Places are three of the most important local business directory listings. So you can't ignore them. Also, when setting up these local business profiles, it is important to fill out all of the client's information there.

Accurate Citations & Business Directory Listings. When search engines discover your client's business name, address and phone number on additional business directories, that will result in a bigger website local authority. However, you shouldn't spam with your client's business details everywhere. Mind such factors as quality and authority.

Links and social signals. And finally start build links and promote your client's site in social media and local communities.
Also, when doing link building, try to get more links from sites located in the same area (if possible).

 

[pahosa]

These are 5 tips that will help you to promote your client's website on the local level:

Conduct in-depth keyword research. First and foremost, you need to identify the search terms that will result in providing a great amount of local searchers to your client's website. And once you target such words, you need to properly optimize the website for them.

Complete Local Places Pages. It's a well-known fact that Google+ Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing Places are three of the most important local business directory listings. So you can't ignore them. Also, when setting up these local business profiles, it is important to fill out all of the client's information there.

Accurate Citations & Business Directory Listings. When search engines discover your client's business name, address and phone number on additional business directories, that will result in a bigger website local authority. However, you shouldn't spam with your client's business details everywhere. Mind such factors as quality and authority.

Links and social signals. And finally start build links and promote your client's site in social media and local communities.
Also, when doing link building, try to get more links from sites located in the same area (if possible).

These tips are very good. When doing SEO for local businesses you have to make sure to mix them up a little. Just stick to white hat methods to avoid penalty.