Local SEO enough traffic without google places?

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testeee

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I have a site ranking #1 for a local term (example: city dentist) in a city that is one of the top 50 population in the US.

Google says that term gets 320 EXACT-type (2400 broad, 480 phrase) searchs a month (last month). I was #1 for the whole month and google analytics says I got 10 people from that keyword which is 3% of the estimated traffic.

I'm guessing the traffic low because of the google local 7box above me... is this also the case for everyone else? Is the 7box the real traffic puller?

Using PPC and SEO I can get a decent # of leads for this site, but everyone online seems to act like seo for one keyword is enough to help a local business out. I just don't see it. Seems like you would need to rank well for at least 5-10 keywords before you see any kind of "decent" traffic for a local site (and by "decent" I mean 10+ visitors a day).
 
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I acually think that people apply more credibility to offline businesses that are displayed
on google places. I dont know whether it's the graphical map display creating a psycological advantage or whether it is because people tend to think they are google
verified businesses.
 
@testeee

You said Google says that term gets 320 EXACT-type searches.
I presume you mean Google Keyword Tool External.
From my experience that is kinda imprecise.

My advice for you is to use Google Insights. It gives wayyyy better results.

PS: I am doing EXACTLY the same thing you are, the difference being that I target big cities in ROMANIA. :)

Maybe you are interested in sharing results, techniques, etc. If you are PM me and we could team up and improve both our results.

take care.
 
Yeah, it is probably the 7 box that is pulling the traffic. Think of it this way, if you have a 7 box on top of you, you are actually not the 1st result but the 8th so it does make sense not to be getting the full traffic. Why don't u try getting in the maps as well? That will give you more estate on the first page of Google....
 
Keep in mind Google isn't going to tell you the exact actual number of people come to a search term. Ever.

A friend of mine owns the #1 spot for a phrase that supposedly gets about 9000 exact searches a month. Being in the number 1 spot you'd think he would get a fair amount of that traffic right? Nope. He gets a few hundred visiters a month. WAY LOWER than you'd expect.

He's great at SEO and making people feel at home on his sites, so it's not a matter of people coming and leaving, it's simply that he's being lied to about the amount of traffic searching for that term.
 
Take a real sample from one of my SEO clients:
#1 for the search term - 33 visits from organic listing last 30 days
#1 in the local listing above organic results - 157 visitors
Google result page impressions - 2770
 
What does your meta description say? Does it include any call to action? If not this maybe another reason why you aren't getting clicks...

SEO and internet marketing isn't just about placement in the SERPS!

hth
 
The stats are that organic listings get around 75% and paid get the rest 25% so as anglelas111 said, take the sponsored links into account as well.
 
MrDoru said:
@testeee

You said Google says that term gets 320 EXACT-type searches.
I presume you mean Google Keyword Tool External.
From my experience that is kinda imprecise.

My advice for you is to use Google Insights. It gives wayyyy better results.

PS: I am doing EXACTLY the same thing you are, the difference being that I target big cities in ROMANIA. :)

Maybe you are interested in sharing results, techniques, etc. If you are PM me and we could team up and improve both our results.

take care.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips on Google insights. Funny thing is that when I take the top keywords listed in Google insights for my site to Google external it shows WAY less search than my main keywords?
 
So basically, normal one-keyword-SEO could be almost worthless to a small biz if its not accompanied by gplaces and/or ppc (unless you have better words like carolines example above... I could see 33 visitors a month for a targeted local niche turning into a couple sales)... right?

caroline42 said:
Take a real sample from one of my SEO clients:
#1 for the search term - 33 visits from organic listing last 30 days
#1 in the local listing above organic results - 157 visitors
Google result page impressions - 2770
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, what does the google external tool say for that keyword?

MrDoru, google insights doesn't give traffic numbers. The numbers are normalized traffic numbers. Check out this post (I just skimmed it): http://www.searchenginejournal.com/...ghts-you-cant-estimate-traffic-with-it/16924/



​
 
Last edited:
I think one thing that has to be taken into consideration with low search terms is the amount of people like ourselves, who are searching for these terms to check competition and check how your site is ranking etc.
 
The other factor is what are you targeting under that niche for dentist? Is it braces, free cleanings,kids, gentle dentist, etc or is it only for adsense. I know you said you get leads but maybe target other pages and backlink those title keywords|Pages towards a longer keyword phrase like [city+free cleaning for kids|moms|seniors] and that page will rank for those keywords bringing traffic from more searches.:google2:$$$$
 
wookie85 said:
Yeah, it is probably the 7 box that is pulling the traffic. Think of it this way, if you have a 7 box on top of you, you are actually not the 1st result but the 8th so it does make sense not to be getting the full traffic. Why don't u try getting in the maps as well? That will give you more estate on the first page of Google....
Click to expand...

I am in the same situation being #1 for "city dentist". So how can I get on the Google 7 box listing when my site is not an actual physical place? Doesn't Google mail out or call the place to verify it is an actual physical business before listing in the 7 box? Is there a way around this to get any site listed in the 7 box?
Posted via Mobile Device
 
testing and fretting about local search results over the past 7 years, on local sites the number of visitors is way lower than what the G keyword tool says.
In many different business types.
 
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