Local SEO

Despite the vastness of the internet, it is a fact that the majority of business that companies pick up is still from a little closer to home. One of the most important things is being found locally by having a Google Places listing.

It is no mistake that Google has gotten big for a reason. They know how to deal out search results. They know that if you are from Edinburgh and you type in ‘Restaurant’, you want to see Restaurants in Edinburgh, nowhere else.

This occurs because Google knows your location. They will therefore provide you with a relevant results page for it. Let’s assume once again that you are going to be typing ‘Restaurant’ into the search bar. You will be given what is known as a result from ‘Google Places’ or ‘Google Maps’. These companies are those that have a Google Places listing. They will always appear at the top of the search results, so if you don’t have Google Places optimisation in place then you could be missing out.

Here is an example with a screenshot of a local search for “Restaurants” from an Edinburgh location:

One of the biggest benefits of Google Places is that it will provide the searcher with exactly what they want to buy, when they are ready to purchase it. There really is no other more powerful advertising method online for any company. This is why Google Places is important for a business that actually wants to make profit.

Like everything on the internet though, it isn’t just as easy as sticking your business on Google Places and hoping for the best. The search results will only display 7 relevant listings, and these will often be filled by your competitors. If your company isn’t there then you could be missing out on a lot of business for your company. With place page SEO however, you could be ranking in these top results consistently.

Carrying out place page SEO is fairly complex if you are unsure as to what you are doing. If you want to rank consistently in that top 7, or even out rank your competitors you will need to follow a strict set of guidelines that Google has set out. There are thousands of local businesses, your company could be one, who will never rank in those top results because they are doing the wrong thing.

It isn’t just one thing you will need to learn to optimise either, there are over 15 different areas which you need to get perfect, it really can be a bit of a headache. This is why we offer, as part of our local SEO package a complete optimisation service for your Google Places Page. We want local businesses to be found online, and we want to help them boost their products, and we do this the way that we have had a number of our customers showing up at the top of the search results.

As part of our Local SEO we will build you a complete business profile which contains a number of elements which will help catapult you to the top of those rankings:

Review Cards

Branding with a Logo and Slogan

Your location on a map

Contact Details

Information on Products and Services you offer

Opening Hours

Videos and Images

Online directory submissions

It is incredibly important that all of this information is on your place page in exactly the right way, otherwise you could be losing out on a lot of business. We will also ensure that your Place page SEO is done in such a way that it encourages people to leave reviews on your company, which can boost your position in the search results and of course could lead to a lot more business.

So how effective is this? Well consider the last time that you used Google to search for a company in the local area, we are going to guess that it is recently and quite often. There are thousands of companies in your area who are also doing this. It is very rare that we grab a copy of the Yellow Pages nowadays and look for a number.

This honestly is the future of finding businesses online, and without Local SEO you will be left in the dust of your competitors. Your customers can be found online nowadays, and connecting with them is incredibly important.

So why don’t you have a Google Places Page? Or if you do, why isn’t it optimised? You could literally be throwing away thousands of pounds of repeat custom. Can you really afford to do this? If not, get in contact with Online Marketing Consultant today.