28 Nov Content is king with Google.
Content is king with Google.
Making/Verifying Your Page
In order to be able to make or verfy a Google Plus Local page, you have to have a Google account. If you do not have one you can make one for free here https://accounts.google.com/SignUp.
Then you will be able to make or verify a existing page.
After you log into your Google Plus account go to the following url
https://plus.google.com/+GoogleBusiness
Once there you will be able to search for your business.
Start by entering your businesses name and see if your business comes up in the search results. If it doesn’t, select “None Of These Match”. You can enter the necessary info and create your business page.
If your business comes up in the search results,click it. That will allow you to confirm your location by phone or mail.
Write A Short Description
After setting up your page,it’s time to setup your business profile with as much information as possible.
Write a description of your business and the services it provides.
Here you can write anything you want, keep in mind what you write in the description will affect search results. Don’t keyword stuff but it will help to include some keywords that are related to your business.
Be sure to include your industry and location. If you specialize in business law,masonry work or trimming trees be sure to include this so it will show up in the SERPS as well.
Your Business Hours
To complete your business profile, you need to list your business hours. If you are a consultant or contractor type business, this maybe a little harder to nail down. Even if you don’t have set
hours put in 9 to 5 or something along those lines, it will make
your business even more legitmate in the eyes of Google.
Add A Profile And Cover Photo
You have now entered the most important information.
However,you still need to tune up your Google Plus Local page.
For example,you can add a relevant profile picture,which shows up with your page. Click “Profile” in the menu. Then click the camera in the circle to the left of your information. Upload your company logo for instance.
Link Your Website And Google Plus Local Page
Last but not least, you NEED to link your Google Plus Local page and your businesses website. One of the ways to do that is by selecting the menu point “About” and then select the “Links”
section. Click on “Link Website”. If you have already approved your website in the Google Webmaster Tool, it will be linked automatically. You can also get a section of code that can be
added to your website. If you cannot do it yourself , have your webmaster or web designer install the code.
A Critical Look At Your Website
The most important factor to Local SEO, is your own website.
Here are the classic rules for on-page SEO,the only difference is you must include your location. In basic terms this means, your
website needs to reflect the service you provide, your location and where you are located. Below is summary of the parts your website will need. If you are unsure about anything, your programmer/webmaster to help you with changes.
Title Tag
An important place to have both information about location and service/product,is in the “title tag” on the front page of your website.
The title tag is the line you see at the top of the search results.
Besides catching the eye, it is also determines in which search results your site will appear.
content
As you can see, both the service (Dentist) and location (Atlanta) are included in all the SERPS. If you want to check your website’s title tag, there are two ways to do it. You can find it by going to
your website and looking at what it says at the top of the browser.
You can also write “site:yourwebaddress” in Google.
Meta Description
Your “meta description” is the written under your title tag.
(Black arrows)
content
You can define this yourself as well, for each page of your website.
As a rule, Google will take the things you have written into consideration when your website is shown in the SERPS. You do
not get any direct advantage from the description in SEO terms. If
the words the searcher types appear in the description they will be highlighted in bold text. (Red Arrows)
Page Headers
It’s an advantage to have both service and location appear in the header the (H1-tag) on your front page. This is also a significant indicator to Google.
It doesn’t always make sense in a practical way, but if you can intertwine it in there,it is optimal if possible. If not,you can consider using location and service in one of the sub headers (H2tags).
Content
In the content page write things, like what your business offers, both the service and location should appear several times. It’s
important, that the text still read naturally, since it’s mainly there for human users. So don’t over do it.
NAP
Your NAP (name,address and phone number) also need to be on
every page your website. This is a very important factor Local SEO factor. If you only have the time to make one change to your
page,then this is where you should spend your time. Because with
NAP on your website, Google will link it with all the other websites where your information appears. Remember it is very important that your NAP is the same on every website. The best place to have your NAP is on the footer. It is also a good idea to have a “about us” or “contact” page.
Citations
Citations are all the places where your company name,address or phone number are mentioned, without a link to your website present.
Oftentimes, this is also refereed to as “mentions” in SEO speak.
In practical terms,these will be on sites like:
Switchboard
Yellow Pages Yelp
Insider Pages
Foursquare
Citations are very important in connection with local SEO.
Although they do not provide a direct link,they are still a important indicator to Google,when they calculate rankings for their search results.
For this reason,it is worthwhile to spend time on citations,after establishing your other local SEO tactics and website optimization.
Double check and make sure your NAP is the same on all Citations.
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