How To Dominate Google Local Search: In 8 Easy Steps

How To Dominate Google Local Search -

In 8 Easy Steps

By Alistair Dodds

Smoking Chili Media

Copyright 6 August 2018

Published on Smashwords

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Google My Business Optimisation

Local Pack Ranking Signals

How to Dominate Local Google Search Summary

About the Author

Introduction

If you run a local business and want to receive local search related traffic from Google, then a Google My Business listing is essential. Having such a listing is one of the most important routes for local customers and prospects to discover your shop and service offering online. It's the map part of a local Google search where a company’s address and review rating is shown on the Google map.

And yet so many business owners seem to neglect this vital marketing opportunity. If you've not yet registered for a Google My Business listing or have not fully optimised it, then this guide is for you. We'll take you step by step through the setup process so you can be found by more potential local customers, increase your sales and ultimately lead a happier, less stressful life!

Quick Stats:

• Google accounts for over 70% of all internet searches (to date in 2018).

• Google handles 1.2 trillion searches per year globally.

• 52.2% of searches are on mobile phones (that's people out and about who could well be looking for a local business or service near them).

• 1st, 2nd and 3rd place results receive between 55% to 60% of all the traffic.

• According to this Google research paper, 50% of consumers visit a shop within 1 day of finding them in search on their mobile.

With these figures in mind, it is therefore essential that local businesses claim the prominent top 3 positions that Google My Business often provides in local search results. So how do you go about doing it?

Well the starting point is to fully optimise your Google My Business listing. Once you've done that however, don't stop there as there are many other factors involved.

The last industry survey on local search ranking factors (which gets updated about every 2 years) placed Google My Business as the most important factor followed by links from other websites to your website, citations, on page optimisation, customer reviews and more. You can see the full breakdown in the pie chart below.

In the first part of this guide we're just going to focus on getting your Google My Business fully optimised. In the second part of the guide we'll investigate how you go about obtaining citations, relevant backlinks and the rest of the ranking factors. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

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Chapter 1

Google My Business Optimisation

First let's start with a quick overview of the initial 12 steps involved in optimising your Google My Business listing.

Claim your business listing:

1. Register with Google: Visit https://www.google.com/business/

2. Business Name: Use your exact business name. Do not add keywords to your name (you will be penalised later if you do).

For example, Good = My Company Ltd. Bad = My Company Ltd London Cheap Dentist.

3. Address: State your full address. It’s vitally important that use the same Business Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) when registering elsewhere on the web. We’ll talk more on this later but for now, just be aware that you want to be registering a settled and consistent Name, Address and Phone number (NAP).

4.