15 Sep

Building Local Citations for SEO

locsl citationsIn today’s competitive business world, recognition is a major factor if a business is to achieve success. This is the reason why most SEO campaigns will employ any applicable tactic that may lead to knowledge of the business among customers. One such way is through building local citations. This can simply be defined as the mentions (other than yours) of your business and the references to it across relevant and authoritative websites and portals, local directories or associations.

Citations are an important part of SEO and can make a huge difference in how your site ranks. Building citations will involve providing the business name, address/ZIP code, phone number (abbreviated as NAP) and any other supporting details such as hours of operation, directions, reviews and ratings among others. When creating a citation, emphasis should, however, be on three main factors as discussed below.

1. Business Name

This is the most important factor when it comes to good ranking in local SEO. Always make sure that your business name/title remains consistent across every data source in the web. This will tremendously help you establish trust in your existence. Inconsistency will on the other hand mean that Google and other search engines may view the different entities as separate businesses when indexing your business. A thorough keyword research can help you come up with a final and perfect name that will help you achieve maximum optimization.

2. PhysicalAddress

It is important to consider consistency in every detail provided for your citation purposes and physical address is no different. Be clear in the description of your physical location which should be the nearest Google idea city.

3. Phone Number

Search engines do not want to find several inconsistent phone numbers, neither do local directories. Again, be consistent on this. It is highly recommended to creating the number as an image instead of an indexable HTML text.

There are several options of managing citation building and the most common ones include use of software, seeking consultation services or doing it yourself.

Where to get citations

As mentioned earlier, the mainstream sources of citation are directories and relevant and authoritative websites. But you will find these can be quite limiting and you may not rely fully on them for substantial success in your SEO endeavors. So, what alternatives sources are there to help compliment the same?

  • Image and video descriptions
  • Profile pages
  • Forum signatures
  • Press releases
  • Guest posts
  • Social media and local blogs
  • Newspapers

Benefits of citations

  • It helps rank your business better. Citations along with reviews and links are a major parameter that Google uses in deciding their ranking order. The mentions are much appreciated if found on websites which are relevant in terms of content and/or location
  • Google also uses the citations in verifying the accuracy of the details provided in the business listing such as the phone number and address. This will enhance trust and ultimately ensure great strides in the business rank improvement.
  • Business mentions through citations from various fronts and sites only means more customer leads which will be definitely counts in your sales and business at large.

Conclusion

Always make sure to list your business in as many directories as possible but never allow to settle there. Look for other unconventional avenues such as guest blog posting while also keeping a close eye on the where your competitors have citations. Always be consistent in providing your details.

11 Sep

Tips How to Set up your Google Plus page for SEO

designThere are more than 300 million people who use Google Plus actively as a social network. 70% of businesses have a presence on Google Plus and it offers many great features like Twitter and Facebook. It is tied into Google’s search engine directly and also is able to boost your web presence rank. Here are some tips on how to set up your Google Plus page for SEO:

Running a NYC SEO agency is incredibly competitive, as you’re competing against other SEO agencies that know how to rank higher in Google. Google+ gives you the opportunity to get new visibility in search engines, aside from standard Google search.

1. Fill out your information

Google Plus is set up to optimize the search engine results of Google, unlike other social networks. To make this work well, you are required to fill out your pages and profile completely.

2. Add links

You are permitted by Google Plus to add links in many places and hence use them to link to your website’s content including specific pages where you want to send leads.

3. Focus on keywords

Be sure to include keywords when you are filling your profile. Think about the keywords that are used by your customers, as well as those keywords that you want to rank high on. This is very essential when you write the introduction in the About section of Google Plus, since initially Google draws all its information from here.

4. Make use of hover text

Hover text allows you to control what one sees when he holds the mouse over his business name in Google Plus. An important use of the small space is to display the tagline of your business. Since it is possible for you to see only the initial five words in the hover card, you must make them count.

5. Use more hashtags

Hashtags are very useful because Google Plus provides an open posting environment which is almost similar to Twitter. See what’s under “What’s Hot” and start your own conversation using trending hashtags. Apart from helping you within Google Plus network, hashtags also appear in Google searches.

6. Promote yourself everywhere

You must reach out to your customers, clients and leads, in addition to making contacts with your associates. You should announce your new Google Plus account in your emails and also create a link to the email footer and other social media websites. Also you can place a badge on the site, which will permit people to circle you with no need to go to Google Plus. You might ask the design team of your marketing agency to make a customized badge for you that matches with your brand.

7. Encourage feedback

The +1 button not only allows other people to effortlessly share links, pages and content, but it also helps you to increase your SEO. You should get the up-to-date +1 button code and install it on your homepage, blog posts and individual pages.

8. Update content frequently

In order to be successful with Google Plus, you are required to post content that your followers care for. You must keep your audience updated with your company’s news. Also you should share the most recent blog entries, post videos and pictures, offer useful tips and tricks and offer special deals meant for your Google Plus followers only.

9. Interact with your followers

Google Plus is essentially a social network. Therefore, you must interact with your audience in addition to advertising your business and posting content. You should respond to questions, comments and concerns, take general interest in your clients, share other people’s contents that are related to your followers and prove them that you are also a human just like them.

Conclusion

Since Google Plus has become one of the most used social networks on the Internet, don’t waste time to utilize it to optimize your SEO. Don’t forget that it takes time to succeed and you must be patient if you do not see an instant jump in your followers and your site’s SEO. If you remain committed, you are sure to succeed.