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Local SEO

by Xebekn
12 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I have a client that just opened up a new business. I optimized their Google Places page and built in 14 citations. They are having an incredibly difficult time ranking a month in. I chalk this up to being brand new (Google has no information about them except the citations and their website), even their website is only 2 months old. I figure this slow pace is normal but if it isn't, let me know.

My question is, they want to ramp it up in time for the holidays. What can I do on the SEO side to help them rank quicker in time for Christmas? Any thoughts or ideas? I thought about buying an aged domain and redirect to get them some trust and authority. What other methods would you suggest?
#local #seo
  • Profile picture of the author dadamson
    Buying an aged domain just for re-directing to a new website won't work too well. If anything, find a domain with a lot of high quality backlinks and redirect them to your site.

    Seriously, if I was in your position I would get some backlinks rolling out ASAP!

    2 months is fairly new, but this is perfectly fine to start a rigerous backlink campaign if you do it right. We are in the holiday season now, so quick rankings are what's needed!
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Gregory
    Most SEO efforts are not going to have much effect in that little amount of time. Depending on what their budget is, I would seriously consider some paid campaigns to get things moving while you are working on the SEO portion.
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    • Profile picture of the author phans
      Originally Posted by Peter Gregory View Post

      Most SEO efforts are not going to have much effect in that little amount of time. Depending on what their budget is, I would seriously consider some paid campaigns to get things moving while you are working on the SEO portion.
      i agree
      just don't start building backlinks like crazy to get good rankings because getting sandboxed or deindex would be the worst case
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      • Profile picture of the author Xebekn
        Originally Posted by phans View Post

        i agree
        just don't start building backlinks like crazy to get good rankings because getting sandboxed or deindex would be the worst case
        I wonder if this could happen with citations as well? Maybe I'm GP sandboxed? I built 14 citations and although I know they weren't all indexed immediately, still...maybe there's a possibility?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Potts
    Paid placement does sound good to help them get business and get them some targeted traffic for the search engine to judge.

    However Local SEO in Places is largely based off of directory submissions such as insiderpages, merchantcircle and so on. Are these the citations you made?

    Also the SEO within the profile matters as well, even down to the naming convention of the photos.

    When all of that is done and they are not ranking it comes down to the website's onsite SEO, backlinking and every now and then the age of the places listing goes into account. I am not positive but I think the age of the website does not factor into Local Listing placement through Places.
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    • Profile picture of the author Xebekn
      Originally Posted by Jon Potts View Post

      Paid placement does sound good to help them get business and get them some targeted traffic for the search engine to judge.

      However Local SEO in Places is largely based off of directory submissions such as insiderpages, merchantcircle and so on. Are these the citations you made?

      Also the SEO within the profile matters as well, even down to the naming convention of the photos.

      When all of that is done and they are not ranking it comes down to the website's onsite SEO, backlinking and every now and then the age of the places listing goes into account. I am not positive but I think the age of the website does not factor into Local Listing placement through Places.
      I've done all those things. I have 14 citations out there and the sites mentioned above are a part of them.

      I would say Google Places is at about a 60/40 or 70/30 split in terms of Local SEO and Normal SEO. I've heard that the website ranking doesn't matter but I think that's so far from the truth. I've heard that it doesn't matter that much and once again, I disagree. Not only does it make sense for Google to include the website's ranking in the Places algorithm but I've also outranked other people that seemingly have an abundance of citations. Yes, my Places page is more optimized than theirs but not enough to overcome the discrepancy in citations. It can only be because of the website.

      Any ideas on how to get it popping quicker? Where do most of you shop for your aged/backlinked domains? Also, I've never really delved into manual backlinking. I know lots of people just buy them but I'm not going to risk my clients' placing on the internet. How do most of you manually backlink?

      Also, I don't know how viable a backlinking campaign would be anyway. I need them to rank quicker, 2-3 weeks. I don't think those backlinks will make a difference that quick will they? Your thoughts, please.

      I will definitely mention a paid campaign to him.
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      • Profile picture of the author Welsh Warrior
        Originally Posted by Xebekn View Post

        Where do most of you shop for your aged/backlinked domains?
        I'm just learning local SEO atm, before trying some offline clients, so can't comment too much there - but for aged domains with backlinks I almost always use dropday.com

        I am a paid member but remember they do a free trial which, iirc, was pretty comprehensive (and tbh the membership fee is not that expensive, something like $18 a month).

        They cover GD, namejet, snapnames and a few others
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  • Profile picture of the author mechanicaldesign
    If you are going to target targeted area seo then you have to generate back links in the specific location so you can get good traffic on your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author C Rebecca
    Local ranking factors are bit different from global ranking factors.

    Apart from so many other factors Google consider a few more like,
    - Geographic distance of your business place and user's place
    - Geographic distance of your business place from city center
    - Geographic distance of you competitior and user's place
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  • Profile picture of the author spoiledkid01
    Which result comes up when searching with there keywords?
    Is it a 7pack listing in google maps or a blended listing?
    Pm me or add me on skype to talk more i can assist you on that.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimbo61
    Originally Posted by Xebekn View Post

    I have a client that just opened up a new business. I optimized their Google Places page and built in 14 citations. They are having an incredibly difficult time ranking a month in. I chalk this up to being brand new (Google has no information about them except the citations and their website), even their website is only 2 months old. I figure this slow pace is normal but if it isn't, let me know.

    My question is, they want to ramp it up in time for the holidays. What can I do on the SEO side to help them rank quicker in time for Christmas? Any thoughts or ideas? I thought about buying an aged domain and redirect to get them some trust and authority. What other methods would you suggest?
    That boat has sailed, it is PPC all the way now
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  • Profile picture of the author Juvv2096
    hi mate,

    have you setup the on page SEO for the local keyword terms. for example "Dentist Chicago" or anything like that?

    I would start there first for sure. I have a business that i rank really well locally and have made pages specific for keyword terms that relate to the service, and also the local area.

    for example one of mine is "IT Company Sydney" and "Computer repairs northern beaches".

    Making pages specifically for these keywords will get you to the top fast fi you use something like wordpress.



    good luck!
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