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Ranking local sites

by Roger Mayne
14 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi all

I've been reading tons of threads here, and all across the web recently, learning everything I can about SEO.

I'm working on setting up local sites for small businesses in my area, and ranking them. At the moment, everything is being done a budget, and bing done manually, but as I gather clients, I would like to invest in systems to automate it as much as possible.

I'd like a little advice though to get things kicked off...

Here's what I'm doing so far.

Registered various localised domain names, and hosting them on different hosts with different IPS (only about 6 domains so far). I will be building local blogs (Wordpress) on each domain, which I'll backlink with various web 2.0 properties (the usual suspects of Blogger, Wordpress.com etc). I have purchased Andy Fletchers WP Syndicator to help with that.

I have also purchased digi auto links and digi article blaster to help get my local blogs indexed.

I'e just recently purchased digi traffic accelerator, which I'm using to send backlinks to the web 2.0 properties to help them add a little juice.

I'm now toying with buying another backlinking membership to help add more joice to the web 2.0 properties, but I don't want to spend too much at this stage.

The idea is to get my local blogs some decent PR so that I can use them to rank local business web sites. I can then afford a little blackhat on my own sites without risking the client sites. Also, I feel I am leveraging my own time by building my own properties.

Does anyone have any recommendations of something else I should be doing that's relatively cheap at this stage?

Should I simply register accounts at all the article directories and send out some articles, or I'm thinking about joining Article Marketing Robot, DripFeedLinks or BackBlaster.

Any suggestions? I need maximum bang for my buck, as it were. Once I'm earning, I'll happily re-invest into more programs.

Thanks in advance.
#local #ranking #sites
  • Profile picture of the author SergeLight
    Make sure that all you backlinks are of high quality. High PR, .EDU, wiki links, Related blog comments.
    No BS profile links blast.

    Also high quality link pyramids work very well. Get some cheap at fiverr.

    Also make sure that you on opage SEO is in order. This will get your sites to rank!
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  • Profile picture of the author LiftMyRank
    I always like to start a new site with some press releases, then slowly start sending contextual backlinks to them, don't do too much linking until your site is older than 6 months...
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  • Profile picture of the author GyuMan82
    Bro you are doing this the hard way.

    You don't need to build your own private networks of blogs to rank local keywords.

    Local keywords for the most part are pretty easy to rank as they have less competition than words that are more general.

    Just hit the money sites directly with these links and you'll get these sites to the top asap.
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    • Profile picture of the author Roger Mayne
      Originally Posted by GyuMan82 View Post

      Bro you are doing this the hard way.

      You don't need to build your own private networks of blogs to rank local keywords.

      Local keywords for the most part are pretty easy to rank as they have less competition than words that are more general.

      Just hit the money sites directly with these links and you'll get these sites to the top asap.
      Ok, but the problem is, that some of the sites I'll be trying to rank for the local businesses will be built specifically (and I may be renting out the pages I create rather than boosting current sites), so I don't want to risk sending too many links to a new site. I thought by building the local blogs at the same time, I could age them over time and multiply my linking leverage.

      Does that make sense?
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      "If you don't quit, you can't fail"
      Success will follow.

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      • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
        Originally Posted by Roger Mayne View Post

        Ok, but the problem is, that some of the sites I'll be trying to rank for the local businesses will be built specifically (and I may be renting out the pages I create rather than boosting current sites), so I don't want to risk sending too many links to a new site. I thought by building the local blogs at the same time, I could age them over time and multiply my linking leverage.

        Does that make sense?
        Yes.

        Don't forget local sites LOVE local backlinks.
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        • Profile picture of the author Roger Mayne
          Originally Posted by Fernando Veloso View Post

          Yes.

          Don't forget local sites LOVE local backlinks.
          Yep, that's why I'm building the local blogs!
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          "If you don't quit, you can't fail"
          Success will follow.

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  • Profile picture of the author Roger Mayne
    I wonder if I'm being to impatient.

    I have setup a site about 3 weeks ago. I've got it to page 1 by doing some social bookmarking (manual to the top 10 sites via Onlywire), YouTube video, good onpage SEO, small amount of backlinking.

    It's still settling in the SERPS, so should I just leave it now and wait a few more weeks to see where it lands? Or should I still keep adding some more backlinks slowly?
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    "If you don't quit, you can't fail"
    Success will follow.

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  • Profile picture of the author TryBPO
    As mentioned, getting "local" links can really help get local sites ranked.

    I will point out a pretty major problem, though, if you're not aware. Many geo-targeted searches are dominated by Google Places...there's not much in terms of natural/organic sites above the fold. This can be a problem, especially when you're targeting KW's that don't have very high search volume.

    If you're doing this to build PR on "local" blogs you can use to point towards your clients, you might want to consider trying to optimize your client's Google Places listing through web references. If you're not already familiar, check out this guy's site...a leading expert when it comes to local seo:
    Local Search Marketing • World-Class Local Search Expertise • D. Mihm

    Hope that helps!
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    • Profile picture of the author PeckhamPirate
      Agreed. Try and get a client first and link your new site with their Google Places listing. Aim for a local business with no internet presence and offer them a pioneer deal.

      I use this method on directory sites and if you put someone on the map who has never been online they'll be delighted withh your service, plus your new site will rank better as a result and you'll be able to attract new customers.
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  • Profile picture of the author linkvana
    A lot of people mentioned building local links, but you'll often find local links are hard to find.

    Here's a tip for you to help find these links. Search for local businesses in your area and see if they have blogs. If they do, offer them guest posts in exchange for links. Often times, these small business owners will have a hard time keeping fresh content on their site and are more than happy to get free unique content in exchange for a link or two.

    Hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author cool25
    one word: dont use xrumer or scrapebox blast directly to your main site..it only needed for backlinking to your tier 1 links
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  • Profile picture of the author bob770
    Yes Google Places a very good and effective source for placing your self in Google. Now, as consider to a new site i always make a start with sharing Fresh and informative articles with around 500words an article and also included 3-5% of keyword density in it. Then placed some other Off-page activities like Social Bookmarks, Local Directory and all. Helped me a lot.
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  • Profile picture of the author Roger Mayne
    Thanks for all the replies. I've already built 3 local directories, which I'm allowing free listings at the moment. For some select clients, I'm adding their business details for them and keywording them, and those listings are starting to get to page #2 without any backlinking.

    I've got the other domains on different IPs, so hoping the whole lot sits together quite well.

    Any more advice?
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    "If you don't quit, you can't fail"
    Success will follow.

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  • Profile picture of the author dotgirish
    As i always preach..

    If you are on low budget do ...

    • Create good web 2.0 properties , may be 30 or so
    • Create wiki links or any other contextual links , use highly spun articles.
    • Drop few Bookmarkings (some time just bookmarks would boost your ranking )
    • Do an AMR blast on tier 2
    • do some blog comments on tier 2
    • Create RSS feeds and submit to rss directories
    • check the indexing rates
    • Wait for 2 weeks or so
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