22 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
22 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Help with hyper-local SEO

by ChrisF611
18 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I am a data entry clerk for a web development company. My boss has been offering SEO services for years now, but has been doing most of the work himself.

He's been unloading some of those SEO duties to me so I have been doing SEO for a few months myself, technically. I'm still new at this stuff to be honest. So, I need your help.

One of our clients is an electrician based in Los Angeles. They're trying to rank for "electrician *" where * = multiples cities. I think they call that hyperlocal seo? We have landing pages for each city keyword they want to rank in.

How do I go about ranking for those other cities?

Thanks guys for the help. I'm still learning the ropes with this SEO stuff :confused:
#hyperlocal #seo
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    So your boss that knows how to do SEO refuses to teach you what he wants done for his clients?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328404].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author ChrisF611
      I'm not entirely sure how much SEO he knows how to do. But I was working here on a project-to-project basis where the stuff he didn't have time for was given over to me.

      I've done photography, photoshopping, copywriting, site testing, data entry, and now SEO is being tacked on.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328421].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SEODollz
    This sounds like: "I hate my boss, I'd like to quit and take some of his customers with me." lol

    So you know how to rank for the big city but not for the little ones? Just to be clear
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328427].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Wait. So he is giving you stuff to do with no instructions or direction? Sounds like an awesome way to treat clients.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328443].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author ChrisF611
      Guys, I like my boss. I would like to quit though because SEO feels beyond me. He's been giving more and more duties and it all feels like a career choice. The money is helping me get by right now, but I don't want to do SEO long-term.

      Anyway, I have some idea how to rank for cities where the business has a physical location. It makes it easier to get citations. But the client wants to rank for other cities in the county and I am not sure how to do that.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328459].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author seonutshell
    Guys, a persons job may be on the line here, lets try and save him because we all know its not going to be easy for him to find a job just like that in this economic crisis!

    A google places for each location may be good, and i suggest getting your boss to fork out on GSA may be a good idea, and build a tiered link campaign for each location. Also, if you feel like you will lose the job, or leave, make sure you get copies of the software on your laptop

    Tiered linking tutorial by matt woodward here, im sure he would be honored if you used it
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328530].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by seonutshell View Post

      Guys, a persons job may be on the line here, lets try and save him because we all know its not going to be easy for him to find a job just like that in this economic crisis!

      A google places for each location may be good, and i suggest getting your boss to fork out on GSA may be a good idea, and build a tiered link campaign for each location. Also, if you feel like you will lose the job, or leave, make sure you get copies of the software on your laptop

      Tiered linking tutorial by matt woodward here, im sure he would be honored if you used it
      Seriously? GSA SER is your solution to save his job?

      Sorry, but when you are doing SEO for a real business, you should never use something like GSA SER on their website. Ever. And with Matt Cutts publicly stating they are looking at ways to address tiered linking, I would not use it that way either until someone has an idea of what exactly they are going to target.

      That kind of advice is not going to save a job. It is going to cost someone their job.

      SEO for real businesses needs to be handled much differently than SEO for MFA and affiliate sites. When you f*ckup a website for a real business, there is no just setting up a new site and moving on. It might cost them thousands of dollars to create a new website. They will have to throw out all of their marketing material and print new material with the new website address.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328550].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SEODollz
    How is he going to get a Google places account for cities where he doesn't have a physical address? Sorry if our response is underwhelming but he's not really interested in SEO, doesn't enjoy SEO and doesn't see himself in the future working in SEO so it's not incredibly inspiring to teach him. JMO

    OP the landing pages for the additional cities are a good start. You will need to build links to those, if they are local links from other businesses in that particular city all the better. Make sure your content is up to snuff, don't paste the same generic crap on all of the landing pages and only change the city name. The most important cities should have their landing pages linked to directly from the homepage. HTH
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328555].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author ChrisF611
      Actually, SEODollz I have a question physical locations. Now, I wouldn't do it because I don't want to risk the business, but our client's main competitor has "cookie cutter" landing pages where the city and the address are changed.

      I checked these addresses for these cities and they don't exist. The streets exist but the location doesn't. For example, 714 N La Brea is right next to 716 N La Brea, but one of their landing pages is located at 715 N La Brea, which doesn't exist.

      And the person that did their Web Design & SEO links his clients back to this competitor.

      The fake address I won't do. But I don't know what to make of the second tactic.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328641].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author SEODollz
        Originally Posted by ChrisF611 View Post

        Actually, SEODollz I have a question physical locations. Now, I wouldn't do it because I don't want to risk the business, but our client's main competitor has "cookie cutter" landing pages where the city and the address are changed.

        I checked these addresses for these cities and they don't exist. The streets exist but the location doesn't. For example, 714 N La Brea is right next to 716 N La Brea, but one of their landing pages is located at 715 N La Brea, which doesn't exist.

        And the person that did their Web Design & SEO links his clients back to this competitor.

        The fake address I won't do. But I don't know what to make of the second tactic.

        I'm not actually sure I understand. So your question is if it's kosher that the designer is linking his other client's sites to that one? Do you have other sites where that would even be a viable possibility?
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328686].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author ChrisF611
          Exactly. The web designer caters to contractors and he linked a bunch of his minor clients that are based in other states and he linked them to our main competitor. He's getting a lot of juice from that, it seems.

          We have some clients that we could set up some sort of network for. I just want to know if it's kosher, like you wrote.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328704].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SEODollz
    I think it is unethical to do that without consent from all clients involved, what benefit would the linking clients be getting out of it? Also are they related niches at least?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328730].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author ChrisF611
      I checked the backlinks again for the competitors site and all these other sites that are linking aren't even ranking for their city/state, at least not on the first 3 pages.

      More or less the same niche. Our client is an electrical contractor while our other guys offer painting services, home construction, interior design, etc.

      As for linkbuilding to other businesses, would they have to be in the same niche or just local to our client?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328787].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by ChrisF611 View Post

        As for linkbuilding to other businesses, would they have to be in the same niche or just local to our client?

        Why would a dental practice link to a pizza joint? Or a furniture store link to an electrician? Or a video game store link to a proctologist?

        Yes, same niche is a good idea.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328809].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author ChrisF611
          Ah, thank you so much SEODollz. You're an angel and you might have saved me my job

          Yes lol thank you Mike. I had to be sure, though, because the SEO articles I had been reading mentioned linking local business in the area, but didn't specify whether they would have to be in the same niche or not. Now I know :p
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328819].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Joe J
          Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

          Why would a dental practice link to a pizza joint? Or a furniture store link to an electrician? Or a video game store link to a proctologist?

          Yes, same niche is a good idea.

          Although the same niche is a good idea, wouldn't links from local businesses also be a good idea? Diversity? Local Relevance?

          Thanks

          Joe
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328937].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SEODollz
    Similar niche. Can he get listed in accreditation sites for electricians? Can he get a link from the suppliers he purchases from? Can he get links from builders that he's worked with? Can he get links from property management sites? Can he get links from home inspectors/appraisers/realtors? Can he get listed in his local chamber of commerce/rotary/elk lodge/ whatever? Can he make small donations to local charities and get links that way? Can he volunteer services to charities like Habitat for Humanity and parlay that into links? Can he get a link from the school he went to? The answer is: Of course he can
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8328807].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    IMO you need to drop the idea of spamming other paid client sites for links to rank this one client nationwide. Doubtful those other clients payed you or whoever your working for to spamfest their money sites.

    If your doing this spamfest behind your employers back to rank this one client, s/he might not be too happy when s/he starts getting complaints from those other clients (still need a job?).
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[8329047].message }}

Trending Topics