36 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
36 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Local Business SEO Problem

by trendier
29 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I built a website for a local construction company, and the best we did was get to page 4 of google search for related terms. We rank #1 when searching for the business name. I used to post about 2 articles a week, but took a long break because they didn't seem to be helping at the time. It becomes pretty hard to write construction related articles all the time, and none of the competitors have anything near as good content wise yet continue to rank higher. We have about 16 backlinks over the course of 5 months(slow and steady approach).

Is there anything someone could recommend for this niche? I can't seem to pinpoint what the other sites have that ranks them better. One of them has all broken links on their site, the other looks like its from the 1990s yet still rank higher.
#business #local #problem #seo
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Just building a site and posting is not really doing local SEO. 16 links over the course of 5 months is not slow and steady. That is barely doing anything.

    You need to focus on building citations. That site should have 40-50 links by now just from citation sources alone.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9484637].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author accessted
      Make sure your site has good internal linking structure and keep building links. Don't get greedy and start blasting links but you could build quite a few more than you have.

      Thought about a PBN? Mike Anthony on here knows a bit about them and can hook you up..

      Also maybe try some social stuff to spread the word..
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9484849].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author trendier
    I've also found it very difficult to find good backlinks. There are a few paid places, like associations, but the business is very small and can't afford that yet. I setup citations at a lot of places, however they don't count as true backlinks according to MajesticSEO.

    I've tried looking up competitor backlinks, and they are very unrelated and sparse. I also looked up backlinks nationally for similar businesses, which helped me find a handful of good ones, but it seems the odds are against us if we try to rank on page 1. The only thing the competitors have that I can tell is a very aged domain compared to ours which is 5 months old.

    Any ideas? Specifically it is a masonry business, and probably about 5 competitors locally.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9498463].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dsdomination
    Try the reviews route. That will help. If you get natural, real ones will be much much better too!
    Good luck!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9499355].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by trendier View Post

      I've also found it very difficult to find good backlinks. There are a few paid places, like associations, but the business is very small and can't afford that yet. I setup citations at a lot of places, however they don't count as true backlinks according to MajesticSEO.
      It doesn't matter what Majestic counts or doesn't count. Google does not use Majestic data.

      There are about 50 business directories the site should be in (assuming it is in the U.S.).

      YellowPages
      iBegin
      Bing for Business
      Yahoo Business
      BrownBook
      MerchantCircle
      Yelp
      Foursquare
      Manta
      Localeze

      ...to name a few.

      Google+ for Business should be setup and completed. The address in these directories should be identical, or as close to identical as you can get, to the way the address appears on Google+. The address should also appear on every page of their website.

      As far as associations... if they cannot afford to join places like the local Chamber of Commerce, they are not ready to be in business yet, to be honest.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9499759].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author jasonthewebmaster
    Banned
    Consistency is required for good rankings. Your business listing info must match and be consistent across the top sites and your website as well. Google plus listings will get punished if there are duplicate listings or your business name, address or phone number does not match your website.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9499816].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author pearce
    Try and get some authority to your site rather than just building citations.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9500058].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author AlbertMora
    Have you had a look at your competitors linking profiles?

    Regarding content, I would have a look at buzzsumo, type your competitor's url, and check which posts are most shared.
    Signature
    Free step by step SEO guide (100% free, more than 100,000 words and 100 SEO tasks)

    Ontraport vs Infusionsoft . Unbiased review
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9500091].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by AlbertMora View Post

      Have you had a look at your competitors linking profiles?

      Regarding content, I would have a look at buzzsumo, type your competitor's url, and check which posts are most shared.
      Are you serious?

      People are not sharing content off of local construction company sites.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9500139].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        Are you serious?

        People are not sharing content off of local construction company sites.
        Lol, you mean plumbers aren't posting selfies on FB?
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9500204].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author accessted
          Originally Posted by yukon View Post

          Lol, you mean plumbers aren't posting selfies on FB?
          Sure they are...

          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9500348].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Blaine Smitley
    It's really hard to get somebody excited enough about a wax toilet ring to share it all over facebook.
    Signature
    Louisville SEO Company
    Check out our Customer Testimonials
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9500303].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author DABK
      Not if the owner dresses up in a tux and puts one on his head, dresses his dog in a tux, puts one on the dog's head, and takes a selfie and...

      Or, maybe, you post something about the business owner when he's relaxing... See what toilet guys do when they don't work!

      You can move an item into a new context, and make it interesting.

      Or you could post a video about how to replace one of those things.

      You have lots of those videos, people might start thinking you know what you're talking about.

      People might share your stuff because you're It, the guy who knows his stuff.



      Originally Posted by Blaine Smitley View Post

      It's really hard to get somebody excited enough about a wax toilet ring to share it all over facebook.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9505989].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author trendier
        how did we start talking about toilets? the site i am working on is for masonry/construction. I know what you're saying, but generally the work is boring, and I can't think of how mixing cement, or laying bricks would ever be watched or shared more than 2 times in 20 years lol


        Originally Posted by DABK View Post

        Not if the owner dresses up in a tux and puts one on his head, dresses his dog in a tux, puts one on the dog's head, and takes a selfie and...

        Or, maybe, you post something about the business owner when he's relaxing... See what toilet guys do when they don't work!

        You can move an item into a new context, and make it interesting.

        Or you could post a video about how to replace one of those things.

        You have lots of those videos, people might start thinking you know what you're talking about.

        People might share your stuff because you're It, the guy who knows his stuff.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9506012].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author unicron
    I personally feel that local SEO is getting more complicated, and in some cases more expensive to rank these days.
    Signature
    Need help in dealing with threatening letters from the IRS, wage garnishment, or a lien? Contact Me Today!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9500318].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    16 backlinks in 5 months? WTF?

    That's not "slow & steady" that's 3 links / month which is nothing. In 5 months I would have at least 300 links by now (minimum).

    So BUILD MORE LINKS. Make sure his site has lots of geo-targeted content for construction. Silo it neatly. Get your on page perfect and most importantly just build more links.

    At the pace you're going his site might rank by 2020.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9500890].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author trendier
      Originally Posted by RedShifted View Post

      16 backlinks in 5 months? WTF?

      That's not "slow & steady" that's 3 links / month which is nothing. In 5 months I would have at least 300 links by now (minimum).

      So BUILD MORE LINKS. Make sure his site has lots of geo-targeted content for construction. Silo it neatly. Get your on page perfect and most importantly just build more links.

      At the pace you're going his site might rank by 2020.
      it's pretty tough to find relevant backlinks for a masonry company honestly. ive checked competitors and most of their backlinks are either paid directories, or not related at all. most have 0! it's quite unbelievable.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9505689].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Fkmdiscountcoupons
    why you don't try fiverr local bussiness directories submission in just 5$ . 16 links in 5 months is very poor speed. Do some basic seo , create social media accounts, google+ is best for local seo. ,,
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9506494].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by trendier View Post

      it's pretty tough to find relevant backlinks for a masonry company honestly. ive checked competitors and most of their backlinks are either paid directories, or not related at all. most have 0! it's quite unbelievable.
      It really is not that difficult. There are tons of business directories out there. Yes, some are paid, but that shouldn't make you shy away. If anything, those are better to get into.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9507153].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author npoint
    Don`t buy backlinks ,once the websites where are they placed on are compromised you get penalized.
    Build your own PBN based on top blog platforms and then boost them with some GSA SER backlinks. It works very well and it`s probalby one of the safest SEO techniques these days.
    Signature
    Google Traffic (trial) geo and keywords targetted - Free Trial - PM me
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9507546].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author trendier
    I think I might be confused. I was looking at backlinks based on what Majestic and SiteExlorer told me. I already setup like 30 or more citations, in fact LocalMoz shows me I only missed 4 of the big citation places, Factual 4square and a couple other ones. I already did a lot of citations and local profiles on G+, FB, skipped twitter but may revisit, etc. I was pretty focused on growing backlinks that show up in those services, so I guess that approach is wrong?
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9507663].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author trendier
    Oh and I put the business on a ton of directories, I just feel like I'm missing something. The top ranked sites are crappy, have no backlinks at all reported in those backlink checker services, or barely any.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9507664].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author SEOWizard417
    Get some PBN links, they kill it with local seo rankings.
    Signature
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9507787].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author trendier
      Originally Posted by SEOWizard417 View Post

      Get some PBN links, they kill it with local seo rankings.
      Interesting. Do you think the PBN should be local though? How about relevancy to the industry?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9508315].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author jobucks
        Why not concentrate on making sure your Onsite SEO is in place first instead of concentrating on Backlinks. Have you alt tagged all images on site with keywords? Have you optimised all page titles, do your H1s and H2s have relevant keywords? Is your content optimised? Backlinks are only any good if they're pointing to something that's relevant....think smart!
        Signature
        Wordpress Design, SEO & Copywriting Services
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9508652].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author trendier
          Originally Posted by jobucks View Post

          Why not concentrate on making sure your Onsite SEO is in place first instead of concentrating on Backlinks. Have you alt tagged all images on site with keywords? Have you optimised all page titles, do your H1s and H2s have relevant keywords? Is your content optimised? Backlinks are only any good if they're pointing to something that's relevant....think smart!
          Yea, I believe I did pretty well with onsite SEO. I used the Yoast plugin for Wordpress and made sure my articles were all in the green. It's not perfect, but the things that still need work are more content as far as on site seo. The content isn't the best it could be, and I am working on that part. As it stands right now, we have more, and better quality content than the competitors do by far.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9508706].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Blaine Smitley
    I'm in a city with over a half million people.

    For a local construction company I would build a site with between 20-40 pages. List it with the 5 big local data aggregators. Setup Google local, Yahoo local, Bing local, then the top 30 citations as far as their authority goes.

    After that 10 to 20 back links from the right sources and you can rank for a butt load of industry specific geo related key phrases that will make the company owner sing your praises.

    The one place I don't spend much time is social media.. That may change some day.
    Signature
    Louisville SEO Company
    Check out our Customer Testimonials
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9508258].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author trendier
      Originally Posted by Blaine Smitley View Post

      I'm in a city with over a half million people.

      For a local construction company I would build a site with between 20-40 pages. List it with the 5 big local data aggregators. Setup Google local, Yahoo local, Bing local, then the top 30 citations as far as their authority goes.

      After that 10 to 20 back links from the right sources and you can rank for a butt load of industry specific geo related key phrases that will make the company owner sing your praises.

      The one place I don't spend much time is social media.. That may change some day.
      Excellent, I'm willing to test that. Content will take me some time, but I think if we can get up to page 2 or 3 it's worth it. I'll check for the aggregators too. Thanks for the tips.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9508308].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Rank Watch
    Originally Posted by trendier View Post

    I built a website for a local construction company, and the best we did was get to page 4 of google search for related terms. We rank #1 when searching for the business name. I used to post about 2 articles a week, but took a long break because they didn't seem to be helping at the time. It becomes pretty hard to write construction related articles all the time, and none of the competitors have anything near as good content wise yet continue to rank higher. We have about 16 backlinks over the course of 5 months(slow and steady approach).

    Is there anything someone could recommend for this niche? I can't seem to pinpoint what the other sites have that ranks them better. One of them has all broken links on their site, the other looks like its from the 1990s yet still rank higher.
    I would suggest that you build some quality citations and maybe use moz local to boost your rankings.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9512045].message }}

Trending Topics