Local SEO is an effective way to market your business online. It helps businesses promote their products and services to local customers at the exact time they’re looking for a local business. Local SEO is a very targeted online marketing approach. Dentists in Denton Tx that have done their local SEO properly will show up in the google maps display called the snack pack.Below is a screenshot of googles snack pack that appears on local searches. The three businesses that appear there are the ones that google trusts most and are the most relevant to the users’ search …. in this case, “Dentists In Denton Tx”
If you know any Dentists in Denton Tx that did not make it into the snack pack above please let them know about our free workshops, Denton SEO And Pay Per Click Marketing and Denton Online Internet Marketing Meetup, where they can learn how to get into the top three of googles map results.
If your business does not show up in the google maps snack pack then you are missing potential business. This is even more so for mobile phone searches. Seldom will users click on the “More Places” (in the lower left of the snack pack) to find businesses that did not make it into the graphical snack pack.
At the time this screenshot was taken Comfort Dental, Denton Smiles Dentistry and Dr. Gaylen Z. Fickey, D.D.S won the three cherished spots in googles snack pack.
If you were to click on the “More Places” you would discover the rest of the Dentists in Denton Tx.
Even after clicking more places you still need to scroll down to see the Dentists In Denton Tx that didn’t qualify for the snack pack.
Scrolling down the list you would find Denton Family Dentistry, Dr. Gaylen Z. Fickey, D.D.S, Brightside Dentistry, Denton Family Dental Clinic, Denton Modern Dentistry and Orthodontics, University Drive Dental, Norman J. Pomerance D.D.S, Smile Magic Dental & Braces of Denton, Anew Dental, Vanilla Family Dentistry, Southridge Dental, Jefferson Dental Care, Garden Oaks Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, Smilezone, Timberlake Dental, Smile Workshop Denton, DDS Dentures + Implant Solutions of Denton , …etc
Factors That Affect Local SEO Ranking
According to this 2017 Moz Local Listing Study, your Local SERP ranking can be factored into eight different segments, each with a unique importance, weighted by percentage. These all affect a business’s ranking in Google’s Snack Pack.
- My Business Signals – (Proximity, categories, keyword in business title, etc.) 19%
- Link Signals – (Inbound anchor text, linking domain authority, linking domain quantity, etc.) 17%
- On Page Signals – (Presence of NAP, keywords in titles, domain authority, etc.) 14%
- Citation Signals – (IYP/aggregator NAP consistency, citation volume, etc.) 13%
- Review Signals – (Review quantity, review velocity, review diversity, etc.) 13%
- Behavioural & Mobile Signals – (Click-through rate, mobile clicks to call, check-ins, etc.) 10%
- Personalization 10%
- Social Signals – (Google engagement, Facebook engagement, Twitter engagement, etc.) 4%
In the process of analyzing hundreds of business sites, I have noticed the weakest spots to be 2. Link Signals and 4. Citation Signals.
Link Signals refers links coming from other websites. You can think of links from other sites as being a “recommendation” of a website. If these links are coming from a site that Google sees as low quality then that can give your site a lower score. Likewise, if the links come from a site with high quality that will raise your score. Obtaining quality backlinks can consume the majority of ongoing SEO efforts. As a base, you should have a plan in place to produce content for your site and share it on social channels to raise awareness of the content in hopes other sites will pick it up and link back to it. A common strategy is to identify the sites that are obtaining the top positions for the search terms you would like to rank on then analyzing those sites. Using programs like hrefs and Moz, you can see where the sites are getting backlinks from and seek to get backlinks from the same sources. This process can become quite involved and companies spend thousands of dollars a month on their backlink outreach campaigns when in highly competitive niches.
Do you need more backlinks?
The answer is Yes if the sites outranking you have more quality backlinks and higher domain authority than your site. When I do a local SEO Audit, I compare the following metrics of the top ranking sites: Citations, Top Citations (%), Citations Authority, Links, Linking Domains, Website Authority, Majestic C-Flow, Review Count, Star Rating, Photos, and Categories using an SEO ranking tool called Bright Local. Looking at the top 10 metrics next to a clients site I can see where their weak points are and develop a strategy to improve their visibility/ranking in the search engines. If you would like to know how your site is comparing to the competition on those important SEO metrics then contact me for a free report like this one here.
Improve Your Citations
Citation Signals refers to how the business is listed across other search engines, directory sites, and mobile apps. these are referred to as “Local Citations“. Citations help Internet users to discover local businesses and can also impact local search engine rankings. Local businesses can actively manage many citations to ensure data accuracy. Inconsistent and erroneous business information in local directories will produce penalties in Google and compromise your Google search rankings. Google is very particular about accuracy. Inconsistent listings also lower customer trust in your digital presence.
You can check and see how your online presence is across a network of 70 powerful search engines, directory sites and mobile apps using this free scanning tool. This is a tool provided by Yext to its partners, like YellowPages and 4,000 professional marketers, digital agencies, SEOs, web developers, and social media managers. Yext is a tool that consolidates and makes easier the otherwise manual processes of submitting and managing local listings. Having a strong digital presence on these 70 is a good start but is not a guarantee you will be in the top of the search results. There are many niche business directories that are not covered by Yext and will require manual submission.
On my Denton SEO Experts site, I have 115 active citations. 70 of those citations are managed by Yext which ensures the accuracy of the listings and allows me to manage Products & Services, Bios, Menus & Events for those listings from one common place and make updates as needed. The other 45 were hand built and all 115 are visible in my Bright Local Citation Audit. If you would like to see how your business is appearing on the sites not covered in the free scan then contact me for a free citation audit.
What If My Business Is Still Not in The Top 3?
Appearing in the Top 3 is very desirable because of the likelihood that your link will be clicked on. In a competitive niche, it will take more effort to stay in the top 3 for all of the relevant searches. What it will take depends on the competition in your geographical area. Dominating the local three pack will usually require hiring a local SEO consultant if there is good competition. Most professional local SEO consultants work on a retainer. While on retainer they are not just doing SEO tasks for you but are committed to making sure you are on top when people use searches related to Dentists In Denton Tx. It would be a conflict of interest for a local SEO consultant to be working with two Denton Dentists that are seeking to rank for the same local SEO search terms.
Having a local SEO consultant on retainer also ensures you have a professional, monitoring movements and trends that could affect your listing in google and address them before any problems occur, problems that otherwise could cost you in many lost sales opportunities.
If you would like to learn more about how I could help you with your local SEO please contact me for a free consultation or attend one of our free workshops: Denton SEO And Pay Per Click Marketing and Denton Online Internet Marketing Meetup, where they can learn how to get into the top three of googles map results.
