In the last few years, the growth in mobile penetration and therefore mobile searches has resulted in a boost in local search volumes. Users are looking for immediate results while on the go and want to find the answer right away - it cannot wait; whether it’s a nearby restaurant to have lunch or a bike repair shop to fix their bike. Businesses who just show up when these searches happen have a pretty high chance to gain these searchers as customers. Major local search tactics are not that hard to apply but there is a lot of detailed work behind it which I want to point out in the following steps.

1. Being Locally
Reachable With
Local Search
Halide Ebcinoglu -
Kubix Digital & Women.Digital Co-Founder

2. Halide aka Holly
● 14 Years Experience in SEM & SEO
● Co-Founder Kubix.Digital
● Empowerment Officer Women.Digital
● https://twitter.com/HalideEbcinoglu

3. What Exactly is a Localized
Query?
Rent a bike in Karlsruhe
Wine shop Karlsruhe
Cafes nearby
Edeka
Old slaughterhouse
Souvenir shop
Wine shop
Karlsruhe
16:15 o’clock
Cafes nearby
14:30 o’clock
Old
slaughterhouse
11:05 o’clock

4. Organic Local Results
Google Local Pack
Google Snack Pack
Google 3 Pack

5. Back then:
Google Local Packs used to lead
directly to the website. Today, it leads
to the Local Finder.

6. Google Local Pack Google Local Finder

7. Google is sending less traffic
from local search to the
websites !

8. ... In fact, the Local Finder
provides all the information you
need
● Directions
● Website
● Address
● Opening hours
● Phone number
● Photos
● Reviews
● Questions & Answers
● Website content
● And more ...

9. Local search results can
appear on different devices
and apps
● Google Mobile
● Google Assistant
● Google Maps

10. Google Ads local search ad
Google Local Pack

11. Almost every 2nd
search, is a local
search !
Source: www.thinkwithgoogle.com

12. More statistics!
➔ 86% of users search on Google
Maps to find the location of a
company
➔ 76% of local searches result in
a phone call
➔ 78% of local mobile searches
leads to an offline purchase
Source: www.thinkwithgoogle.com

13. So How Can You Become
More Visible Locally?

14. Local Ranking
Factors
Source: https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

15. Proximity to the
searcher as a
ranking factor !
The good thing: With proximity
as a ranking factor, every
company is guaranteed to be
listed at some point

17. GMB entry as a
ranking factor !
In the last 2 years, Google has
made many profound changes,
which reinforces the
importance of GMB for Local
Search.

18. Your GMB profile is your
new homepage -
In any case: provide only
correct and current
information.
No spam, quality counts !
For spam report here:
https://support.google.com/business/contact/busin
ess_redressal_form

19. Name Address Phone:
Data consistency is
exceptional in local
optimization:
NAP should be consistent
everywhere
● Hamburger Straße - Incorrect spelling
● Hamburgerstraße - Incorrect spelling
● Hamburger Str. - Google’s preferred spelling

20. Make sure that the
company name is spelled
correctly
(keyword stuffing doesn’t
do much good)

21. Important:
Phone number must be
standard and
machine-readable
DIN Norm
030 12345-67
+49 30 12345-67
ITU Norm
(030) 12345 67
+49 30 1234567
+49 (0)30 12345-67 !!!

22. What if...
You have a home office?
Or have multiple addresses?
Or have a mobile business, eg.
food carts?
Or have no address at all?
● For home office indicate your home address
● With multiple addresses you can specify all or
only the main address as separate GMB
● If you are mobile or have no address, you can
not open a GMB account!

23. GMB website links can not
only bring relevant traffic,
but also important online
conversions!

24. Important:
Track your GMB website
traffic in analytics with
UTM parameters
?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_ca
mpaign=gmb

25. New:
Direct messages via GMB
now possible.
But beware: new
messages should be
regularly checked and
answered.

26. Select a category:
Are you a photographer or
a marketing agency?
When you type in the
category, Google adds the
most relevant options to
the field

27. Tip:
If you don't know exactly
what the GMB category is
called, have a look at the
competition !

28. Visually spice up GMB
with photos:
Photos should be
relevant, but also diverse

29. GMB as social media
marketing?
GMB posts can...
● improve your ranking
● bring additional traffic to your
website
● help you stand out from the
competition

30. New:
Google Post Mentions
now appear in the Local
Pack and can positively
influence rankings and
CTR

31. New:
Products can also be
shown on mobile phones
now, and redirect users to
the online shop.

32. Tip:
Ideas for posts and
products can be found in
the GMB Insights Report !

33. Reviews are among the
most important ranking
factors:
● High customer satisfaction
● KWs in reviews are important
● Answer all reviews carefully
● Answer all reviews; negative
reviews that have not been
answered are rated twice as bad.

34. 56% of local websites have
no GMB entry yet
Source: https://www.brandmuscle.com/download-2018-state-local-marketing-report

35. On-Page ranking
factors !
How can we optimize web
pages for better local visibility?

36. A good keyword research
is half the battle !
It depends on the 'SiLs'...

37. By creating local landing
pages, you can optimize
for any local search
● website.com/local-1
● website.com/local-2
● website.com/local-3
● ...

38. Title Tag & Meta
Descriptions are still very
important, so optimize
them as locally as
possible

39. To be locally visible, you
need more than just good
content
● Local info
● NAP
● Google Map
● Opening hours
● Photos
● Testimonials & reviews
● Local offers, events, etc.
● Contact person
● ...

40. New:
Relevant keywords from
the page contents are
now also displayed in the
Local Pack;
good for ranking & CTR

41. Add Structured Data:
● Opening hours
● NAP
● Menu
● Events
● Ratings
● ...
Events Schema Mark Up

42. Optimization for
local search and
optimization for mobile go
hand in hand !

43. Quelle: www.thinkwithgoogle.com

44. Off-Page ranking
factors !
How can I increase my local
awareness?
Link signals and citations are
still very important!

45. Local mentions are
important! But must be
indicated correctly.
● Maps, eg. Apple Maps
● Business directory (the local
phonebook, Yellow Pages…)
● Social media (FB, Yelp…)
● Local directories

46. Tip:
Manually search for faulty
citations:
Missing Info
Wrong Info

47. Tip:
Or search for potential
citations:
● Karlsruhe intitle: “Yellow Pages”
● Use Whitespark Citations Finder

48. Citations as backlinks are of
course even better,
however:
The more relevant, the
better!

49. Link building is not easy!
Generating good content
and being locally active
makes it easier.
● Organize local meetups
● Sponsor local events
● Participate in local charities
● Write for local blogs
● Sponsoring local clubs
● etc.

50. Key Takeaways
1. Relevance
2. Proximity
3. Prominence
“Without local SEO, we are doomed to fail.
Without SEO for mobile we are almost
dead !”

51. Questions?
halide@kubix.digital

52. About Kubix Digital
References:
Deichmann, KIA,
METRO, Mavi,
Sandvik Coromant,
Muzzy BBC
We are an
International SEM
& SEM Agency
We work
boutique and
customer-
oriented