It's 2013, and the concept of doing "local SEO" has been around for a few years now. In this presentation, Bill Hartzer talks about what works, what does not work, and what are the basic requirements in order to rank well in the local search results. He covers everything from local search engine ranking factors to ranking well in the Google Local Carousel.

1. State of Search 2013
Local SEO in 2013: Recent Updates & New Strategies

2. Local SEO in 2013 Overview
• Do You Need a Local Presence?
• Setting Up Your Local Presence
• Local Search Ranking Factors
• Rank Well in Google Local Carousel
• Future Local Ranking Factors
• Spotlights on SOS Speakers' Favorites

3. Local SEO in 2013 Local Presence
• Claiming Local listings ties your biz to location, local area.
• Some sites would suffer if they claimed listings.
• With Google personalization, ties biz to one location or area.
Sells tickets nationally. If claim Local Listings, only rank in local Chicago area?

4. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Seattle biz? D’Ambrosio Gelato Seattle
• Claimed Local Listing, plenty of reviews
• Keyword Stuffing in Local Listing Title?
• Google will occasionally edit your title

5. Local SEO in 2013 Your Local Presence
• Setting Up Your Local Presence
• Organize your NAP Data:
Name of Business
Address
City, State ZIP Code
Phone Number
• Add NAP Data to site using Schema.org markup.
• Start claiming.

6. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Collinsville biz? Dean's Liquor
• Brent worked there during high school.
• Business has NOT claimed local listing?

7. Local SEO in 2013 Your Local Presence

8. Local SEO in 2013 Claiming Your Local Presence
• Two Ways to Claim:
- Pay a service
- Do it yourself, but time is money…
• Paying a Service to Claim Your Listings
- I know some SEO firms who would do it
- Yext PowerListings
- Bright Local
- Whitespark

9. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Portland biz? Voodoo Donut
• Locations not claimed?
• Good use of Schema.org markup
on web site, though

10. Local SEO in 2013 Claiming Your Local Listings
• Check Your Current Listings
- GetListed, Whitespark
- Spreadsheets, various sources of lists
- Vizion List http://bit.ly/17YbBqK
• Major Data Providers:
- Localeze, Infogroup, Acxiom
- Superpages, YellowPages, IAC properties/CityGrid
• More on Data Providers: http://bit.ly/1gSiFrn

11. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Flagstaff biz? Buster’s Restaurant
• Mack was a waitress there through college!
• Claimed, but no +1s or posts?
on web site, though

12. Local SEO in 2013 Google Local Verification
• Within one week to receive postcard (envelope)
• Physical example of postcard/notification
• New claims set up Google+ Local Page
• Verification Issues?
- Google Offers Phone Support http://bit.ly/1bLKIDp

13. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Austin biz? Texas Rib Kings
• Claimed, which is good.
• No NAP data anywhere
on the website. Nowhere.

14. Local SEO in 2013 Local Search Ranking Factors
• Moz 2013 Survey Results http://bit.ly/1jacM5M
• Top 5 Local Ranking Factors
1. Proper category associations
2. Physical address in city of search
3. Consistency of structured citations
4. Quality/authority of structured citations
5. HTML NAP matching place page NAP

15. Local SEO in 2013 Local Search Ranking Factors
1. Proper category associations
2. Physical address in city of search
3. Consistency of structured citations
4. Quality/authority of structured citations
5. HTML NAP matching place page NAP
6. Quantity of structured citations
7. Domain authority of website
8. Individually owner-verified local plus page
9. City, State in Places landing page title
10. Proximity of address to centroid
11. Quality/authority of inbound links to domain
12. Quantity of native Google Places reviews (w/text)
13. Product/service keyword in business title
14. Quantity of citations from locally relevant domains
15. Proximity of physical location to the point of search
16. Quantity of citations from industry-relevant domains
17. Local area code on Local Plus page
18. City, state in most/all website title tags
19. Quantity of third-party traditional reviews
20. Page authority of Places landing page URL
Illustrated Guide Top 20 Factors http://bit.ly/19qZMmE

16. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Duluth area biz? Locally Laid Eggs
• Not claimed. Not listed in Maps.
• NAP data not wrapped in Schema.org markup.

17. Local SEO in 2013 Google Local Carousel

18. Local SEO in 2013 Google Local Carousel

19. Local SEO in 2013 Google Local Carousel

20. Local SEO in 2013 Google Local Carousel
• Concern over photos displayed (control of photos displayed)
• Loss of keyword searches and non-branded clicks to site
• More brand searches from SERPs to website
• More brand searches = less keyword data for us
• More Google searches, more displays of PPC ads?
• More, More, More for Google, less for us, the site owner.

21. Local SEO in 2013 Google Local Carousel
• You may not be able to change photos
• Greg Gifford on Carousel Photos http://bit.ly/I4F5GP
• Photos are Cropped http://bit.ly/HQZ3Fa

22. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Pleasanton biz? Bob's Giant Burgers
• More reviews needed? Photo is appropriate.
• G+ Page ranking. No Website? Domain is available.

23. Local SEO in 2013 Google Local Carousel
Digital Marketing Works Study, June 2013 http://bit.ly/17wPkdL
• DMW ran 4,500 desktop searches for hotels in 47 markets
• Gathered name, rating, quantity of reviews, & rank in carousel
• Research yielded approximately 42,000 data points

24. Local SEO in 2013 Google Local Carousel
• No 3rd party data factors (Yelp data, etc. included)
• Finding #1: Carousel rank correlates highly with Google review
• Finding #2: 50% of hotels in study are within 2 miles of searched destination.
• 75% are within 13 minutes of travel time.
• Finding #3: Google is improving ability to understand nuance of searches.
• Google alters weight of hotel factors based on keyword searched

25. Local SEO in 2013 Future Local Ranking Factors
• More Social Factors?
- mentions of brand, location in social
- sentiment of social mentions (positive, negative)
• More Data?
- Knowledge Graph data (Freebase.com, others)
- EXIF data in Images?

26. Local SEO in 2013 Future Local Search Engine Ranking Factors
• Use Geosetter (www.geosetter.de) to embed EXIF Data
• Data to Add to Images:
Name, Address, Phone Number
URL
Title
Subject, Tags, Category
Latitude and Longitude
• Google on Data in Images: http://bit.ly/1bKOgG3
• My EXIF Data Test http://bit.ly/1cwvUIX

27. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Redmond, Washington local biz?
• Anyone Care to Guess?

28. Local SEO in 2013 State of Search Speaker Spotlight
• Favorite Redmond, Washington area local biz?
• John Howie Steak, Bellevue, WA
• NAP data included on site
• No Schema.org markup

29. Local SEO in 2013 Thank You
Bill Hartzer
Senior SEO Strategist
Globe Runner SEO
Email: Bill@GlobeRunnerSEO.com
Mobile: (214) 236-4378
Office: (972) 538-0260 Ext. 7076
Direct: (469) 645-1231
Web: http://www.globerunner.com
Blog: http://www.billhartzer.com
Twitter: @bhartzer