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Local SEO: Optimizing Your Google My Business Listings

4/26/2017

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Optimizing Your Google My Business Listings
When it comes to Local SEO, the number one ranking factor is proximity to the searcher. With mobile searches reaching an all-time high, it’s no wonder local results are beating out highly authoritative, national websites on a regular basis.

Furthermore, according to the 2017 Local Search Ranking Factor Study, your Google My Business (GMB) listing is the most important factor when it comes to the Local 3-Pack and ‘Finder’ rankings.

With these statistics in mind, it’s more important than ever to ensure your GMB listing is up to date and optimized.
What is 'Google My Business'?
It’s easiest to think of Google My Business as a database full of business listings. This database is what Google uses to fill in Organic, Google+, and Map results for local search queries. On top of that, it’s free, easy to use, and beneficial to your Local SEO standings.

How to Optimize your Google My Business Listing for Local SEO

While there are numerous ways to affect local SEO, the first step to any local businesses online presence should be a proper GMB Listing.

What makes a proper GMB listing?
Completeness is key. To achieve completeness in your listing, there are 6 vital areas to focus on.

1. Claim your GMB
Before anything, it’s necessary to verify — or create — your listing. Fortunately, it’s fairly simple to complete this first step.
  • If you search your company name & city and a listing is present in the search results, you’re on your way to verification. You should see:
Google- Own this business?
Choose ‘Own this business?’, and Google will send out a postcard to verify you are the business owner. Once verified*, you can begin editing your listing.

  • On the other hand, if a search for your company's name & city reveals no listings, you can create your listing through Google.
*Google sends out a postcard to the business address to verify ownership. This postcard typically arrives in less than 5 business days.

2. Specify your Business Category
The more specific, the better. Instead of categorizing yourself as grocer, choose organic, local grocery store. This specificity increases the chances of showing up for more relevant, long-tail queries.

3. Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) Consistency
Ensuring consistency with your NAP is crucial.
Your NAP needs to appear the same across the web - including on your GMB listing, on your website, and across citation websites (Yelp, Facebook, BBB, etc).

To show how precise you need to be, see the following GMB Listing vs. Website Footer comparison.
Google My Business - NAP
Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP)
There are three mistakes when comparing these NAPs:
  1. #200 vs Suite 200
  2. IL vs Illinois
  3. (630) 537-0557 vs 630.537.0556

Where Should You Post Your NAP?
Posting your NAP in the footer of your website (in text form) is common practice amongst most businesses. It’s beneficial to local SEO to have an area code and a zip code in the city/community you serve as well.

Google has confirmed that citation websites are a local SEO ranking factor. Once your GMB listing is complete (or while you’re waiting for your verification postcard), add your business to relevant citation websites.

For lists on the most influential citation sites by city and by category, use the following sites.

  • Most Influential Citations By City
  • Most Influential Citations By Category

An added bonus in the eyes of search engines is adding Structured Data Markup (schema) to the Header of your site. For more information about Schema - specifically in regards to Local Businesses - see https://schema.org/LocalBusiness.

4. Local Reviews
Receiving quality reviews from the community you serve is huge in Google’s eyes. People listen to their peers, and we’ve seen a trend from Google to emphasize posted reviews (from GMB and from Facebook).

Tips for receiving reviews:
  • Incentivize customers - Unlike Yelp, Google encourages you to ask/incentivize customers to leave reviews.
  • Create a link to review your site. If you have a satisfied customer's e-mail address, send them a link that takes them directly to leaving a review on Google. The easier you can make it for your customers, the better.
  • Reply to your reviews. Having a conversation and showing a more human-side to your business is likely to encourage more people to visit.
​
The more reviews the better. A realistic goal should be to have as many, or more, reviews as your direct local competition.

5. Quality Images
When it comes to image amount, 4-5 quality images is ideal. A good make-up would be:

  • 1 storefront image
  • 1-2 images of helpful customer service/interaction
  • 1-2 images of what makes your business unique. Whether it’s your food, staff, view, etc.

To go the extra step, Google also offers a 360° view of the inside of your business. This can be added to your listing for customers to view.
    
6. Add Hours of Availability
Sounds simple, I know, yet so many businesses leave hours of availability off their GMB listing.

Keep in mind that just creating a GMB listing isn’t enough to get found. Google says specifically “Your position in web results is also a factor, so SEO best practices also apply to local search optimization”.

Have questions regarding your Google My Business listing? Comment below or contact us, we’re happy to help!

​
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Why Our Digital Marketing Company Goes As Paperless as Possible

4/19/2017

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Earth Day Why We Go Paperless
In honor of Earth Day 2017, we’re sharing why RyTech is as paperless as possible to do our part for the environment. It’s not only about the environment, though, it’s also about how we work and the culture that we’re building at RyTech. Let’s take a look.

Accessibility

We believe in a flexible work schedule and work life balance as a core tenet of our employment. That means we have team members who are working from home, on the road, in client meetings, and all over. No matter where we are, we need access to information - and papers in file folders won’t work. We invest in cloud technology to make pertinent information accessible from any location.

Collaboration

Since we have physical offices in two different states and many members of our team working on all sorts of different projects, we need to be able to collaborate somewhere. Sending carrier pigeons with correspondence just won’t cut it. So, we use innovative technology that allows us to collaborate in real time on projects, documents, deliverables, video conference, and more without having to rely on physical paper. Even this blog post was written in one state and edited in another, thanks to the cloud.

Connectedness

Digital doesn’t imply pen and paper nor does it imply brick and mortar. So, as a digital marketing company, we adopt the tools necessary to operate online and work together online. We rely on the Internet and our connectedness to do business for our clients and for ourselves, so we cannot have a double standard. Therefore, everything is scanned, stored, and sorted so that we can be connected appropriately.

Leftovers

For the paper that does come to our office, when we’re finished with it, it goes directly in our R4 Services secure destruction bin to be shredded monthly. This not only keeps the paper data secure, safe and compliant but also shows our environmental savings each month, too! We get to see how many trees, gallons of water, gallons of gas, pounds of air pollution, cubic yards of landfill space, and kilowatt hours of energy conserved each month.

We hope you’re making any efforts you can to reduce, reuse and recycle at work and at home. Share any creative ways you are paperless in your life. ​
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6 Types of Social Media Posts Your Customers Will Engage In

4/6/2017

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Picture
Connecting with your customers online isn’t always easy. That’s why it’s important to put some time and effort into the types of posts you put out there to ensure your customers will engage, respond and take action. Here are a few ideas to help you publish content that your audience will engage in and share with their network.

Customer Testimonials
When you have a happy customer, it’s important to get a testimonial from them and share it with your network.  By doing so, you’ll add credibility to your name and give potential customers a reason to do business with you.

Products and Services
Your products and services keep you in business, so showcase them to your audience. People want to know about the products or services that you offer and how it can benefit them.

Historical Content
Sharing some of your company’s history through throwback posts is a great way to highlight where you came from and what makes your company the organization that it is today. You can use the hashtag #tbt or #throwbackthursday with fun photos from the past.

Industry News or Advice
By sharing helpful articles, advice or industry news, you position yourself as a thought leader and showcase your level of expertise. It’s all about providing value to your audience.

Promote Discounts
If you’re holding a special sale or discount, get the word out on your social media channels. Sharing the details of the discount and where they can go to order will be helpful for your followers.

Holidays and Events
Posting on special holidays is a great way to boost engagement, offer a warm message to your followers or thank your customers. You can also post past or upcoming events that your company partakes in to show the types of activities that matter to you.

When developing a social media roadmap, it’s important to consistently publish content that adds value to your audience. Think about what matters to them, the types of problems they face every day, and provide a real solution. You can show your human side by posting behind-the-scenes photos, historical posts and company events, but be sure every piece of content you publish helps your followers take real action.
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