WordCamp Notes: Local SEO The Old Fashioned Way - Jim Kaspari

local SEO vs global SEO
local = brick and mortar businesses providing services in the local area

google is not going to stop
the way they make money is by selling ads via the search engine
how will they continue selling ads? they need to be the #1 search engine everyone uses
they give us instant results that are applicable, valuable, etc
that's what we want our sites to be

"old fashioned way"
thinking like a human
walking into a store "like a human". what are the challenges they face? what do they want?

the basics -
keyword research - t, c, $
     traffic, competition, monetization value (DIY, how-to, etc - sometimes you're gathering people that don't WANT TO buy something)
"market samurai"
what if you have a business and there’s not enough traffic for it to be reported in google's tool?
then search more globally
in Folsom, maybe not many results on 'business coach', but you can expand the search and look across a bigger area

"what would you type into google to find products like mine?"

google loves SPECIFICITY

map keywords to pages/posts

have a "services" page
     summary - optimize this for 1 keyword
     optimize "marketing plans" for a different keyword
     map the pages to the best keywords that you can form your keyword research

marketing
     website -
     reviews
     social media
     google
     video - personal well scripted, inviting, valuable, interesting, branded, CTA, SEO links

website
     domain
         each word in yr domain name is super important
     logical navigation
         if you don’t have a site yet, put all yr ideas on sticky notes, move them around until you get the most logical connections to give people the LEAST amount of clicks for where you want them to go
         HAS to be responsive, mobile friendly, professional looking, etc.
         site can be ranked #1, but if it's an antiquated look, traffic (and calls from new customers) will die off
         design and professionalism is really important
     responsive, professional
     quick load time
         images should be properly sized, clear, professional but SMALL and load as fast as possible
         same as videos
         nobody likes "buffering..."
     content - add value, REGULARLY
     copy model, CTA
         why be highly ranked if you can't get people to convert to customers
         have an attention-grabbing headline
         look at billboards, newspapers for examples.
         want to grab people’s attention and build curiosity
         related to the challenge/problem people have
         then they know "oh, i'm in the right place" and "the author is compassionately relating to me"
         what are the results? benefits? emotional feelings, shifts they'll get by working with you
         an easy CTA o how to get started
     opt-in
         people are so busy these days. if you have an irresistable giveaway, and people opt-in to your site, now you can follow up with them
         make it easy - just name and email
         then you can add value, follow up
         nowadays it takes about SEVEN follow-ups for the conversion to be effective in business

reviews
     local directory listings - NAPH
     Yelp is really important
     yext, agora compass
         can see accuracy of local directory listings
     5 star reviews - do’s and dont’s
         ip address, > 20, get'em while they're excited
         want at least 20 positive reviews
         #1 marketing tool of all time -- WORD OF MOUTH
             caring, from the heart, solving people’s problems
             catch clients while they’re hot, ask them to do a quick review for you
             have a template, customize it.
              "so nice working with you, growing your business and getting these results. would you please take a quick moment and post a 5-star review on any of these links? it's okay to copy/paste to other sites”
         reviews all from the same IP address will get filtered and don't count or show up

social media
     consider your target market
     "rule of 5"
         any time you add value, are funny, provide a resource, etc, you get 1 point
         any time you try to SELL something, you get MINUS 5 points
         keep your value positive

     leverage content / time
         took an outline, FAQ, started collecting info, wrote blogs as I’d think of things, get inspired
         the blogs BECAME the book
         then you can take a blog and create a video
         can then syndicate the blog, do guest posts, have someone else rewrite it
         create answers to frequently asked questions

     Google -
         PPC - google wants to sell pay per click
             their algorithm might prefer people that do pay per click, maybe experiment with this        
         meta title - left side of yr brain
              50 - 60 characters, pack this with keywords
         meta description - right side of yr brain
              what people read to see what they’ll click on in the top 3 results
              flowery, use adjectives, include the keywords, what's unique special different or better about YOUR stuff?
                  sometimes will include the phone # in there
              content should be relevant to the keywords, have the keywords throughout the content
              use synonyms, different word order while you're weaving keywords into content

     links - don't always want anchor text links
         "folsom dentist" - link to home page, that's an anchor text links
         "folsomdentist.com"
         generic link "click here" - google will look at content right/left of that to see what it's about
         mixing up the link types will help make it look like a human, not something trying to work the system

     images, alt tags
         beautiful, invoke emotions, get people compelled to DO something
         google is WORKING on image recognition, but for now make sure alt tags have keywords in them

     Yoast SEO plugin
         you want that "green light" on your posts
         you don’t want green on EVERY page/post
         mix it up
         be a "human being"
         google's algorith is looking for relevancy
         things to help the crawlers know what the web pages are about
         google also looks for scammers, people doing "affiliate links", that has a bad name now
         don't use "black hat techniques", link farms, etc. - antiquated
         
     video -
         "talking head" video
              build that relationship, showing trust
              people won't criticize you as much as you criticize yourself
    
     "content samurai"
          - take a slide deck, content, it will take the keywords, amplify that, pull relevant images, create animations, background music, etc. can make a video in 15 minutes that's production ready!

         youtube channel
              create multiple videos
              google owns youtube
              can also do vimeo, etc.
                   but want to add a snippet in front/back so they’re different than the YouTube videos

         fivrr.com
              have videos transcribed
              can have a summary in the description box
              always put a back-link to your site in the description
              
         audio is really important
              can get high quality lavaliere mic for 20 bucks

         content IS conversion -
              hint, add value, solve problems
              blog posts - 300 to 500 words - FAQs

articles (300 - 500 words)
reviews or analysis 300 -- 500
reactions
audio or video 30 to 1hr in length
updates on social networks
email marketing copy

book(s)
     doesn't have to be 200+ pages
     47 tips on SEO, what the experts don’t want you to know
         sold this at conferences
      google "how to create a kindle e-book"
         can do it in an hour
         step by step tutorials on line
         
     books give credibility
         people buying your book at $20 a pop is pretty cool!

     backlinks
         guest blogging
         want to find the sites you WANT o guest blog on
         type type topic in, look for high ranking sites
         "SEO quake" - tells you page rank, alexa rating, etc
         local directories
         article / video syndication

don't get overwhelmed. pick 1 thing at a time to improve

AVOID duplicate content at all costs!
not just "stealing other people's content"
don’t want to "compete against yourself"
3 different websites, make sure your content is unique
internal links to other things
even if it's just your contact page
if people scrape and steal your content, at least you'll have a backlink to your site

long tail keywords
market samurai is good for researching this
     about 50 hours of training on there. hire someone else to do it if you don’t have the time

lots of tools AREN'T pulling form google’s db as well as they used to
google keeps changing their data

Moz is great, but a little pricey

meta box on the right side of google w/ company name, address, etc
that is "google my business"
local directory listing owned by google
validation process can be difficult but wel worth doing
even if you work from home!
have a physical address
keep it consistent across local directory listings
fill out EVERY field you can for angie’s list, yelp, whatever
give the search directories as much info as possible!