Local SEO Website - Top Tips

AutumnWood Inc.

What are the top tips to build or maintain a website for a strong local organic SEO ?

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cbrew

The best advise it to keep adding content to your site. Use the names of your cities that you work in on your site. Make sure your business in listed on google local. It might take a while but search engines love content and you will move up as you add to your site.

Utah carpenter
carpentry blog

MagicPoolSvcs

Its pretty easy to install a blog to your site. We use WordPress.
Google likes new content being udpated to your site.

It will go back and crawl it more often.

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decksandfences

I have to say autumn, I've been reading and researching about organic SEO and Google Local Business SEO and yes, it is a very lengthy process but it pays off very well. Most important things (in order):
-Content- content is king and always will be, make a different page for every area you service so you can have those title tags for each area
-Links- this is when you have to ask for favors from webmaster or other people you know with a business (for example- I have a blog, we could benefit both of ourselves if we link to each other)
-make sure your content is keyword-rich, but user-friendly

For Local Business (map):
-keep your info (address, phone, hours EVERYTHING) constant in whatever place you enter it in
-complete your profile to 100% - add pictures, videos, whatever you can that reps your business
-post your location-phone-address etc at the bottom of every web page you have

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Deck Builder , Fence Contractor, Decks and Fences by Ryan
1361 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor, ON N8X 1J6 (519) 946-3042
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primeelite

There are so many factors that is it hard to say just do these few things and you will beat out competitors but a large part now of local SEO other than just providing fresh content and links is getting a large number of reviews as well as make sure all of your profiles are completely filled out including secondary websites such as Yelp, SuperPages, etc. A great tip is to just look at your competitors and simply copy what they are doing if they are on the top.

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Paulie

Hire a SEO guy that knows what he's doing.

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Grand Rapids Remodeling
Grand Rapids Remodeling Contractors

Hammer_Nail

Make sure the 'Targeted City' is in the lead sentence on the Content, and Bolded, then add Keyphrases with the City in the Title Tag

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decksandfences

This is a forum for contractors dealing with SEO, whats the point in going around in all the threads telling them to 'hire an SEO guy'? Some of us can't afford what those guys charge,.. this is a forum, meant to share information.

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Deck Builder , Fence Contractor, Decks and Fences by Ryan
1361 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor, ON N8X 1J6 (519) 946-3042
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carlsore

Here's a few things you can do on your own that will benefit your search engine marketing.

Start getting your customers to review your services on your local Google/Yahoo/Bing/Merchant Circle/Kudzu etc.. listings. There are so many consumer review sites out there I would select a few and go from there. These have a significant impact on your local ranking.

Look for "local" or "state" business directories and submit your business for listing. These do get nominal traffic (some get lots) but it's the backlinks from locally targeted websites that you are after.

Submit "original" content or articles to the above mentioned local business sites, who knows, maybe you can become an "in house" expert and get some great exposure if you enjoy writing. Again, more backlinks and this time with some extra prominence. Webmasters running sites like these are usually always looking for helpful content for their visitors.

Carl

cbscreative

I'm going to defend paulie for the advice and not just because I'm an SEO guy. Can you do your own SEO? Definitely. Will it take a lot of time, trial, and error? Absolutely.

But since I'm a web guy who knows a lot about SEO and could be perceived as just hawking my services, let me turn this whole thing around to demonstrate the point. Suppose I wanted to do windows in my house. I could feasibly go to Home Depot, buy the windows, frames, caulk, and other supplies. They would have everything I need, so I could get the job done that way.

Aside from the fact that the quality of the windows will suck in the worst possible way, I would spend a ridiculous amount of time and my quality of work would be considerably less than a pro. I'd probably end up with air leaks, maybe even moisture leaks.

Considering the fact that my time is best invested in my business that I know how to do and am pretty good at, no amount of money saved would be worth it. I would lose so much productivity doing those windows, it would be stupid for me to try.


No offense to Hammer_Nail, but this post perfectly demonstrates why I don't entirely agree with decks' post above (no offense to you either).

This advice is very, very wrong. You want your service to be listed first followed by the city. It might seem like a minor difference, but that minor difference could bury you in the search results if compeitiors get it right and you don't. Most searches do not list the city first.

Mr. or Mrs. Joe Consumer looking for windows in Atlanta (random example) will search "windows atlanta" NOT "atlanta windows" (they are many times more likely to use the former rather than the latter).

To be more accurate, they might start with "windows" and quickly find out that their search results will yield too many Windows computers, so they'll refine it to something like "residential window installer" after maybe a few other refinements. And to get even more accurate, as they get closer to the buying decision, their serch term will be the most specific, probably even including the brand name.

So the most likely key term to get you the actual inquiry/sale is something like "brand name residential window sales installation city." This is something a real expert will know, and combined with a site that converts visitors into buyers, it puts money in your pocket.

I know it's a long post, but this is a complex subject.

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Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.

decksandfences

I completely understand your point, but again, this is a forum and its meant to share information. I get people calling me all the time about how to fix their deck or how to frame with their beams and joists. I explain it all in detail and offer to come out free of charge to take a look at their property. Once they realize that they may be in over their head, they usually hire me to do it.

My point is this, if you are an SEO guy- explain to us simple folk some tips on how we can improve our site. If we find the information valuable but see what we are in over our heads, we will seek professional help.

Give a little, get a little. It works...

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Deck Builder , Fence Contractor, Decks and Fences by Ryan
1361 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor, ON N8X 1J6 (519) 946-3042
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cbscreative

Hopefully my reputation here is for doing plenty of that.

Oh, and, since Carl has posted here, he does plenty of that too along with a few other members here who know the answers to the questions asked on this forum.

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Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.

Paulie

[quote=decksandfences;909012]I completely understand your point, but again, this is a forum and its meant to share information. I get people calling me all the time about how to fix their deck or how to frame with their beams and joists. I explain it all in detail and offer to come out free of charge to take a look at their property. Once they realize that they may be in over their head, they usually hire me to do it.

My point is this, if you are an SEO guy- explain to us simple folk some tips on how we can improve our site. If we find the information valuable but see what we are in over our heads, we will seek professional help.

Give a little, get a little. It works...[/quote]
Decks, I by know means wanted to come off flip. I have posted before that it's well worth it to hire a "SEO" guy. Yep.

Your example was perfect. The customer that calls you and after awhile realizes he's over his head and hires you. Happens to me many times also.

I guess I was that customer. I went through a lot of headache and since I'm a stubborn SOB I spent MANY hours in front of this very computer copying this and pasting that and ended up with the proverbial mess of a deck/website. It looked ok on the outside but all the html, meta data, titles.....etc were messed up, I was nowhere to be found.

OK, I broke down and called SEO guys. You know what every one of them said? "trash it" you'll never get that site up in the rankings. I mean I called and talked to at least 20 no sh*t. They all said the same thing.

So in hindsight I wasted about 80 hours (conservatively) in pulling my hair out to get a fairly good website to look at that know one was ever going to see because the SEO sucked.

OK I get what you're saying, moneys tight and you just want a little help from the webgeeks here (no offense webgeeks) a few nuggets to help out a little.

Since I'm not one, just a nail pound'n contractor I suggested to hire a guy. Sorry decks, if I had any info I'd seriously give it to you.

I CAN offer you to PM me and I'll give you the guy I've found that's done more for me in three weeks than the guy I first hired did in three months. From page 14 to page 3 sometimes 4 (I'm not done dancing around yet) and he's VERY reasonable.

I'm working a job right now that paid for his services three fold and got the job from the internet. Plus remember that advertisement is a write-off.

I get to do what I'm good at and he moves me up for more business.

Good luck Deck's.

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Grand Rapids Remodeling
Grand Rapids Remodeling Contractors

decksandfences

Its not me that started this thread nor do I need help in getting business. I did my own SEO that seems to be working (I build decks and fences in windsor ontario- if you want to see my results google my services in my area - www.decksandfencesbyryan.com). I'm just sharing what I've done personally that has worked so far. I know theres much much more that can be done, but like most contractors right now- money is tight and im still a student at the university here so money is extra tight.

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Deck Builder , Fence Contractor, Decks and Fences by Ryan
1361 Ouellette Avenue, Windsor, ON N8X 1J6 (519) 946-3042
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Paulie

University!!! I should hire you to do my website.

I went to Kent State University when computers were illegal.

I'm sure you're way ahead of me on this webstuff. Good luck in your studies. I'll visit your site.

Just looked at your site. Looks good! I didn't have time to check your rank or anything.

Decks, I am guilty of assuming that everyone on here is a old timer that owns a construction company. My fault for assuming. I can see your a young guy, (about my sons age) and I applaud you for having the gump to work and go to school at the same time.

Here's a tidbit that I thought about that may help or just get the webguys talking. Pipes. I never even new the key existed before I had this SEO guy. I noticed that all the top dogs on the search engine had them.

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Grand Rapids Remodeling
Grand Rapids Remodeling Contractors

DenverPainting

Wow... this thread got way off track... let's try and get back to the point of local SEO for contractor websites!!!

I think that there is a lot of very good information in this post... While SEO is very lengthy and sometimes complex, I think that it can be taken way too far for what everybody is looking for here; which is a simple way to start... baby steps if you will.... so...

I would suggest, as partially mentioned above, to brake down your website into different menu links for each type of service that you provide... My company website, for example, sells quite a few different painting services: Residential, Commercial, Deck & fence etc.

So, what you need to do to help out your SEO is to set up menu links for each service... (Example: yourpaintingcompany.com/residential_painter_yourCity.html ) where "residential_painter_yourCity.html" is the residential section of your website represented within the local city that you do business in. Now, don't forget, that to better improve your SEO, you need to actually have content / text that also includes residential painter and your local city... NOT stuffing those keywords in there, but adding them creatively throughout your sales pitch & your specific hook that gets them to take action.... You see, that's the tricky part... not only do you have to have the content that supports your service & location for SEO, but you still have to have the creative hook to make the sale to your customer... That is still the point for your website!!!

Those are the two first baby steps when starting SEO for your website, it doesn't need to be that complex, or take forever to learn... you just need to DO IT!!!!!!!

Start small, by re-working your menu links, then writing persuasive copy that sells all while including your specific service inside your local service area.... and after that, keep on writing more!!! Because the more text that you have, the more the search engines will see that you are the front runner in your specific field...

That's my 2-cents on creating a strong organic SEO... and getting back on topic!!!

Good luck and keep at it!

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