On-site SEO for Google Local

Do on-site SEO rules still apply for Google Local? Damn straight.

Now that we have established whether or not a Google local listing exists (earlier post), we can start to lay the ground work.

1. Title & description tag – Description should be synced with the information you plan to put in your Google local listing. The title tag should include the keywords you are targeting in Google local. Careful: don’t forget how you can negatively effect your click through rate (CTR) by using a spammy title.
2. Content quality – Make certain to have plenty of good quality, keyword rich content on your home page, relevant to the keywords you are targeting.
3. Footer – Should contain your business name, address and footer and will act as citations, helping Google confirm you are who you say you are. Although I don’t have any concrete evidence, this seems to be a catalyst to getting you organic ranking to merge with you Google local ranking. A good thing in most scenarios.
4. KML & XML – Specifically, focus your attention on the location.kml and geo-sitemap.xml files. Google actually provides some templates for these on their website, but I found them to be bare bones. Check out my sites location.kml and geo-sitemap.xml for a good example. Fill this in, using the information (exact match) from your Google local listing. You’ll also need to grab coordinates. I use Google earth for this. Once complete, upload to your site root directory and submit your geo-sitemap in Google Webmaster Tools. These files help create a link between your Google local listing and your website.

   Very short post, but it was meant to be to be concise and to the point. There is a lot more to on-site optimization, but for Google local this should be sufficient. My next post will dive into optimizing the Google local profile page. I will cover what works and what will land you in Google detention.

   Related posts:

   1. Google Local in Review: A Series
   2. Places Optimization: The Ins and Outs
   3. A few tips on Local SEO for Your Business
   4. Goodbye, Farewell Google Places Phone Verification…
   

   About the Author: Adam Steele

   Adam is the founder of Nightlite Media. He loves building new, helpful things & has a love hate relationship with local SEO. Find him on twitter: @AdamGSteele