0:00

This is a super fast

0:00

Brand Hack podcast.

0:08

So Today we're going to talk about how to help Google show you locally in SERPs.

0:12

SERPs means search engine

0:12

results, page or pages.

0:16

And if you're looking to show up in SERPs near your location, we're going to go

0:18

over the difference between

0:20

going hyper-local versus local

0:20

for search engine results and

0:23

how to ensure your content is

0:23

optimized for the local market.

0:26

First let's look at the difference. What's the difference

0:27

between hyper-local SERPs

0:30

versus local SERPs. Google interprets hyper-local

0:31

searches as something that has

0:34

proximity as a major factor

0:34

behind the search intent of

0:38

the user performing the search. That means google thinks

0:39

they're looking for a place

0:42

to get up and go to either

0:42

right now, or sometime soon.

0:45

If We scale back a little

0:45

bit to just local, instead

0:48

of hyper-local, location

0:48

is still relevant.

0:51

Google still understands that

0:51

the user making the search is

0:55

looking for somewhere nearby. The SERPs will probably

0:56

show things like city,

0:59

state, and region specific

0:59

pages in the results.

1:02

but a map may or may not be present. It's not always predicted

1:04

by Google that this person

1:06

needs a map and store

1:06

hours to figure out if

1:08

they should get up and go. Now. What are the key differences

1:10

between local and hyper local

1:13

search engine results, as

1:13

far as how they look in the

1:17

frame of Google or Bing? If you do a local search,

1:18

that's typically going to

1:21

give you results that say a

1:21

city and state in the title.

1:25

You may or may not

1:25

see a map pop up.

1:27

Usually what you'll see

1:27

is the company name,

1:30

some basic information. Usually the description

1:31

that the company wrote

1:34

in its own website. And typically the top results,

1:35

you'll notice common things.

1:39

When I search for something in my own. Town,

1:42

the clickable title, as well

1:42

as the URL that's displayed

1:45

below the title in the search

1:45

results, and the description,

1:48

for the top ranking results, all

1:48

typically mention the city and

1:51

state that I'm searching for. As far as a hyper-local SERP.

1:56

Say for example, you look

1:56

up your local Planet Fitness

1:59

and in the top fold of

1:59

the results page, whether

2:02

you're on mobile or on

2:02

desktop, on a larger display.

2:06

This is usually where you'll

2:06

see a full blown map show up and

2:10

you'll see business listings in

2:10

the left-hand side and you'll

2:14

be able to click each business

2:14

to expand them for more detail.

2:17

This is because Google knows

2:17

that these are proximal results

2:19

that nine times out of 10

2:19

someone making a search with

2:22

these types of terms, they're

2:22

looking for a place to go to.

2:26

The same is true for

2:26

someone looking for the

2:28

closest McDonald's or

2:28

the closest gas station.

2:31

Very quickly, they're going

2:31

to display the company

2:34

name, the address, ratings

2:34

are usually displayed.

2:38

They're going to show business hours. If you click to expand any of

2:39

the businesses, you'll usually

2:42

see more business details

2:42

such as, is it busy right now?

2:45

Or how busy is it

2:45

usually at this time?

2:47

And then you'll also have buttons to click through to the website or get

2:49

directions right now.

2:51

You can also click the map to

2:51

see different pinned locations

2:56

for where each of these

2:56

places is located on a map.

2:59

That way, if you want to

2:59

choose a place to go visually,

3:01

based on your proximity or

3:01

location, you can do so.

3:05

Now it's worth knowing that

3:05

Google has predetermined how

3:08

different words are classified. For example, things like "bank"

3:10

might be looked at as something,

3:13

someone would search nationally. If you want to

3:15

pull up chase.com.

3:18

It might not be because

3:18

you're looking to go to

3:21

a branch in your town. You might just be trying to

3:22

go to your Chase website to

3:24

check your account balance. So that is not always

3:26

classified as a local search.

3:30

Google would look for search

3:30

terms like " chase near me"

3:33

or "chase bank near me" or

3:33

" chase bank in city state."

3:38

But just "bank" by

3:38

itself isn't going to be

3:40

classified as a local search

3:40

term most of the time.

3:43

Something like auto

3:43

insurance, however, might be.

3:46

If you were looking to pay

3:46

your auto insurance bill,

3:48

you're probably not searching

3:48

auto insurance anyway.

3:51

You're probably searching

3:51

for the name of the auto

3:54

insurance company that you

3:54

use so you can pull up their

3:56

website and pay your bill. So usually Google will

3:58

classify an auto insurance

4:01

search as something local,

4:01

however, Most people don't

4:05

need to go in person to

4:05

purchase auto insurance.

4:08

but they will feature

4:08

local results.

4:10

They know that you're looking for something that probably covers and provides

4:12

insurance in your market.

4:16

Something like "pizzeria"

4:16

is probably the most

4:18

likely to be classified

4:18

as a hyper-local result.

4:21

If you want to, If

4:21

you're planning a trip.

4:23

Somewhere else. And you're looking for pizzeria. Is there, you'll have to

4:25

actually type the location

4:28

you're going to in your search

4:28

key phrase, just so Google

4:31

won't show you results near

4:31

where you are right now.

4:34

Now just because Google has

4:34

predetermined how certain

4:37

words are classified. Doesn't mean you don't have

4:38

power over the content you make.

4:41

You have complete power and

4:41

making sure that your content

4:44

makes it clear what localities

4:44

and categories of business

4:47

are relevant to your brand. And to do that, there's actually

4:49

a bunch of actionable tips.

4:51

So let's talk about some

4:51

actionable tips for optimizing

4:54

your content for local search. First you want to make

4:56

sure your website's blog

4:58

has both key location and

4:58

key service categories.

5:03

This will show Google your

5:03

relevance to certain locations

5:06

and what it is that you do when

5:06

it comes to searches made by

5:08

users that live in your area. It's also a good idea

5:10

to have a specific page

5:13

dedicated to locations. On this page, you can treat it

5:14

like a directory or an index

5:18

where you create hyperlinks to

5:18

each of those key categories

5:21

with the location name. Again, This will help Google

5:22

understand that your content

5:25

is relevant when someone is

5:25

searching for those areas.

5:28

As far as individual posts, you

5:28

want to make sure you're using

5:31

location names and all titles,

5:31

your headers, your H2s mostly,

5:35

your meta descriptions, and

5:35

any place where text appears.

5:39

Try incorporating locality

5:39

names where it's relevant

5:42

when you're making a blog

5:42

post about a certain type of

5:44

service you offer somewhere. When it comes to images.

5:47

You should try to incorporate images in your posts when possible.

5:51

It's also really helpful if

5:51

you're going out and taking

5:54

specific pictures of the

5:54

location that you're writing

5:56

about, but you can use stock

5:56

images or infographics.

6:00

If you don't have physical photographs. But when it comes to posting

6:02

those images in certain

6:04

blog posts, make sure you're

6:04

using location names in your

6:07

image description and in

6:07

the alt text for the image.

6:10

You want to make sure that

6:10

the location bearing terms

6:12

are accessible, even if

6:12

the images can't load.

6:15

and again, Even though Google is

6:15

getting smarter with its visual

6:18

AI [it can understand what the

6:18

pixels in a picture of makeup

6:22

in many cases], Having that

6:22

text and the image description

6:26

signals very strongly, that your

6:26

content is location specific.

6:30

Finally. You want to make sure that

6:31

any social media accounts,

6:33

especially Facebook pages, are

6:33

utilizing locations, either in

6:37

the descriptions or whenever

6:37

you're posting pictures or

6:40

posts or videos about certain

6:40

services or products you

6:43

offer within a local area. Again, this, ties back into

6:45

proper categorization for

6:47

Google's algorithms, but

6:47

it also helps you on the

6:50

individual platform itself. If somebody was looking for

6:52

events near me on Facebook

6:55

or maybe they're doing a

6:55

places search on Instagram.

6:59

And lastly, this is just a bonus

6:59

tip, but if you don't have a

7:02

physical location, But you want

7:02

to take advantage of Google

7:05

my business, it might still

7:05

be possible to create what's

7:08

called a "store within a store." Now, what you'd want to do

7:09

is have a colleague who has

7:12

a physical business location

7:12

and see if you would be able

7:16

to set up your business there. You do want to make sure

7:17

you follow all of Google My

7:19

Business policies regarding

7:19

having a unique contact number,

7:23

name, and business category. And you want to make

7:24

sure you list all of your information appropriately.

7:27

Google does have some pretty

7:27

strict criteria for what

7:31

types of stores within a store

7:31

are eligible to be listed

7:33

as a Google my business. But if you meet those criteria,

7:35

it's well worth setting

7:38

up because it could give

7:38

you another placement in a

7:40

search engine results page. All right. So that's our super fast

7:42

brand hack podcast on how to

7:44

help Google show you locally. Take care.

7:48

" Brand Hacking" is a brand new

7:48

podcast hosted by Katt Wagner.

7:51

Katt has helped hundreds of

7:51

professionals in the music,

7:54

retail, and real estate

7:54

space build big brand power

7:56

with small and simple steps. Be sure to like and subscribe

7:58

to catch future tips on

8:01

building an unbeatable brand.