Local SEO for 2015

About to invest in Local SEO? Wait, I have some information that you will really find very helpful before you get started. To begin with, you should bear in mind that Local SEO is getting more and more complicated with each day, so make sure you are choosing the best local SEO for contractors or for any other service which you offer, as you need the best result for the money being spent by you. Step back a little and take a closer look at the bigger picture. Are you missing some elements? What is it you intend to achieve with Local SEO?

2015 is here and as it seems, things are pretty different in the Internet world. Sorry to say that most Gold Coast business will be caught off-guard. What’s the point of all these? Follow me. I have some information that may be surprising which is why, being a Gold Coast SEO, I felt the need to write this article.

Stop focusing on a single tactic for Local Research? You got it wrong again!

What does this mean? Quite simply, being diligent in one area of Local SEO is a great research tool but quite useless as far as marketing tools are concerned.

Ready to Ignite Your Website?

Have you ever stopped to wonder why people still struggle with this question: “I have done everything but it’s not working?” “All I do is in vain, what am I doing wrong?” Stop focusing on a single tactic and get reading.

As far as Local SEO efforts are concerned, it is quite difficult to succeed in this field if you employ the same single tactic. However, judging by the trend, most businesses today either watch a video or read a post and drop everything as soon as they find faulty in a tactic.

Local SEO is more than just citations. It more than having your ‘Google My Business’ page optimised. And it’s certainly much more than just inserting ‘Gold Coast’ or ‘Queendland’ in the title tag and heading of your web page.

By looking at just one specific tactic, the field of view is so enlarged that you are blinded to other basic considerations that are equally very essential. This is 2015, and you need to employ newer processes – stop looking at one single tactic and start looking at the bigger picture!

Recent Updates help explain Local SEO as a whole

It’s that time to look at all the tactics and see how they work together! That’s the only way you are going to stop thinking “I have done everything but it’s not working?” and start seeing results! Let me shift your focus over to some of the essential recent updates in this same arena of Local SEO to help you get a clearer view of the big picture this year.

For instance, Moz’s Local Search Ranking Factors study is the best place to get started. The Author, David Mihm focuses on some of the signal groups on the basis of weight in the algorithms. Be sure to check out these factors and then compare them to your current ranking efforts. In case your task and workflow list are far much a part to the weighted points of the pie charts then it is time to shift or check your priorities one more time.

The most fundamental Google update of 2014 was the Pigeon algorithm. This Goliath of a search engines drastically transformed the manner in which local results are calculated. What happened is that most Gold Coast SEO businesses freaked out. In case you are still holding onto hope that Pigeon was just temporary test, then you are wrong. It is here to stay. You got it?

Google also released the new 3-pack which replaced the Local Carousel. This new 3-pack clearly shows thumbnail photos just like the Local Carousel, though the listing now focuses on company names, review stars as well as a short description of the business. Just like the Local Carousel, clicking on one of the listings takes you to yet another Search Engine Results Page for the specific business…as opposed to Google My Business Page or the specific business website.

One other very critical update is the Google My Business guidelines. Google is gradually cracking down on category selections and is also doing away with the option that allows you to include a descriptor to company names, and finally flat out against virtual offices.

The Big Picture Simplified

This is what you have been waiting for. Google is working towards improving Local SEO. Therefore, whether you like or dislike Pigeon, it now plays a big role in Local SEO and you have no option than adapt it.

Few years back, you could just rock citations and relax. These alone would still take you to the top of the SERPs, or get listed on the Map. Now, who knows whether that map pack for your vertical will even be there much longer?

So, Pigeon is here with a newer expanded 3-pack. This also means that the mobile world is also having a significant impact on the manner in which Google approaches Local SEO.

In Conclusion

As scales keep tipping and users switch to mobile, Local SEO is definitely going to experience a significant impact. These results will become unique in a different way since Google will have found out all your locations. So, get the proper relevance signals for your website online and offline if you really want to continue staying relevant in 2015 and beyond. Feel free to contact Ignition Media for first class Gold Coast SEO services, we specialise in Local SEO and make it our aim to get you ranking for your location based searched. Even if you just need clarification, we shall be excited to have you overboard.

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