In Today's Issue
Search Engine Marketing
---> Getting Found Locally in Google With Only One Company Address
---> How Can I Convince People of the Value of SEO?
High Rankings Happenings
---> Need SEO Training For Your In-house Team?
---> Having Trouble Getting Targeted Search Engine Visitors?
Twitter Question of the Week
---> Got any local SEO tips?
Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week
---> How do you feel about domains with hyphens?
Advisor Wrap-up
---> Tim's Going to Brown! Introduction
Hey everyone!
Today I've answered two separate questions from the same person who's just started to learn SEO, which I think you'll find interesting.
Remember -- if you have your own questions for me, you can submit them via my question form.
Let's get straight to the good stuff! – Jill
Search Engine Marketing Issues
++Getting Found Locally in Google With Only One Company Address++
Hi Jill,
I completed your SEO course on Lynda.com and thought it was great. I am a freelance website designer and also attempting to provide SEO.
I have a client who does business (process serving) in multiple states, but these states cannot also really be categorized into one regional area (I think). They plan to expand into additional states in the future; however, they have only one physical place of business -- which is their home address. I submitted to Google Places with that address, with their permission.
Since local listings seem to have displaced many other listings from the first page of results in Google, how do I get them to show up in the other states where they don't have a physical place of business or storefront? Perhaps they could put the addresses of the individuals that do work for them (in their "network"), but what if they don't want to publicize a home address (especially due to the nature of the business)?
Is there a way to tell Google which states the site is relevant for? On the other hand, if they want to expand their service area, the company would probably want their site to show up for other states as well, even though they are not national yet.
To complicate matters, I think when users (most likely attorneys) are looking for process servers, sometimes they search for the city/state combination as well. I understand from reading previous posts that having multiple URLs redirecting back to the original site would not be good -- that is, process-server-maryland.com, process-server-washington-dc.com, etc. Right? I don't think the information will really vary from state to state, but I can't say that for sure. Should I ask my client to create new content for each state, and explain how process serving is different in that state, and create state pages?
Right now, I just have the list of states (but not cities) in the body copy of the home page. There is no navigation for each of the states.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Sincerely,
RR
++Jill's Response++
Hi RR,
This is definitely a tough situation as far as the organic / natural Google search results go. It's getting even worse because Google has put added emphasis on local Google Places Pages so prominently in their search results.
Unfortunately, you can't add Google Places pages for locations where you don't have a physical office address and phone number, so that's out. (I suppose you could try to purchase dummy phone numbers and addresses strictly for this purpose, but that would be the spammy way to do things, which I don't recommend.)
You can, however, create specific city/state landing pages to be used in conjunction with Google AdWords. You'd target them locally through appropriate ads and keywords within your AdWords interface. This way, only people searching from the appropriate city/state will see the ads and resulting landing pages.
While you might be tempted to use those same landing pages as a way to bring in people from the organic search results (and they may even work fine for this purpose), I would caution against it. Those types of pages often contain mostly duplicate content and have been dubbed "madlib spam" pages by Google. You really need a way to make them unique other than just switching out the city or state name in order to not be considered to be spammy by Google. (See our old forum post on madlib spam.)
That said, most companies that do business in a number of geographical areas may have enough additional information to work with, if they get creative enough. Think about what sort of content would be helpful to your potential customers which also just happens to mention the states you do business in.
Off the top of my head, how about case studies and/or testimonials from previous clients or customers within the different states? You could create a separate page for each case study that discusses the client, where they're from and what you did for them. These would be useful to your site visitors while also making it clear to Google that you do business in each of those states. You could even make them more effective for your potential customers by having video interviews with past clients (if they were willing) and embedding those on the pages as well.
You can (and probably should) list the various states where you work somewhere on your home page, but I imagine you might be able to think of other creative ways to add this local aspect to your site which apply to your client's specific business. The main thing is to figure out ways to get the appropriate content on your site without simply creating useless, duplicate fluff, that's just there only for the search engines. Start by brainstorming the type of extra local information that the potential customers would want to see, and branch out from there.
Good luck!
Best,
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here.
++How Can I Convince People of the Value of SEO?++
Hi Jill,
I have a client who was called by [one of those online Yellow Pages–type companies] that would build him a website for $39 a month, which he wants to look into. The website that he initially hired me for is not built yet. In other words, he is considering "firing" me. I now understand from your lynda.com SEO course just how important it is to do keyword research BEFORE building the site and developing content.
When I told him that I charge $250 a month for SEO, he thought that was outrageous. I am trying to "save" him as a client and I just really want the best for him. I told him that I feel it would be the wrong way to go for me to just get a site "up there" without doing the SEO research and implementation.
What could I tell him that would convince him to go with me? By the way, it really doesn't look like the cheap company includes SEO in their web design, other than "submitting to  search engines."
Sincerely,
RR
++Jill's Response++
Dear RR,
I've been in business long enough to know that you can't convince people to pay for SEO who don't understand SEO or its value. You can certainly try to educate him, but it's likely you'd be wasting your time because this client seems to be basing his decision on price alone. It sounds as if the client might not be a good fit for you if he's prepared to go with an extremely low-end solution.
While I'm sure you don't want to be in the habit of turning away business (or at least not trying to win it), you'll be much better off not working with this person. Believe me when I say that he will likely end up costing you much more than the $250 a month you would charge him -- in both time and aggravation. If he already thinks your prices are outrageous, he'll probably also have unrealistic expectations about the results of the SEO you do for him -- that is, wondering why he's not ranking #1 in Google for some arbitrary 1-word general keyword that he thinks he should!
Some people will purchase SEO purely by price, in which case you can't really compete, nor should you. If it were me (and I know it's easy for me to say), I'd simply let him go. He'll find out soon enough that he won't receive much value in the low-end offer, in which case he may come back to you later after he becomes more educated.
That said, the best way to sell the value of SEO to those who don't really understand it is to show them the hard numbers from any of your current or previous clients. After you have gained some data about how much additional targeted traffic and conversions your work has brought in for others, you can show it to potential clients. This will lend credibility to your skills and give them some sense of what you might do for them.
Best,
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Jill Whalen is the CEO of High Rankings, an SEO Consulting company in the Boston, MA area since 1995. Follow her on Twitter @JillWhalen
P.S. If anyone would like to republish the above articles, please email me your request and where they will reside, and I'll send you a short bio you can use with them for your site.
Twitter Question of the WeekThis week I asked my Twitter followers:
To go along with today's article on local SEO, I asked my Twitter followers the following:
++Got any local SEO tips?++
Here's how they responded:
cyandle: Making sure you have your full address and contact info listed throughout your website.
SEOMalc: Make a point of promoting your location-based services throughout your website and within your local niches. Don't go generic.
mackenzieniall: Citations Citations Citations :)
ToddHeim: Make sure your business directory listings have accurate information and are in the right categories.
WissamDandan: Consistency of the NAP (name, address, phone), BLVD means Boulevard – no abbreviations, add address on Contact Us page.
Volacci: Making sure the local listings are 100% complete or as close to 100% as possible.
funnykat: Citations, Google Places, websites: Make sure all addresses match.
MaryBowling: Optimize your website for keywords and geographic terms. Sounds simple but so many people miss the mark.
creativeonion: Setting up a company profile on LinkedIn! (Which has seen a boost since Panda.)
Jimbeetle: Local means offline eyeballs so make sure domain name is on *every* surface company controls.
supernaut76: Use @edmontonSEO's local citation finder - very actionable.
nickleroy: Claim your local business listing on all three major search engines. (Google, Bing & Yahoo)
mercylivi: Incorporate local search phrases into the content.
ultimasurf: Get your business listed in Google Places, local address at your website, & host your website locally work for me.
Webprotech: Have a 100% complete verified listing and instead of testimonials ask satisfied customers to post genuine reviews on Google.
niftymarketing: Tips on local title tags here.
marcusbowlerhat: Links from local directories and business forums--only the cream of the crop obviously.
Jill's Response: @creativeonion, that's great, I have never thought of using LinkedIn that way, thanks! I also like @WissamDandan's tips because I hadn't heard those before. And @jimbeetle's answer is one that seems so obvious, yet is missed by so many local companies. @supernaut76, nice find with that local citation finder, I gave it a quick look and it appears to be helpful @niftymarketing, thanks for sharing that article, it's also very helpful.
Thanks all for your participation!
Want to participate in the Twitter Question of the Week?
Follow @jillwhalen on Twitter
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Advanced Forum Thread of the Week ++How do you feel about domains with hyphens?++
Forum member "Suzstephens" asked: "Do you folks have a strong preference for domains with or without hyphens?"
See what other forum members said or share your own reply here.
Advisor Wrap-up
That's all for today!
We've got good news on the college front regarding my son Tim: He's been accepted to and has chosen Brown University in Providence, RI as his college! It's a great fit for him because they have one of the most highly rated neuroscience programs, which is what he wants to study. Well, that and computer science. Apparently, Brown is an especially great school for self-motivated kids like Tim because they allow students a lot of leeway on what classes are required. It's going to be an exciting time for him.
Nothing new to report on the business front, other than I did finally catch up after that vacation last month. It feels good to not have too many things hanging over my head. I get stressed out under those conditions. I have no trips or vacations coming up, so I'm hoping things will stay even-keeled for awhile.
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
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