Where should a local SEO strategy start?

We start with Google Business Profile, because that is where most people choose a local business. Claim it, verify it and get every detail right, down to the hours. How hard setup gets depends on your industry and whether you run a home based business. Once the profile is set up, the citations, content and speed work build on top of it.

How many directory citations should I add each month?

Add no more than about 70 directory citations in the first month, then no more than 20 to 30 a month after that. Doing less is okay. Doing too many looks like spam and can cost you rankings. Dumping 500 citations onto a brand new profile in week one is a footprint pattern that Google's local algorithm flags.

Does website speed really affect local rankings?

Yes. A better experience for people who come through your Google Business Profile helps that profile rank higher in the local map pack. We test speed with GTmetrix and repair every issue we find. The goal is as close to a one second load and a 100% performance score as possible. ABC Lock and Safe, for example, loads in under one second.

What are parallel backlinks?

Parallel backlinks are what we call guest posts of highly relevant content that link back to very relevant blogs on your website. They work alongside your own posts about your area, which link to your service pages and to each other. Together they build a cloud of related information that shows search engines what you do and where you do it.

Best Local SEO Strategy. How We Outrank the Competition

One of the main reasons we're able to outperform our competition (and our clients' competition) on a daily basis is attention to detail. Above and beyond the steps below, every detail about your company online affects your ability to organically rank for valuable keywords. Local SEO isn't one thing. It's a hundred things, done in the right order.

The playbook · In order4 LayersEach one builds on the one before it

01Google Business ProfileClaimed, verified, and right down to the hours.
02Directory citationsAbout 70 at most in month one, then 20 to 30 a month. Pace beats volume.
03ContentPosts about your area, linked to service pages and to each other.
04SpeedAs close to a one second load and a 100% score as possible.

Laying the Foundation for Search Engines

Setting up a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) can be the simplest process or the most complex. It depends on the industry you're in and whether you're a home based business. We start with Google Business Profile optimization first because this is where most people online choose from when looking for a local business in their area. If you haven't claimed or verified yours yet, follow our step by step Google Business Profile setup guide first.

A Silver State Locksmith tech bent over the base of a storefront door on the Las Vegas Strip — A storefront job on the Las Vegas Strip for Silver State Locksmith, a Clickflame client. Where you serve customers changes how the profile gets set up.

After getting your Google Business Profile set up, Google will index the web to find other places that list your business. These are called directory citations. Your name, address, phone number and hours of operation must be accurate, to name a few details. That accuracy is crucial to getting your business to rank for keywords in Google Search.

If you want help with this foundation, we cover it in the how to choose the best local SEO company guide.

Building Directory Citations

Most search engine optimization companies use sites like Yext.com and Synup.com to build a set of directory citations and then just add new content to the same ones. You should be building new citations every month, or at least every quarter. Adding new citations is an easy way to be deemed more relevant in Google Search than your competitors.

Be careful not to add more than about 70 directory citations in the first month, and no more than 20 to 30 a month after that. Doing less is okay. Doing too many will result in a spamming approach that could result in an actual loss of rankings.

Common Mistake

Dumping 500 directory citations into a brand new Google Business Profile in week one isn't aggressive marketing. It's a textbook footprint pattern that Google's local algorithm flags as low quality. Pace matters more than volume.

Content Marketing

In the search engine optimization industry, we all know how important content is. Targeting blog articles about the geographical location your services are in can be a quick way to rise in rankings. Pair it with a deeper dive on what you do.

Linking those blogs to service pages and other related blogs on your website further anchors the relevancy you offer to a search engine visitor by establishing a semantic cloud of information around the links internal to your site.

Here at Clickflame, we go one step further and build guest posts of highly relevant content and then link them to very relevant blogs on your website. We call these parallel backlinks. Regardless of how great your content is, it's better to put out the best content you can than to put out nothing at all.

Speed & Performance

An often overlooked portion of a local search engine marketing campaign is the speed and performance of your website. While this is a great step for improving organic rankings, it's also important because the better the user experience your website shows to people that came through your Google Business Profile, the better that profile will rank in the local map pack.

We check speed and performance using GTmetrix, then repair all issues so your site is as close to a one second load time and 100% performance score as possible. This is one of the main reasons our company ranks all over the world for the phrase "best local SEO company."

See our portfolio for examples. ABC Lock and Safe is a 56 file static HTML build deployed via Netlify with load times under one second. That's what page speed as strategy looks like in practice.

The ABC Lock and Safe home page with a Portland Locksmith, Open 24/7 headline, a call button and a photo of the service van — abclockandsafe.com, captured from the live site. The whole build is 56 static files.

What to Do Next

If you're a decent digital marketer, this article hopefully helped. We also offer done for you services if you need help. If you feel like you could just use some extra help and have questions, reach out at support@clickflame.com or via our contact page.

Feel free to send useful tips or tricks you use that may be of help for this article. For all the companies out there just looking to rank better on their own, stay tuned for more detailed articles about how we do what we do.

Best Local SEO Strategy How We Outrank the Competition