In order to rank locally for your industry keywords it is important to add your site to local directories that use a consistent NAP (name – address – phone number). You may have heard this be referred to as ‘local citations’.
By doing this, Google is able to locate where your website is most important for your service areas and office locations.
By making your website show up more in places where it is relevant for your target keywords, this really improves your local SEO rankings.
An example, here would be “digital marketing North Vancouver” for our business, North Shore Digital.
At North Shore Digital, we use Google My Business (GMB) extensively and have a configuration checklist we perform for all office locations for your business. We also add monthly content to your listing to make sure your profile gets clicks and impressions in Google Search.
In addition to GMB, we sync your listing with Bing Places for Business as long as you have an actual address.
We also use Bright Local to publish your site to 25-100 new directories that takes your info from GMB and push it through a manual and semi automated process.
Over the next 3-6 months, the listings for your site will increase so that you have more directories with your website link, consistent NAP thus resulting in better local SEO and Google search performance.
Some directories require verification by the business owner or somebody working in the location provided. Apple Maps is one of these.
For that reason, we ask clients themselves to add their business/website to Apple Maps.
It’s very simple and nowhere near as complicated as GMB. It takes 2 minutes.
Here’s the guide:
- Go to: https://register.apple.com/placesonmaps/
- Login with your Apple ID & password. You need one to do this so if you need to create one. If you have one already, you may need to use the 2FA Apple code.
- Fill in the missing info below:
- Verify your business phone number. Apple will call you and provide a pin.
- Confirm business location and hours of operation
- Add website and social media accounts
- Review business information. After confirming you should expect to see your listing on Apple Maps and the Apple Business Register within a week or so.
Some other local SEO citation business directories you should fill out and claim, which require extra steps for client verification include:
You should also set up and be in charge of all your social media business pages: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram Business, Pinterest Business etc.
SEO/SEM Resources
We have a back catalogue of really valuable SEO/SEM resources that you can look through to find out more about how Google search results work and what you can do to take your website and business to the next level:
- What is SEM? Search Engine Marketing Fundamentals
- SEM Resources – these resources were put together for the SEM class I taught at Brainstation
Suggested Further Reading – How to Promote Your Blog Post? 15 Minute Checklist with Pro Tips
