Are you in the snackpack?

With Google’s most recent update, the local search results listings are now only showing 3 listings. These listings are now being called the Google Snack Pack.

So instead of 7 listings, we only have 3 coveted spots, which is going to make local search much more competitive. There are actually whispers of doing paid local listings.

Since the Google snack pack is going to be so much more competitive, here is a list of 8 things you can do to make sure your listing is one of the top 3 listings.

Local Search Factors

1. Citations or listings that include your Company Name, address, phone number and url along with some other possible info like pictures of your business, does it take credit cards. Examples of citations are listings on Yelp, Superpages and the like. Put your business name and zip code into  Moz.com/local to get a score.
2. Reviews matter – Ask satisfied customers to review your business. Getting reviews on Google itself is very important.(Sign up for email updates as we add some posts that help you to increase your reviews)
3. Optimize your Site- Last year it was easy to rank locally. Now you will definitely need to have an optimized website.
4. Get Social – complete your social media profiles, and use them regularly. Interact with your potential customers.
5. Monitor your Online Reputations – Sign up for google alerts for every variation of your company name to include misspellings , the url of your website, twitter handle etc.  It might not be a bad idea to sign up for alerts of your biggest competitor either.
6. Company Blog- Create a company blog, and use it. Publish regular posts about local happenings. Be sure to include lots of images.
7. Guest Blog – Find other business owners to network with who will allow you to write on their site. Consider letting other local business owners guest blog on your site.
8. Get links to your site – Numbers 1, 3,and 7 above refer to the practice of link building, or getting other websites to link to your site. Currently, you need to excise strict control when getting other websites to link to your site. We excise strict control. Link building must be done so that it looks like links are being gained naturally, and not as if an SEO campaign were being used. Links are still very important, and as Google’s Matt Cutts says, the importance of links is not going away anytime soon. For local search, attempt to get links from other local sites, such as local non-profits, churches or any business with an actual physical location in your target area.

If you find yourself wanting to increase your local search results, please contact us to discuss how we can help you to help your customers find you in online.

Boyertown Art Gallery

Adam and Sugar at the Dog House Art Gallery in Boyertown

My wife painted the above portrait of me and Sugar or deceased dog,  a while ago and she just got asked to paint a similar picture for someone who came to the Dog House Art Gallery, which is the gallery that we share our office space. Stop into the Boyertown Art Gallery and say hi or sign up for the gallery email newsletter to find out about upcoming shows.

Additionally, I will be doing the local marketing for art gallery, so I will be practicing what I preach.

About the author

Adam is the Social Media Director at Baldy Dog Search Strategies, and is also the lead on all local SEO at BaldyDog.