Not Ranking in Local Search? Fix It!

You listed your business in Google My Business (previously known as Google Local and Google Places), but where are you? This is the most frequently asked question I get from small businesses.

Listing alone is not enough to be ranking in local search. Without NAP citations linking to your listing, it is likely to be buried many pages deep. You may not even be able to find it at all.

What are NAP citations?

Small businesses have difficulty learning how to get their sites to show up in local search because they don't understand the terminology used by the Local SEO industry.

Two key definitions are essential:

NAP = name, address, phone
Citations = online references to your business NAP

The most important thing to remember about NAP citations is that they need to be consistently identical on your site and in your listings.

Search Engine Land cited findings from a recent InsideLocal poll showing citation inconsistency as the #1 issue affecting local ranking.

Graph showing common reasons for not ranking in local search Used with permission of Mike Wilson, BrightLocal.com

Everywhere your company's name, address and phone number appears, it needs to be exactly the same. Use the official name, address and phone number in the header or footer of your site so it appears on every page.

Use that same information in every listing you create and interview you give. To make this clear, if your legal business name is Blue Widgets, Inc. use that entire name every time. Do not use Blue Widgets sometimes and Blue Widgets, Inc. other times and Blue Widgets, Co. in other places.

Addresses also need to be consistent. If your address is 1234 Main Street decide whether to use Main St. or Main Street. Never use "the corner of Main and 1st".

Always give your local phone number. Use your toll-free number if you have one as a secondary number - but never as your primary or only number.

Whenever someone asks for an interview, make sure you provide this information accurately in writing. If you have a blog or create social media accounts or submit listings to local directories, use the same information every time. Save it somewhere or look at your site. Ensure any employees or contractors do the same.

More examples from AllBusiness.com:

Where your listing needs to rank

Think about how you use a search engine. How many listings deep will you look to find a business you want? Research shows most people only look at the first page of results. There is a definite advantage to being on the first page, and the closer to the top, the better.

Getting more business online requires getting enough citations to appear near the top of the first page of search results.

How to get more citations

While it is true Google sends the lion's share of traffic, it does not follow that you can be found with only a Google listing. In order for it to show up in searches it must be supported by additional citations.

There are two sources of citations that are not terribly challenging to get:

Local directories
Social media bios

Local directories include sites like Yelp, Merchant Circle, Yahoo Local, Bing and hundreds more. Do you know there are hundreds of social media sites beyond the best known?

Every listing you create and social media account you optimize is another citation. Each citation contributes to your business being seen as "real" to the Google algorithm.

Focus on adding citations on sites large enough to send actual visitors your way. These mentions will improve your search ranking on all search engines - not just Google.

Don't forget to seek out niche related forums and social networks. Relevance increases both your search rankings and the likelihood of visitors to your site converting into buyers or clients.