Before you start running a local SEO campaign, here are a
few things, written by Leo Dimilo, I
found interesting to look at.
1 Know the reason for why they want to rank in the first
place.
Don't get me wrong, it's always about money but most of the
time, it isn't overt. For example, a restaurant who wants to rank locally won't
be "selling" anything online. Instead, they may want to use the
website as a way for prospective customers to get directions, view their menu
or simply call.
2 How is their on-page optimization (for search)?
Are their title tags in place? Is the navigation flat? Crawl
errors? How are the search bots seeing the website? What do they see? Is the
linking structure optimized for the goal(s) of the website?
3 Do they have any metric system in place (if they have a
website)?
This is super important because a lot of times what a
company believes the website is serving may be different than what the
customers want. By analyzing what they are currently getting, you can search
for ways to improve the user's experience and may even reshape the website.
With analytic data, you can see the problems in association with the website's
goals and effectively reshape the front page to improve user experience.
4 How large is their existing online footprint?
Is their restaurant talked about online? If they have
experimented with SEO, are the links they are getting coming from real or
spammy sources? Are they connected to social review websites?
These questions will help you assess what direction you may
want to push for online.
5 Where are their customers online?
Where do their customers congregate online? Are there ways
to integrate the website's brand into the conversation cheaply? Are there cheap
advertising avenues to keep their brand in the front of people who may be
interested in their business?
6 What things do their competitors do online?
Are their ways to easily merge their competitor's online
strategies with their own? If they are using Facebook, what things are getting
the most "likes" and "shares"? How are they promoting their
brand?
7 Do they have offline events that can be translated online?
For example, a local business that I am affiliated with
recently bought a car for one of their employees. The money was pooled by their
employees over a period of months and the car was given right before Christmas.
Events like these can be used to get a business PR from newspapers, social
platforms and even news stations, all of which can be linked to from the online
community.
Charity events, sponsorships and general acts of good will
can all be leveraged for more links and help web presence.
