Local Business SEO tutorial Page 4
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Writing a title and meta description
Given SEO is literally a game of “follow the leader”, and based on the keyword research above, we decided to make the home page title and meta as follows.
Take Karate classes in Dallas, TX | Martial Arts | TKA Dojo
Want to learn traditional martial arts? Take Karate classes in Dallas, TX. First class free! Call 469-277-0726 to schedule a self defense lesson. Dojo in Plano too!
You can see we included Karate classes, Dallas TX, Martial Arts and the brand name. Some might say leading with “take” and including the brand name is not optimal. Our thinking is this.
We are optimizing for Google and HUMANS. Google factors CLICK-THOUGH -RATES (CTR) into your ranking. So, turning our title into a call to action by leading with “take” we strive to increase CTR.
We included TKA Dojo for two reasons. Using our brand name shows Google and Humans we are interested in building our brand, not just SEO. The word Dojo is semantically related to Karate and Martial arts. Using semantically related phrases is useful for SEO. Also the use of dojo sets a tone of “traditionalism” for the human who will ultimately take the class. TKA Dojo teaches traditional Shotokan Karate. Students wear traditional clothing, bow, etc.
SEO Note: Though SEO is a game of follow the leader, it does not always mean the very number one site. In this case, we consider the top 5 sites the leaders, and made decisions based on the top results, not just the number one site. We also balanced the keywords with what the website’s exact services are. TKA Dojo provides classes in traditional martial arts Karate and Aikido, which is also self defense. We will optimize a different page for Aikido as we know it has less search volume than the more generic terms.
SEO Note:
Though the number one site is not overly optimized, it is probably benefiting from longevity, quality backlinks, reviews and the ever evolving Google Knowledge Graph. Google Knowledge Graph is highly technical, and outside the scope of this tutorial. What is important to know is broad match synonyms can and should be used for SEO purposes.
SEO Note:
The reason we STARTED with keyword research and the meta description is so we don’t have to correct it later. Now that we know what our keyword and related title / description are we will be better able to create a page to support our SEO goal. Of course, you will have to balance your SEO goal with your actual products / service offering and what language works best for converting visitors to customers.
SEO Note:
Title text should be between 10-70 characters
Meta descriptions should be between 160-300 characters long.
Optimizing Title and Meta Description Of Interior Pages
To optimize the titles and meta descriptions of interior pages, use the same strategies above. Every public page of your website should be optimized. Remember, every public page is a potential point of entry, even the contact page.
SEO Note:
The deeper into a website you go, the more granular search terms can be. There is also a practice known as “Content Hubs” This is where you optimize an interior page for a broad match synonym, and build other pages that cross link to it with granular exact match keyword targeting.
Body Copy SEO and Header Tags
Now that we know the title and meta descriptions of the existing home page of TKAdojo.com, let’s optimize the body copy.
SEO Note:
Target keywords found in your title should be found in a header tag in your body copy. Ideally, all the target keywords found in the meta description should also be found in the regular body text as well.
Use header tags - H1, H2, H3 examples in Duda, Wordpress and Joomla
Google and other search engines LIKE when a web designer uses H1, H2, H3 tags in their website. As we mentioned earlier, header tags are like newspaper “headlines” and should be constructed as short summaries of the text that follows. Though header tags and “keyword density” have lost some SEO juice over the years, we find they are still at play in local sites. You do not need to obsess, but the natural use of header tags with some targeted keywords should be used.
Additionally, we found that you should only use the H1 tag once. The same applies to the h2 tag. H3 and smaller can be used as desired.
In the case of TKA Dojo our h1 and h2 tags will be as follows.
H1: Martial Arts Karate Classes, Aikido & Self Defense Dallas, TX
H2: Traditional Martial Arts Class
We find that when writing your h1 and h2 tags, it’s important that they are interchangeable from a human readability level.
For example, let’s take the first part of the H1 tag and the first part of theH2 tag and we come up with “Learn traditional self defense”. That is a human readable sentence. If we use the ending we get “ Karate Classes Dallas, TX”.
SEO Web Design Note: Typically, by default, header tags change the size of the lettering of the words applied to. Through CSS, and most page editors, it is easy to control the visual presentation of header tags. Personally, I like to see larger bold fonts with well written headlines. It helps me scan a page for the content I’m most interested in. However, if you are striving for a particular design aesthetic, you do have design options, but can still be SEO.
In the lower levels of the page we will use the following h3 tags:
- Our Kids Karate Classes
- Karate for Tween-Teens
- Adult Aikido Classes
- karate class reviews and others.
We will also include some non keyword targets, but related terms like “dojo, schedule, sensei” etc. Additionally, Google is making great strides to read, understand your website like a human does, not a robot.
In addition to header tags we made sure to include keywords in our supporting text, especially under our H1 tag. The supporting text also includes the use of BOLD on key and related terms. Take a look.
Now, other SEO elements to consider.
Use ALT tags on images- Watch how to video >>
An alt tag is hidden bit of code which allows for a written description of the image. In Duda and other CMS systems, it’s usually pretty easy to add an alt tag to your images. Some CMS also include a “tool tip”. In our case, we used both ALT Tags and tool tips. The purpose of alt tag is to help the visually challenged use a text reader to understand what an image is about. Even if you don’t think a visually challenged person would use your services remember Google is a visually challenged bot who really, really, really appreciates all the help you can give them in understanding your page content.
Navigation and linking - Hub and Spoke Strategy >>
We referenced “content hubs” above. When just getting started the “hub” pages are going to be your primary service pages. You’ll create blog posts and other sub.pages with related content linking back to your “services” page. The blog posts can be thought of as “spokes” of the hub.
It’s important to reference your keyword research and balance your interior pages with SEO objectives. Then, as your site grows, and it should always be growing, you can create more “hubs” with supporting blog posts.
SEO Note: When creating blog posts be sure to choose a relevant keyword or phrase within the body copy and turn it into a link pointing back to the HUB page.
In the case of TKA Dojo, we chose 2 primary phrases to make top level pages which are included in the global navigation. They are: Karate Classes and Martial Arts Training. We could have simply called them Classes and Training, but that was not as “seo” as targeting “Karate Classes” and “Martial Arts Training”.
Additionally, in the Duda system, our page names are converted into search engine friendly urls.
SEO NOTE:
Search engine friendly URLS play an important role in your SEO. In our case, one of our core keyword targets is “karate classes”. In the three examples below which one do you think Google and humans will like the most?
- tkadojo.com/classes
- tkadojo.com/karate-classes
- tkadojo.com/index.php?id=5
Obviously, /karate-classes is the most informative.
Duda SEO note:
By default, Duda uses a dash in the SEF. Underscores are also valid, but we like dashes better. Under_scores can sometimes be visually hard to see and a user trying to recall your url might type in /karate classes, which would result in a 404 error. Google is not a fan of 404 pages and humans definitely don’t like error pages.
More SEO notes about links and keywords.
In the examples below we deliberately added links in the global header to the two locations in question and in the footer. We did so because Google gives more weight to text that is a link vs text that is not. We also did it for humans. By adding those links at the top of the page it will help humans know where we are located.
In the header we linked to the contact page which has the address of both locations as well as maps.
In the footer we did NOT link the exact phrase. Instead, we used h6 tags for the exact keywords and then linked the addresses to their respective GMB pages. Though linking off your page can cause “link bleed”, the address links lead to branded and official pages about your site. It is also a Google property which has been verified. Linking to your Google GMB further tells Google you are a real business providing a real service. Also, the GMB page links back to the website. So, the link bleed also comes back as good “link juice”. The “vote in” from your GMB page, when first starting out, has a higher value than the link out.
SEO Warning:
Do NOT abuse SEF urls. Try to keep them short and on topic. If you want to hit more keywords, make more pages.
FAQ content, Schema and more Schema.
On the home page, we lead with FAQS for a number of reasons.
- To help user learn more about TKA Dojo
- Duda has a built in function to add “schema” markup to the FAQS you create
- Google loves FAQ Schema and often uses it to add “site links” in the search results.
Now that we’ve covered the primary SEO aspects of a creating page, let’s talk about local business Schema.
As we mentioned way back in the beginning of this tutorial, Schema is hidden code that helps Google and other search engines know what your website is about.
For local owners the top 3 schema markups you want to add to your website are:
- Local business
- Reviews
- One of the following based on your business: Events, products or services.
You can add others, but those are the top Schema to focus on when starting
In the case of TKA Dojo, we chose events. Part of their marketing strategy is to offer FREE classes. These occur multiple times per week. A class is an event. *We could have chosen Schema mark up for a “course” but events are more common and popular. We also add the events to our GMB, so that was another reason we chose to create schema events.
Schema mark up gets very geeky and is probably out of the scope of most local business owners to implement correctly. Proper implementation of schema is VERY important. Bad implementation can lead to BAD SEO results. However, that is why we recommend Duda. Duda has the FAQ schema built in, but also has an upgrade plan for adding advanced schema such as local business tags, etc.
If you are starting out with Duda, you can use this FREE tool to generate LOCAL SCHEMA.
https://technicalseo.com/tools/schema-markup-generator/
SEO Note: One the rules of using schema markup is to only add schema that relates to the page. If you remember, we added our local business address to the footer of EVERY page of the website. So, we added the local business schema to every page.
Finding Relevant Backlinks
If we recall from CCB, the B stood for backlinks. Backlinks are a super important aspect of SEO. In fact, there are companies that specialize in just backlinks. There are a lot of spammy services for that as well. We avoid most of them like the pariahs that they are. One of the easiest ways to relevant backlinks is to conduct an backlink audit of your competitors in Google. Just search your competitors name / domain name in quotes. Depending on your industry, Google will often show many sites where your competitors name is mentioned. Visit the site and see what it is about. If it looks like an important or relevant site check and see if you can add a profile or get a link. Often, competitors wind up in popular "top ten" lists of community websites. Just by asking, it is often possible to get listed. Now, let's watch the next video to see how it is done.
Best Backlink Service Provider - Yext
However, the one provider we like is Yext. It is a paid service that helps you list your site in relevant and valid directories and yellow pages. For the cost, you can’t beat it. For more information about Yext and optimizing check out our Yext tutorial. What is most important about Yext is that you use the same Name, Phone, Address (NAP) and Website you used in your Google My Business page.
This also applies to your social, when possible.
Social Media Profiles and SEO
Social business pages are excellent for creating backlinks. As we mentioned before, social profiles and subsequent backlinks do not technically “count” as a vote. However, they do count as a citation and a further verification of your brand. Adding links in social media will help others find your site and content, and if they like it, they may well link to it from a legitimate, authority website.
Additionally, we do know Google does use social media to FIND your site. They may not count the vote, but the more the Google Bot finds you, assuming you have good quality content, the better.
SEO Debate:
Even though the general consensus is Google does not count backlinks in social, we have seen some social backlinks surfaced in Google Search Console. We have seen YouTube, Pinterest Flickr and Reddit backlinks shown in GSC. Is google ‘counting” the vote or just showing you that there is a link? That is up for debate.
Additional valid backlinks for local business owners
If you belong to any organizations such as charity, professional organizations, etc, ask each and everyone to link to you from their website. Those are valid sources. Other sources are local newspapers (the digital versions at least), trade magazines, The BBB of course, etc.
More ways to find backlinks.
There are additional ways to find relevant backlinks. Ahrefs.com is a great tool for that. Start with your top competitors and check THEIR back links. Then, try to get a link from the same sources if relevant.
Getting Into Google
Now that we have an optimized website with basic CCB via Duda, there are 2 more things to do.
Set up a Google Analytics account and add the code to your website.
What is Google Analytics? GA, for short, is a tracking tool which will give you valuable insight to how people find you, what they do while on your site, where they came from and a ton of other goodies. GA doesn’t effect SEO, but it can help you make good SEO choices.
*Though Google has explicitly said they do not use GA data to determine relevance in search results, my opinion is why wouldn’t they? Personal opinion aside, GA is great at helping you make SEO decisions.
Set up a Google Search Console profile.
This is super important. Here is the basic process in the video below. This is where your XML site map comes into play. Note, you can also submit your XML site map to Bing. DuckDuckGo does not have a sitemap option. They will find you on their own.
Insert video
The End..Sort Of
As a local business owner, if you’ve read this tutorial, optimized all of the pages on your website, submitted to Google Search Console and created a GMB, your basic SEO is done. You are now prepared to continue making more SEO content and growing your brand and business online and off.
We strongly recommend that you commit to making new content on a weekly basis, at the very least, monthly.
Getting PRO help
Serr.biz does not directly provide services to clients. However, we are building and ever growing network of verified digital marketing professionals. Request a referral here >>
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