5 New(ish) Google+ Local SEO Tips

In case you missed it, local search expert David Mihm just released his 5th volume of local search ranking factors. What I’ve done here is list the 5 postive ranking factors from that list which I have observed to have a substancial impact on local search rankings in 2012. Enjoy!

1. NAP in hCard / Schema.org

This emerged as a real positive factor in 2012. For more on how you can use this technique to your advantage, check out my post on technshare.com.

2. City, State in Places Landing Page Title

This one is major. Make sure your landing page (the page which your business page links to) is extremely relevant to your Google+ Local busniess page. Ideally, it should the location page of your website.

3. Physical Address in City of Search

An oldie, but wildly important none-the-less. It’s not easy to rank for local specific phrases when your business is not in that locallity.

4. Domain Authority of Website

Why I always recommend a tandem local SEO and organic SEO campaign…

5. Product / Service Keyword in Business Title

This one falls under the category of sad but true. At any rate, if you are lucky enough to have good keywords in your business name, YAY for you. If not, don’t try to stuff the keywords in there. You’ll most likely get penalized.