Before you waste your time reading this, it was written tongue in cheek…
I attended a meet-up last week on the topic of Local SEO. Learning Local SEO is a passion of mine and I try to read, attend meetings and discuss as much as I can on the subject. I have often used local search ranking factor lists from your favorite Local SEO guys and I hear them repeated many times in books, online, at these events and in discussions; I have used them myself. This meet-up wasn’t much different. The presenter began with his presentation about organic SEO and was moving into local when he presented a slide that stated unequivocally that this was the number one factor for local SEO. And what was the number one factor? Yes, you guessed it correctly, the number one local SEO factor is claiming your business listing in Google Places, Yahoo! Local, Bing Local, etc.
I don’t want to get hyper-technical here but I think that most of those who are reading this blog are either already within the SEO community, trying to find their way into the seo community, current or prospective clients of mine or visitors of my clients’ websites who happen across my website’s link. Having said that, lets get into the real meat, the reason you came here…
The Number One Local SEO Ranking Factor
I would argue, and do so here, that there is one more-important factor that you might not have thought of but it is certainly more important than claiming your business among the most popular directories, it is more important than the number of citations your company has and it is more important than what content is on your businesses website. The most important ranking factor for local SEO is to have an address located within the town/area you would like to be found in. That’s the number one, most important factor.
Let me explain myself. I have several clients with the same problem; their business address is located in a small suburb just outside of that beacon of brightness, the big city. Most of the people reading this post already know that chiropractors are searched for more often in Los Angeles, California than in Billings, Montana. The same thing goes for people whose businesses are located in small suburban towns just outside of the big city.
You may have come to my website hoping I could give you some insight on how get around the fact that your business is one of those businesses located just outside of the big city. I am sorry to disappoint you but it is the number one ranking factor for a reason. So what is the solution you might ask? Move! Now there may be some less dramatic ways of fixing the problem but we already know that PO Boxes and even Mail Box Etc. addresses either no longer work or will not be working soon (depending on how competitive your industry is)…
For most of you, moving your business to the big city is just not an option. For you, I suggest that you move on to the next step in the most important ranking factors, use ppc and organic SEO to eventually be able to afford to expand your business into the areas you hope to be ranked for, find a suitable location and set up shop; then, start the process all over again.
