Local SEO Case Study – Does Ranking on Google Really Work?

I just got off the phone with someone trying to sell me a local SEO #1 ranking on Google. First The recording says “press 1 for your free Google 411 listing” . It sounded believable, then they started in on me.

They make Local SEO sound soooo… easy and “you sure are being put out out of business by your competition”. That may sound familiar. You may have received similar calls.

The reality is that search engine optimization is a lot of hard work, requiring tremendous knowledge, technology, a systemized team  and many moving parts.

Local SEO Does Work and Here’s How

1. Keyword Research – Local SEO Starts with the relevant keywords to a business and the targeted local area that will deliver the results you need. It could be 1 town , 20 towns, an entire state or multiple states. It all depends on the niche business.
2. On Page Optimization – Keywords need to be used in the page title, sub titles, throughout page 2-4 times per 100 words, no more, no less. Photos get tagged with keywords. Then Title Tags and Meta Descriptions need to be filled out properly. There are many other items like proper links to other pages and links from within a site.
3. Off Page Optimization – Once a web site is built properly and pages created, the next step of Local SEO is link building. Link building is a long term continual process of writing articles that relate to the pages of your web site with links to your web pages from these articles that are now on high ranked article directories.. These articles are submitted to article directories, blogs and many other sources. The goal is to get links from other sites. Links from other sites to yours is one way Google values your site.
4. Google Places – This is a very important part of Local SEO. At first it looks easy. Just set up a free account and get ranked. Wrong! 99.99% are set up incorrectly and it’s very difficult to undo the wrong. Don’t get fooled by the scammers .

Local SEO Done Right and The Results

Here are screen shots of actual Google Local SEO rankings for Smith and Company Painting in Oregon. How much business do they get? They had a web site for seven years before we built their site. During those 7 years they never received a lead off their website. Their web developer didn’t know how Local SEO woked.

We built a new website implementing a Local SEO strategy that started to produce sales within 3 months. The first 12 months they got 53 leads that turned into 25 sales. Each sale averaged about $3,000.00 which is a typical price to repaint a small house.

In the first 4 months of 2012 we stepped up our Local SEO plan with more web pages, articles, videos and photos all linked from other sites. The efforts worked producing  47 leads. They are on pace for at least 150 leads for the year. That’s triple for the second year of the site. A projection for net, pre tax income  is $50,000 – $75,000 for approximately $7,000.00 of marketing cost. That’s a better return on investment than Warren Buffet makes on his investments by about 10 times.

If you are running your business right, then each sale should perpetuate word of mouth sales increasing the Return on Investment. If you’ve ever tried advertising in newspapers, magazines, radio, or local TV you know that they don’t work. They never worked for me. Local SEO done right works!

Local SEO Keyword Phrase – Epoxy Contractors in Oregon

You can search this highly competitive keyword phrase in Google yourself or take my word for it, our Client ranks #1 and #4. Our clients now has 2 web sites.

1. www.smithandcompanypaiting.com
2. www.portlandgaragefloor.com

Proof Of Rank

Proof Of Rank #2 – Epoxy Contractors in Portland

Proof of Rank #3 – Epoxy Contractors in Wilsonville

This one, the rank includes Google Places positions.

 

Feel free to search these positions or any other town from McMinnville to Portland Oregon. You will find these two sites rank at the top in every town. And yes, Local SEO produces sales. It’s the best investment you can ever make for your business.