News Maximize Demosphere Maximize Demosphere - Dec 2011
Maximize Demosphere - Dec. 2011
The December edition of Maximize Demosphere focused on Local SEO and how to Optimize Your Presence and is featured below. Click to download a copy of the slides in PDF format. The slides are available to view as well with no narration.
During the session, we recapped Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how it can benefit your organization. Earlier this year, we did a Maximize Demosphere session focused exclusively on SEO.
With the basics out of the way, we moved on to Local SEO and how to optimize it for further benefit of youth sports organizations.
In the Local SEO realm, we focus on three key aspects:
- Local Listings: As our main example, we focused on registering a business with Google Places. The key important bits of information to optimize are:
- Address, Website, Mission Statement
- Category: Choosing the correct category is extremely important - review them closely.
- Logo - Definitely upload a logo. Pictures can be accepted as well.
- Address - A street address will be required to register. If your organization doesn't have a street address, consider renting a box from a UPS Store and using that. If you must use someone's home address, the street can be hidden from public view.
After registering with Google Places, we recommend other locations including Bing, Yahoo Local Listings, FourSquare, YellowPages.com, and more. Local News outlets are helpful too - everything from local newspapers to Patch.com. To verify things have been done in various places, check getlisted.org.
- Consistency: Once listed, make sure you are consistent with those listings. Ensure your organization is named the same in each location (abbreviations, etc). The same goes for addresses and phone numbers - to reap the greatest benefit, having this information consistent across multiple sites (and your own site) is of utmost importance.
- Reviews: A final key component of Local SEO is local reviews. With many online sites, users are able to publish reviews of their experiences with that organization. Having multiple positive reviews will be help boost the legitimacy of the business - encourage your users to review you!
By taking advantage of these key areas, your organization can move to the top of the pack in local search results. When looking for new members, appearing at the top of results is of crucial importance - especially when parents are seeking out services you offer.
Feel free to watch the recording of the session and/or download the slides. We hope you can join us for a future session!
