{"id":1967,"date":"2017-12-16T22:07:28","date_gmt":"2017-12-16T22:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlinemarketingdiy.com\/?p=1967"},"modified":"2022-06-06T18:50:25","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T18:50:25","slug":"5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Common Local SEO\u00a0Marketing Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s important to consult\u00a0Google\u2019s guidelines. It\u2019s absolutely amazing how few owners and marketers have ever encountered them. As <a href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/\">local SEO \u00a0marketing,<\/a> we are volunteer liaisons between Google and businesses. That\u2019s just the way things are. So with that being said, it is important to help your clients understand when they are making a mistake. Here are some tips that will help.<\/p>\n<header class=\"post-header top2 bottom4\">\n<div class=\"grid\">\n<div class=\"col small-full-width medium-three-quarters large-three-quarters xlarge-two-thirds col-centered\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col small-full-width\">\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ac09ef3ada\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ac09ef3ada\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Local_SEO_Strategy_OOPs\" >Local SEO\u00a0Strategy OOP&#8217;s<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#1_Creating_GMB_listings_at_ineligible_addresses\" >1. Creating GMB listings at ineligible addresses<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_youll_hear\" >What you\u2019ll hear:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Why_its_a_problem\" >Why it\u2019s a problem:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_to_do_about_it\" >What to do about it:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#2_Sharing_phone_numbers_between_multiple_entities\" >2. Sharing phone numbers between multiple entities<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_youll_hear-2\" >What you\u2019ll hear:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Why_its_a_problem-2\" >Why it\u2019s a problem:<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Confusing_to_Google\" >Confusing to Google<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Confusing_for_businesses\" >Confusing for businesses<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Confusing_for_the_ecosystem\" >Confusing for the ecosystem<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_to_do_about_it-2\" >What to do about it:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#3_Keyword_stuffing_GMB_listing_names\" >3. Keyword stuffing GMB listing names<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_youll_hear-3\" >What you\u2019ll hear:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Why_its_a_problem-3\" >Why it\u2019s a problem:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_to_do_about_it-3\" >What to do about it:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#4_Creating_a_multi-site_morass\" >4. Creating a multi-site morass<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-18\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_youll_hear-4\" >What you\u2019ll hear:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-19\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Why_its_a_problem-4\" >Why it\u2019s a problem:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-20\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_to_do_about_it-4\" >What to do about it:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-21\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#5_Creating_ill-considered_practitioner_listings\" >5. Creating ill-considered practitioner listings<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-22\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_youll_hear-5\" >What you\u2019ll hear:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-23\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Why_its_a_problem-5\" >Why it\u2019s a problem:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-24\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#What_to_do_about_it-5\" >What to do about it:<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-25\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/#Giving_good_help\" >Giving good help<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"h2 alt\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Local_SEO_Strategy_OOPs\"><\/span>Local SEO\u00a0Strategy OOP&#8217;s<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"row parent\">\n<div class=\"col small-full-width medium-three-quarters large-three-quarters xlarge-two-thirds col-centered\">\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>It\u2019s never fun being the bearer of bad news.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re on the phone with an amazing prospect. Let\u2019s say it\u2019s a growing appliance sales and repair provider with 75 locations in the western US. Your agency would absolutely love to onboard this client, and the contact is telling you, with some pride, that they\u2019re already ranking pretty well for about half of their locations.<\/p>\n<p>With the right strategy, getting them the rest of the way there should be no problem at all.<\/p>\n<p>But then you notice something, and your end of the phone conversation falls a little quiet as you click through from one of their Google My Business listings in Visalia to Streetview and see\u2026 not a commercial building, but a house.\u00a0<em>Uh-oh<\/em>. In answer to your delicately worded question, you find out that 45 of this brand\u2019s listings have been built around the private homes of their repairmen \u2014 an egregious violation of\u00a0Google\u2019s guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hate to tell you this\u2026,\u201d you clear your throat, and then you deliver\u00a0<em>the bad news<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net\/not-actually-the-best-local-seo-practices\/5a2e1e148288f3.37415689.jpg\" alt=\"marketingfoundations1.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you do in-house Local SEO, do it for clients, or even just answer questions in a forum, you\u2019ve surely had the unenviable (yet vital) task of telling someone they\u2019re \u201cdoing it wrong,\u201d frequently after they\u2019ve invested considerable resources in creating a marketing structure that threatens to topple due to a crack in its foundation. Sometimes you can patch the crack, but sometimes, whole edifices of bad marketing have to be demolished before safe and secure new buildings can be erected.<\/p>\n<p>Here are 5 of the commonest foundational marketing mistakes I\u2019ve encountered over the years as a Local SEO consultant and forum participant. If you run into these in your own work, you\u2019ll be doing someone a big favor by delivering \u201cthe bad news\u201d as quickly as possible:<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Creating_GMB_listings_at_ineligible_addresses\"><\/span>1. Creating GMB listings at ineligible addresses<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net\/not-actually-the-best-local-seo-practices\/5a2e1e151c61d6.08246492.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_youll_hear\"><\/span>What you\u2019ll hear:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><em>\u201cWe need to rank for these other towns, because we want customers there. Well, no, we don\u2019t really have offices there. We have P.O. Boxes\/virtual offices\/our employees\u2019 houses.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_its_a_problem\"><\/span>Why it\u2019s a problem:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Google\u2019s guidelines\u00a0state:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure that your page is created at your actual, real-world location<\/li>\n<li>PO Boxes or mailboxes located at remote locations are not acceptable.<\/li>\n<li>Service-area businesses\u2014businesses that serve customers at their locations\u2014should have one page for the central office or location and designate a service area from that point.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All of this adds up to Google saying you shouldn\u2019t create a listing for anything other than a real-world location, but it\u2019s extremely common to see a) spammers simply creating tons of listings for non-existent locations, b) people of good will not knowing the guidelines and doing the same thing, and c) service area businesses (SABs) feeling they have to create fake-location listings because Google won\u2019t rank them for their service cities otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>In all three scenarios, the brand puts itself at risk for detection and listing removal. Google can catch them, competitors and consumers can catch them, and marketers can catch them. Once caught, any effort that was put into ranking and building reputation around a fake-location listing is wasted. Better to have devoted resources to risk-free marketing efforts that will add up to something real.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_do_about_it\"><\/span>What to do about it:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Advise the SAB owner to self-report the problem to Google. I know this sounds risky, but Google My Business forum Top Contributor\u00a0Joy Hawkins\u00a0let me know that\u00a0she\u2019s never seen a case in which Google has punished a business that self-reported accidental spam. The owner will likely need to un-verify the spam listings (see how to do that here) and then Google will likely remove the ineligible listings, leaving only the eligible ones intact.<\/p>\n<p>What about dyed-in-the-wool spammers who know the guidelines and are violating them regardless, turning local pack results into useless junk? Get to the spam listing in Google Maps, click the \u201cSuggest an edit\u201d link, toggle the toggle to \u201cYes,\u201d and choose the radio button for spam. Google may or may not act on your suggestion. If not, and the spam is misleading to consumers, I think it\u2019s always a good idea to report it to the\u00a0Google My Business forum\u00a0in hopes that a volunteer Top Contributor may escalate an egregious case to a Google staffer.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Sharing_phone_numbers_between_multiple_entities\"><\/span>2. Sharing phone numbers between multiple entities<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net\/not-actually-the-best-local-seo-practices\/5a2e1e15a666b7.84304260.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_youll_hear-2\"><\/span>What you\u2019ll hear:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><em>\u201cI run both my dog walking service and my karate classes out of my house, but I don\u2019t want to have to pay for two different phone lines.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>-or-<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cOur restaurant has 3 locations in the city now, but we want all the calls to go through one number for reservation purposes. It\u2019s just easier.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>-or-<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThere are seven doctors at our practice. Front desk handles all calls. We can\u2019t expect the doctors to answer their calls personally.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_its_a_problem-2\"><\/span>Why it\u2019s a problem:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>There are actually multiple issues at hand on this one. First of all, Google\u2019s guidelines state:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible, and provide one website that represents your individual business location.<\/li>\n<li>Use a local phone number instead of a central, call center helpline number whenever possible.<\/li>\n<li>The phone number must be under the direct control of the business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This rules out having the phone number of a single location representing multiple locations.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Confusing_to_Google\"><\/span>Confusing to Google<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Google has also been known in the past to phone businesses for verification purposes. Should a business answer \u201cJim\u2019s Dog Walking\u201d when a Google rep is calling to verify that the phone number is associated with \u201cJim\u2019s Karate Lessons,\u201d we\u2019re in trouble. Shared phone numbers have also been suspected in the past of causing accidental merging of Google listings, though I\u2019ve not seen a case of this in a couple of years.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Confusing_for_businesses\"><\/span>Confusing for businesses<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>As for the multi-practitioner scenario, the reality is that some business models simply don\u2019t allow for practitioners to answer their own phones. Calls for doctors, dentists, attorneys, etc. are traditionally routed through a front desk. This reality calls into question whether forward-facing listings should be built for these individuals at all. We\u2019ll dive deeper into this topic below, in the section on multi-practitioner listings.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Confusing_for_the_ecosystem\"><\/span>Confusing for the ecosystem<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Beyond Google-related concerns, Moz Local\u2019s awesome engineers have taught me some rather amazing things about the problems shared phone numbers can create for citation-building campaigns in the greater ecosystem. Many local business data platforms are highly dependent on unique phone numbers as a signal of entity uniqueness (the \u201cP\u201d in NAP is powerful!). So, for example, if you submit both Jim\u2019s Dog Walking and Jim\u2019s Bookkeeping to Infogroup with the same number, Infogroup may publish both listings,\u00a0<em>but leave the phone number fields blank<\/em>! And without a phone number, a local business listing is pretty worthless.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s because of realities like these that a unique phone number for each entity is a requirement of the Moz Local product, and should be a prerequisite for any citation building campaign.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_do_about_it-2\"><\/span>What to do about it:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Let the business owner know that a unique phone number for each business entity, each business location, and each forward-facing practitioner who wants to be listed is a necessary business expense (and, hey, likely tax deductible, too!). Once the investment has been made in the unique numbers, the work ahead involves editing all existing citations to reflect them. The free tool\u00a0Moz Check Listing\u00a0can help you instantly locate existing citations for the purpose of creating a spreadsheet that details the bad data, allowing you to start correcting it manually. Or, to save time, the business owner may wish to invest in a paid, automated citation correction product like\u00a0Moz Local.<\/p>\n<p>Pro tip: Apart from removing local business listing stumbling blocks, unique phone numbers have an added bonus in that they enable the benefits of associating KPIs like clicks-to-call to a given entity, and existing numbers can be ported into call tracking numbers for even further analysis of traffic and conversions. You just can\u2019t enjoy these benefits if you lump multiple entities together under a single, shared number.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Keyword_stuffing_GMB_listing_names\"><\/span>3. Keyword stuffing GMB listing names<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net\/not-actually-the-best-local-seo-practices\/5a2e1e16362811.10055424.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_youll_hear-3\"><\/span>What you\u2019ll hear:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><em>\u201cI have 5 locations in Dallas. How are my customers supposed to find the right one unless I add the neighborhood name to the business name on the listings?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>-or-<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe want customers to know we do both acupuncture and massage, so we put both in the listing name.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>-or-<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWell, no, the business name doesn\u2019t actually have a city name in it, but my competitors are adding city names to their GMB listings and they\u2019re outranking me!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_its_a_problem-3\"><\/span>Why it\u2019s a problem:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Long story short, it\u2019s a blatant violation of Google\u2019s guidelines to put extraneous keywords in the business name field of a GMB listing. Google states:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your name should reflect your business\u2019 real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers.<\/li>\n<li>Including unnecessary information in your business name is not permitted, and could result in your listing being suspended.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_do_about_it-3\"><\/span>What to do about it:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I consider this a genuine Local SEO toughie. On the one hand, Google\u2019s lack of enforcement of these guidelines, and apparent lack of concern about the whole thing, makes it difficult to adequately alarm business owners about the risk of suspension. I\u2019ve successfully reported keyword stuffing violations to Google and have had them act on my reports within 24 hours\u2026 only to have the spammy names reappear hours or days afterwards. If there\u2019s a suspension of some kind going on here, I don\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n<p>Simultaneously, Google\u2019s local algo apparently continues to be influenced by exact keyword matches. When a business owner sees competitors outranking him via outlawed practices which Google appears to ignore, the Local SEO may feel slightly idiotic urging guideline-compliance from his patch of shaky ground.<\/p>\n<p>But, do it anyway. For two reasons:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>If you\u2019re not teaching business owners about the importance of brand building at this point, you\u2019re not really teaching marketing. Ask the owner, \u201cAre you into building a lasting brand, or are you hoping to get by on tricks?\u201d Smart owners (and their marketers) will see that it\u2019s a more legitimate strategy to build a future based on earning permanent local brand recognition for\u00a0<em>Lincoln &amp; Herndon<\/em>, than for\u00a0<em>Springfield Car Accident Slip and Fall Personal Injury Lawyers Attorneys.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>I find it interesting that, in all of Google\u2019s guidelines, the word \u201csuspended\u201d is used only a few times, and one of these rare instances relates to spamming the business title field. In other words, Google is using the strongest possible language to warn against this practice, and that makes me quite nervous about tying large chunks of reputation and rankings to a tactic against which Google has forewarned. I remember that companies were doing all kinds of risky things on the eve of the\u00a0Panda and Penguin updates\u00a0and they woke up to a changed webscape in which they were no longer winners. Because of this, I advocate alerting any business owner who is risking his livelihood to chancy shortcuts. Better to build things for real, for the long haul.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Fortunately, it only takes a few seconds to sign into a GMB account and remove extraneous keywords from a business name. If it needs to be done at scale for large multi-location enterprises across the major aggregators, Moz Local can get the job done. Will removing spammy keywords from the GMB listing title cause the business to move down in Google\u2019s local rankings? It\u2019s possible that they will, but at least they\u2019ll be able to go forward building real stuff, with the moral authority to report rule-breaking competitors and keep at it until Google acts.<\/p>\n<p>And tell owners not to worry about Google not being able to sort out a downtown location from an uptown one for consumers. Google\u2019s ability to parse user proximity is getting better every day. Mobile-local packs prove this out. If one location is wrongly outranking another, chances are good the business needs to do\u00a0an audit\u00a0to discover weaknesses that are holding the more appropriate listing back. That\u2019s real strategy &#8211; no tricks!<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Creating_a_multi-site_morass\"><\/span>4. Creating a multi-site morass<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net\/not-actually-the-best-local-seo-practices\/5a2e1e16cd5934.12429006.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_youll_hear-4\"><\/span>What you\u2019ll hear:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><em>\u201cSo, to cover all 3 or our locations, we have greengrocerysandiego.com, greengrocerymonterey.com and greengrocerymendocino.com\u2026 but the problem is, the content on the three sites is kind of all the same. What should we do to make the sites different?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>-or-<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cSo, to cover all of our services, we have jimsappliancerepair.com, jimswashingmachinerepair.com, jimsdryerrepair.com, jimshotwaterheaterrepair.com, jimsrefrigeratorrepair.com. We\u2019re about to buy jimsvacuumrepair.com \u2026 but the problem is, there\u2019s not much content on any of these sites. It feels like management is getting out of hand.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_its_a_problem-4\"><\/span>Why it\u2019s a problem:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Definitely a frequent topic in SEO forums, the practice of relying on exact match domains (EMDs) proliferates because of Google\u2019s historic bias in their favor. The ranking influence of EMDs has been the subject of\u00a0a Google updateand has lessened over time. I wouldn\u2019t want to try to rank for competitive terms with creditcards.com or insurance.com these days.<\/p>\n<p>But if you believe EMDs no longer work in the local-organic world, read this post in which a fellow\u2019s surname\/domain name gets mixed up with a distant city name and he ends up\u00a0ranking in the local packs for it! Chances are, you see weak EMDs ranking all the time for your local searches \u2014 more\u2019s the pity. And, no doubt, this ranking boost is the driving force behind local business models continuing to purchase multiple keyword-oriented domains to represent branches of their company or the variety of services they offer. This approach is problematic for 3 chief reasons:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>It\u2019s impractical. The majority of the forum threads I\u2019ve encountered in which small-to-medium local businesses have ended up with two, or five, or ten domains invariably lead to the discovery that the websites are made up of either thin or\u00a0duplicate content. Larger enterprises are often guilty of the same. What seemed like a great idea at first, buying up all those EMDs, turns into an unmanageable morass of web properties that no one has the time to keep updated, to write for, or to market.<\/li>\n<li>Specific to the multi-service business, it\u2019s not a smart move to put single-location NAP on multiple websites. In other words, if your construction firm is located at 123 Main Street in Funky Town, but consumers and Google are finding that same physical address associated with fences.com, bathroomremodeling.com, decks.com, and kitchenremodeling.com, you are sowing confusion in the ecosystem. Which is the authoritative business associated with that address? Some business owners further compound problems by assuming they can then build separate sets of local business listings for each of these different service-oriented domains, violating Google\u2019s guidelines, which state:<em>Do not create more than one page for each location of your business.<\/em><em><br \/>\n<\/em><em><br \/>\n<\/em>The whole thing can become a giant mess, instead of the clean, manageable simplicity of a single brand, tied to a single domain, with a single NAP signal.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol>\n<li>With rare-to-nonexistent exceptions, I consider EMDs to be missed opportunities for brand building. Imagine, if instead of being Whole Foods at WholeFoods.com, the natural foods giant had decided they needed to try to squeeze a ranking boost out of buying 400+ domains to represent the eventual number of locations they now operate. WholeFoodsDallas.com, WholeFoodsMississauga.com, etc? Such an approach would get out of hand very fast.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Even the smallest businesses should take cues from big commerce. Your brand is the magic password you want on every consumer\u2019s lips, associated with every service you offer, in every location you open. As I\u00a0recently suggested to a Moz community member, be proud to domain your flower shop as\u00a0<em>rossirovetti.com<\/em>\u00a0instead of hoping\u00a0<em>FloralDelivery24hoursSanFrancisco.com\u00a0<\/em>will boost your rankings. It\u2019s authentic, easy to remember, looks trustworthy in the SERPs, and is ripe for memorable brand building.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_do_about_it-4\"><\/span>What to do about it:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>While I can\u2019t speak to the minutiae of every single scenario, I\u2019ve yet to be part of a discussion about multi-sites in the Local SEO community in which I didn\u2019t advise consolidation. Basically, the business should choose a single, proud domain and, in most cases, 301 redirect the old sites to the main one, then work to get as many external links that pointed to the multi-sites to point to the chosen main site.\u00a0This oldie but goodie from the Moz blog\u00a0provides a further technical checklist from a company that saw a 40% increase in traffic after consolidating domains. I\u2019d recommend that any business that is nervous about handling the tech aspects of consolidation in-house should hire a qualified SEO to help them through the process.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Creating_ill-considered_practitioner_listings\"><\/span>5. Creating ill-considered practitioner listings<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/d2v4zi8pl64nxt.cloudfront.net\/not-actually-the-best-local-seo-practices\/5a2e1e1769b7b1.50050410.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_youll_hear-5\"><\/span>What you\u2019ll hear:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><em>\u201cWe have 5 dentists at the practice, but one moved\/retired last month and we don\u2019t know what to do with the GMB listing for him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>-or-<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDr. Green is outranking the practice in the local results for some reason, and it\u2019s really annoying.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_its_a_problem-5\"><\/span>Why it\u2019s a problem:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I\u2019ve saved the most complex for last! Multi-practitioner listings can be a blessing, but they\u2019re so often a bane that my position on creating them has evolved to a point where I only recommend building them in specific cases.<\/p>\n<p>When Google first enabled practitioner listings (listings that represent each doctor, lawyer, dentist, or agent within a business) I saw them as a golden opportunity for a given practice to dominate local search results with its presence. However, Google\u2019s subsequent unwillingness to simply remove practitioner duplicates, coupled with the rollout of the\u00a0Possum update\u00a0which filters out shared category\/similar location listings, coupled with the number of instances I\u2019ve seen in which practitioner listings end up outranking brand listings, has caused me to change my opinion of their benefits. I should also add that the business title field on practitioner listings is a hotbed of Google guideline violations \u2014 few business owners have ever read Google\u2019s nitty gritty rules about how to name these types of listings.<\/p>\n<p>In a nutshell, practitioner listings gone awry can result in a bunch of wrongly-named listings often clouded by duplicates that Google won\u2019t remove, all competing for the same keywords. Not good!<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_do_about_it-5\"><\/span>What to do about it:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019ll have multiple scenarios to address when offering advice about this topic.<\/p>\n<p>1.) If the business is brand new, and there is no record of it on the Internet as of yet, then I would only recommend creating practitioner listings if it is necessary to point out an area of specialization. So, for example if a medical practice has 5 MDs, the listing for the practice covers that, with no added listings needed. But, if a medical practice has 5 MDs and an Otolaryngologist, it may be good marketing to give the specialist his own listing,\u00a0<em>because it has its own GMB category<\/em>\u00a0and won\u2019t be competing with the practice for rankings. *However, read on to understand the challenges being undertaken any time a multi-practitioner listing is created.<\/p>\n<p>2.) If the multi-practitioner business is not new, chances are very good that there are listings out there for present, past, and even deceased practitioners.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If a partner is current, be sure you point his listing at a landing page on the practice\u2019s website, instead of at the homepage, see if you can differentiate categories, and do your utmost to optimize the practice\u2019s own listing \u2014 the point here is to prevent practitioners from outranking the practice. What do I mean by optimization? Be sure the practice\u2019s GMB listing is fully filled out, you\u2019ve got amazing photos, you\u2019re actively earning and responding to reviews, you\u2019re publishing a Google Post at least once a week, and your citations across the web are consistent. These things should all strengthen the listing for the practice.<\/li>\n<li>If a partner is no longer with the practice, it\u2019s ideal to unverify the listing and ask Google to market it as moved to the practice \u2014 not to the practitioner\u2019s new location. Sound goofy?\u00a0Read Joy Hawkins\u2019 smart explanation of this convoluted issue.<\/li>\n<li>If, sadly, a practitioner has passed away, contact Google to show them an obituary so that the listing can be removed.<\/li>\n<li>If a listing represents what is actually a solo practitioner (instead of a partner in a multi-practitioner business model) and his GMB listing is now competing with the listing for his business, you can ask Google to merge the two listings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>3.) If a business wants to create practitioner listings, and they feel up to the task of handling any ranking or situational management concerns, there is one final proviso I\u2019d add. Google\u2019s guidelines state that practitioners should be \u201cdirectly contactable at the verified location during stated hours\u201d in order to qualify for a GMB listing. I\u2019ve always found this requirement rather vague. Contactable by phone? Contactable in person? Google doesn\u2019t specify. Presumably, a real estate agent in a multi-practitioner agency might be directly contactable, but as my graphic above illustrates, we wouldn\u2019t really expect the same public availability of a surgeon, right? Point being, it may only make marketing sense to create a practitioner listing for someone who needs to be directly available to the consumer public for the business to function. I consider this a genuine grey area in the guidelines, so think it through carefully before acting.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Giving_good_help\"><\/span>Giving good help<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s genuinely an honor to advise owners and marketers who are strategizing for the success of local businesses. In our own small way, local SEO consultants live in the neighborhood Mister Rogers envisioned in which you could\u00a0look for the helpers\u00a0when confronted with trouble. Given the livelihoods dependent on local commerce, rescuing a company from a foundational marketing mistake is satisfying work for people who like to be \u201chelpers,\u201d and it carries a weight of responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve worked in 3 different SEO forums over the past 10+ years, and I\u2019d like to close with some things I\u2019ve learned about helping:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Learn to ask the right questions. Small nuances in business models and scenarios can necessitate completely different advice. Don\u2019t be scared to come back with second and third rounds of follow-up queries if someone hasn\u2019t provided sufficient detail for you to advise them well. Read all details thoroughly before replying.<\/li>\n<li>Always, always consult\u00a0Google\u2019s guidelines, and link to them in your answers. It\u2019s absolutely amazing how few owners and marketers have ever encountered them. Local SEOs are volunteer liaisons between Google and businesses. That\u2019s just the way things have worked out.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t say you\u2019re sure unless you\u2019re really sure. If a forum or client question necessitates a full audit to surface a useful answer, say so. Giving pat answers to complicated queries helps no one, and can actually hurt businesses by leaving them in limbo, losing money, for an even longer time.<\/li>\n<li>Network with colleagues when weird things come up. Ranking drops can be attributed to new Google updates, or bugs, or other factors you haven\u2019t yet noticed but that a trusted peer may have encountered.<\/li>\n<li>Practice humility. 90% of what I know about Local SEO, I\u2019ve learned from people coming to me with problems for which, at some point, I had to discover answers. Over time, the work put in builds up our store of ready knowledge, but we will never know it all, and that\u2019s humbling in a very good way. Community members and clients are our\u00a0<em>teachers<\/em>. Let\u2019s be grateful for them, and treat them with respect.<\/li>\n<li>Finally, don\u2019t stress about delivering \u201cthe bad news\u201d when you see someone who is asking for help making a marketing mistake. In the long run, your honesty will be the best gift you could possibly have given.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Happy helping!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m28!1m12!1m3!1d48000.54885470761!2d-96.07852334923622!3d41.24281068417707!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!4m13!3e6!4m5!1s0x8793f29582007b19%3A0xc0f9b048bbc342ae!2sEmergency%20Dental%20Omaha%2C%20West%20Dodge%20Road%2C%20Omaha%2C%20NE%2C%20USA!3m2!1d41.2627708!2d-96.0894634!4m5!1s0x87938c3d0c92fcb1%3A0x98cf112f2e9fe028!2s5223%20Grover%20St%2C%20Omaha%2C%20NE%2068106!3m2!1d41.2266913!2d-95.99608579999999!5e0!3m2!1sen!2s!4v1653678054692!5m2!1sen!2s\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s important to consult\u00a0Google\u2019s guidelines. It\u2019s absolutely amazing how few owners and marketers have ever encountered them. As local SEO&#8217;s, we are volunteer liaisons between Google and businesses. That\u2019s just the way things are. So with that being said, it is important to help your clients understand when they are making a mistake. Here are some tips that will help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[742],"tags":[36,746,63],"class_list":["post-1967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-seo","tag-local-seo","tag-omaha-seo","tag-seo-audit","cat-742-id"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>5 Common Local SEO\u00a0Marketing Mistakes - Omaha SEO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Local SEO is the way of making your website visible on search engine. It helps to improve your website online visibility, increase organic traffic to your website, and get your business more qualified leads.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Common Local SEO\u00a0Marketing Mistakes - Omaha SEO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Local SEO is the way of making your website visible on search engine. It helps to improve your website online visibility, increase organic traffic to your website, and get your business more qualified leads.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/5-common-local-seo-marketing-mistakes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Omaha SEO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/4socialmedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-16T22:07:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-06T18:50:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/omaha-seo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Depositphotos_101171160_XL-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Phil Belleville\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MySocialMediaCo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MySocialMediaCo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Phil Belleville\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"19 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Common Local SEO\u00a0Marketing Mistakes - Omaha SEO","description":"Local SEO is the way of making your website visible on search engine. 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