First Attempt at Local SEO

[philipbuuck]

Hi everyone, I've only been a member for a few days but this community is extremely supportive of one another, and I appreciate that very much.  Here's my current project.

I've done IM for awhile but now I'm helping a massage therapist with his personal brand here in Chicago.  I've used the tools here to identify a few of the bigger sites and ten local keywords that he'd like to rank for - things like chicago massage, cheap massage therapy, and chicago reiki, his favorite.

I'm currently getting him set up with Google Places properly so he shows up there.  We have a Facebook and Twitter underway.  We have a blog he can use if he wants - though I'm not sure how insistent he's going to stay.  I'm planning a separate page targeting each of the keywords we're after.

His competitors each have a couple local blogs talking about them, so I'm going to contact some local bloggers and offer them free massages in return for a review.  He also is getting registered in some of the local business directories - mostly the ones I see the other sites already in.

Finally, I was going to use some Build My Rank sites to bulk up his backlinks - maybe focus 10 on each keyword, with 5 going to the main keyword and 5 going to long tails.

How does this sound for a simple, first SEO project?  I'd love to hear some feedback, even if it's just "sounds great".  I've never put one together for a client, and I'm thrilled/nervous.

Thanks!

Philip

[KeriMorgret]

Everything sounds good, save for the Build My Rank portion. On their How It Works section of their site (http://www.buildmyrank.com/how-it-works) it says "We publish your article randomly on 1 of our high page rank, aged domains. You control how many articles are published daily for each of your domains." They only require 150 words for articles, so it seems you're looking at a ten sites with collections of random short articles.

[MarieHaynes]

I wish I lived in Chicago.  I would gladly post a review with a link in exchange for a free massage!  This is a great idea!

[Sebes]

Don't overdo on keywords in anchor tags...use broad match and a lot of branded:

DO: If you need soothing massage in Chicago, check out XYZ at www.XYZ.com
DONT: If you need soothing massage in Chicago, check out XYZ at www.XYZ.com.

[stefanok]

Great share by the way to both Mik and Dan.

[stefanok]

Great 1st time strategy. The main thing that you have shown is that you are planning ahead and pro-active about SEO. I like the ideas on getting bloggers to talk about you with a free massage swop - great idea.

Dont forget some basic social media presence like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare

[Mikpam]

Great advice from Dan. I just wanted to add that we use getlisted.org to make sure the basics are covered . A really good tip is to use the GPS companies to make sure your business is listed correctly( Navteq:  Teleatlas) . Also can't hurt to have your who.is info match your exact NAP (Name,Address,Phone) which has to be the same across all citations.

Also a tip for on-page optimization is the use of hcards you can see the documentation here Schema.org the major engines agreed to support this  initiative. For non coders this markup can be produced here.

I'm rooting for your success. Hope this helps .

[evolvingSEO]

Hi

If you have not checked out these few resources, highly recommended for local;

Local Search Ranking Factors

Local SEO Guide

Advanced Local SEO Tricks

Your plan sounds pretty good, although I am not familiar with "Build My Rank".

The one thing I am curious about is, how is his website?  Is it technically sound (crawlable, indexable)?  Does the navigation/architecture (albeit small) make sense?  Is it optimized for on page keywords?  Does it have a great design, and is it full of useful information that's easily digestible?

That's just my general sense, that you have a good focus on off-site seo, but just don't forget about on-site, especially when it comes to users arriving at the page and taking that action; calling, emailing, sharing or whatever it may be.

Hope that helps! Its exciting, and good luck!

-Dan