Local SEO Research Sucks but I’m going to make it easier with these tips
Note: Not an actual forehead tattoo, but admit it.. I almost got you. Also, don’t be jealous of that beautiful mustache.
I think one of the biggest breakthroughs I’ve had with online marketing is not trying to reinvent the wheel. It saves so much time and energy by just spying on the competition to see what they are doing. Do your research so you’re not just going in blind.
1) Look at the Adwords for the niche in competitive cities
- This will give you an idea of what offers to use and what ad copy is working
- It will give you good ideas to use for meta descriptions (for better click through)
- Many are using a free consultation as an offer
- Some of the ads use amount of $$ won
- Many are using no fee if the case isn’t won
2) Check out the landing pages as well
Look at what the people are doing that are spending money in Adwords. It has to be pretty decent or they will lose their ass on the ROI. You don’t have to use what you find, it just gives you more ideas.
- Click to call button
- BBB social proof
- Opt-in for a free case evaluation
- No fee if case isn’t won
3) Use the multiply keyword lists feature in the Keyword Planner + this list of 200 cities
This is a list of the 200 biggest cities in the US by population. This will give you a good idea of what cities are worth pursuing. The multiply lists feature will combine all city names with the keywords you enter.
New York City
Los Angeles
Chicago
Houston
Philadelphia
Phoenix
San Antonio
San Diego
Dallas
San Jose
Austin
Jacksonville
Indianapolis
San Francisco
Columbus
Fort Worth
Charlotte
Detroit
El Paso
Memphis
Boston
Seattle
Denver
Washington
Nashville
Baltimore
Louisville
Portland
Oklahoma
Milwaukee
Las Vegas
Albuquerque
Tucson
Fresno
Sacramento
Long Beach
Kansas
Mesa
Virginia Beach
Atlanta
Colorado Springs
Raleigh
Omaha
Miami
Oakland
Tulsa
Minneapolis
Cleveland
Wichita
Arlington
New Orleans
Bakersfield
Tampa
Honolulu
Anaheim
Aurora
Santa Ana
St. Louis
Riverside
Corpus Christi
Pittsburgh
Lexington
Anchorage
Stockton
Cincinnati
St. Paul
Toledo
Newark
Greensboro
Plano
Henderson
Lincoln
Buffalo
Fort Wayne
Jersey
Chula Vista
Orlando
St. Petersburg
Norfolk
Chandler
Laredo
Madison
Durham
Lubbock
Winston
Garland
Glendale
Hialeah
Reno
Baton Rouge
Irvine
Chesapeake
Irving
Scottsdale
North Las Vegas
Fremont
Gilbert Town
San Bernardino
Boise
Birmingham
Rochester
Richmond
Spokane
Des Moines
Montgomery
Modesto
Fayetteville
Tacoma
Shreveport
Fontana
Oxnard
Aurora
Moreno Valley
Akron
Yonkers
Columbus
Augusta
Little Rock
Amarillo
Mobile
Huntington Beach
Glendale
Grand Rapids
Salt Lake City
Tallahassee
Huntsville
Worcester
Knoxville
Grand Prairie
Newport News
Brownsville
Santa Clarita
Overland Park
Providence
Jackson
Garden Grove
Oceanside
Chattanooga
Fort Lauderdale
Rancho Cucamonga
Santa Rosa
Port St. Lucie
Ontario
Tempe
Vancouver
Springfield
Cape Coral
Pembroke Pines
Sioux Falls
Peoria
Lancaster
Elk Grove
Corona
Eugene
Salem
Palmdale
Salinas
Springfield
Pasadena
Rockford
Pomona
Hayward
Fort Collins
Joliet
Escondido
Kansas
Torrance
Bridgeport
Alexandria
Sunnyvale
Cary town
Lakewood
Hollywood
Paterson
Syracuse
Naperville
McKinney
Mesquite
Clarksville
Savannah
Dayton
Orange
Fullerton
Pasadena
Hampton
McAllen
Killeen
Warren
West Valley
Columbia
New Haven
Sterling Heights
Olathe
Miramar
Thousand Oaks
Frisco
Cedar Rapids
Topeka
Visalia
Waco
4) Look at niche forums where business owners hangout for some great insights
Look in the marketing section of these forums. The bottom screenshot shows a plumber talking about how much he is willing to pay per lead. Knowing this kind of info gives you a lot more leverage when trying to sell local SEO services.
5) Use Spy-Fu on the top spots for the organic listings
It will give you some of the keywords that they are ranking for. If you run enough of the sites through, it’ll give you a great list. Just combine the lists, remove the duplicates (this tool is sweet), and take out the unrelated keywords. You will end up with a bad ass list, I guarantee it.
Kapil says:
Awesome stuff Matt!!! You’re a rockstar!!! I was planning to start a local niche and this information is just perfect for me. Thanks a lot :)
Matt Stack says:
Happy to help dude :)
JP says:
Thanks Matt, very helpful. Your calves are amazing.
Matt Stack says:
“With great calves comes great responsibility.” – The Spiderman movie
Ted says:
Matt, great tips here. Just wondering, do you build sites and then try to do lead gen with them, or do you contact business owners and pitch your services?
Nice article, thank you very much!
Matt Stack says:
Almost all lead gen right now. I do have some additional income coming in from upsells on existing lead gen site clients though.
Andrew Sawyer says:
Matt, you are a beautiful, beautiful man. You get all my tacos.
Matt Stack says:
Haha, Andrew you are a gentleman and a scholar.
Umer Aslam says:
Those were really great tips for Local SEO. Thanks Matt
Matt Stack says:
Thanks dude, I’ll be posting more local SEO stuff so be on the lookout for it.
Manyu says:
Great stuff man. I had never looked at it this way
Matt Stack says:
I’m glad you enjoyed it :)
Mr. F says:
This is awesome Matt, thank you for sharing your process! Take all of the tacos.
Matt Stack says:
I humbly accept all your tacos :)
James Brooks says:
Great post, Matt.
Thanks very much!
Matt Stack says:
Thanks James :)
Marc says:
Great list, Matt. can you explain #5 a bit more? Maybe I’m reading it wrong but not quite sure I understand what you’re saying there.
Matt Stack says:
You can look up what keywords a site is ranking for in Spyfu.com – Look up the top keyword for the city you want to rank in. Plug the URLs of the top results into Spyfu and grab their keyword lists. Take out the keywords that are irrelevant.
Jarrett Holmes says:
Great gold nuggets here. Can’t wait to start this with my own clients and campaigns. Thanks for sharing!