People are searching to find your local business on Google.

DON’T try to get your business’s WEBSITE on page one… when it’s so EASY to get your OFFER on page one.

At least… they’re searching to solve a problem…  and hoping to find the solution locally.

So if you’re following these 3 keys… your local business is likely to be on Page ONE, right at the moment your customers need you!

3 Keys I Used to Get My Local Business on Google

Most folks think that what makes sense to get their local business on Google, page one… is to have a kick-ass website.

Believe it or not, before I ever even built a website… my BUSINESS got tens of thousands of bottom-line dollar profits.

From “real live customers” that found me on Google.

Now, years later, I do have websites for my local businesses, and yes… they are on page one of Google when my customers search.

But what I just said deserves a second glance:

BEFORE I ever built a website, my local businesses were already getting tens of thousands of dollars… paid to me by customers that found me on Google.
-Kurt Frankenberg, Founder of Shoestring101 + Hack Local Search

If you’re a local business owner… that is, you own a biz that serves a specific geographical location:

• Brick and Mortar business (e.g., bakery, gym, restaurant)
• Service Business (plumber, wedding photographer, HVAC, carpet cleaner)
• Local Professional (attorney, real estate agent, chiropractor, dentist)

… then THIS guide is for YOU.

The “Hack Local Search” strategy has been tweaked and improved since I first wrote about it four years in a landmark post,

7 Ways to Hack Local Search SEO for a FREE Front Page Listing

I give only seven hacks ^ in that post, but it’s good reading if you want your local business on Google.

In my Hack Local Search Course on Teachable,
I give you “STACKS of HACKS“,  😉 …not just seven. 😉

–but all based on just three major keys that you’ll learn in this free guide.

So if you want to get your local business on Google, Page ONE… read on!

Get Your Local Business on Google, Key #1: “Hitchhike”

You don’t just have to compete with other local businesses for page one of Google.

Type in Google’s search bar for your local business’s keywords and you ALSO have to contend with:

• “Offer” sites, like Living Social (formerly Groupon), Rubber Dollar, Woot
• “Review” sites. Think Yelp, Angie’s List, FourSquare
• “Classified” sites, f’rinstance Craigslist, Oodle, Hoobly
• “Directories”… SO numerous: YP. Manta, SuperPages, Yext, WhitePages, Kudzu, CitySearch
• “Lead Generation” sites abound for service bizzes: Fixr, Thumbtack. ProReferral, TaskRabbit

And of course, we CAN’T forget the sosh media sites…
Ever hear of Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram? 😉

Your local business is competing not only with your actual, local “competition”… it’s also competing with the above sites for that precious real estate of ten unpaid listings.

THESE ^ entities have more personnel…

…more finances…

…more time…

….more cutting-edge knowledge about getting and staying on the first page of Google…

…than you OR your local competition.

But they all have one li’l bitty thing in common:

THEY ALL DEPEND ON USER GENERATED CONTENT.

So Key #1 to getting your local business on Google is to be that user that’s contributing the content.

In other words, if you can’t beat ’em, JOIN ’em!

Key #1 to get your local business on Google: contribute content to sites that already show up for your keyword.

Get your name, address, phone, URL (if you even have one) and especially your OFFER… onto those sites.

Many of these third-party sites have places where YOU can tailor the metadescription… the part that shows under the search engine results.

It’s usually a simple matter to get your Unique Selling Proposition and/or your Call to Action in the metadescription… so your prospective customers see it and call.

SO the first Key to getting your local business on Google is to “hitchhike”. But that’s nothing compared to the second shortcut:

Get Your Local Business on Google, Key #2: “Name It.”

Keyword research is a huge consideration to get your local business on Google –at exactly the peak moment of the customer’s interest.

But “keyword stuffing” is SOOOooo 2009.

I’m referrring to the obsolete practice of putting every variation under the sun of a particular set of keywords into a webpage, hoping that Google will reward you relevance points. Nuh-uh, not so much.

Most folks, including people whose business it is to do SEO (Search Engine Optimization) forget this important principle:

YOUR KEYWORD IS A NAME.

Think about this: you “tag“, or label things that you want to find again.

This works in the real world as well as in the digital world; everything you can find is filed under a name.

So we’re going to name a lot of things out there in cyberland, and make ’em digital ambassadors for your local biz.

To make your local business searchable, use your geographically-specific keywords as names. Then you’ll find yourself on Page One.

First, gather a list of “buying signal” long-tail keywords.

My best advice is to use a survey to find out what your actual, PAYing customers would put into Google if they were looking for the solution to a problem, that YOUR business would solve.

Hack Local Search Student Staci got her Call to Action on the search engine result page. Click to embiggen.

Next, go to a simple free keyword research tool and expand your horizons a bit. My favorite is Neil Patel’s tool, Ubersuggest.

Finally, use the results from our findings and add your local community thusly:

[your keywords] + [the geographical area you serve] = [your “naming” keywords]!

Visit the Get Your Local Business on Google Page ONE Facebook Group to get a free tool that will do this for all of your keywords and communities you serve.

After you discover your keywords, you’ll want to use them to identify what you want others customers to find. Including:

• Your images. Instead of “IMG_000923.jpg”, rename a pic “Seamless_Gutter_Installation_ElDorado_Arkansas.jpg”, post in your blog
• Your blog posts. “Car Accident Chiropractor in Lafayette Alabama”
• Your YouTube videos. “Karate for Kids in Monument, CO: Breaking Bricks”
• Your offers on classifieds. “Boise ID Carpet Cleaning Specials “
• Your offers in review sites: “Free Crossfit Class for Portland OR Residents”
• Your Social Media properties. This is my very favorite shortcut to page one of Google: NAME your page a keyword!
• Name your Domain Name if do you get a website. Kinda self-explanatory.

This key ^ in a nutshell: to make your local business searchable, use your geographically-specific keywords as names.

Get Your Local Business on Google, Key #3: “Deep and Wide!”

There’s more than just one fountain flowing deep and wide 😉

It’s next to incomprehensible to know what Google is awarding “relevance” at any given moment.

It’s IMPOSSIBLE to know what Big G is going to label as relevant tomorrow!

Algorithms and policies change all the time.

With content marketing, I think of terms of both width and depth to have a better chance of staying on Page One.

“Width” refers to how many places your digital signature resides.

On the other hand, “Depth” refers to  how much rich content you post.

You can’t ignore width; it’s the cyber-equivalent of “social proof”. How MANY places you get “citations” to support your claim to be a real-deal business.

But the problem with Width is that someone can always top you with one Fiverr gig. “50 local citations”, “100 local citations”, “300 local citations” are actual gigs, and they WORK… kinda.

These citations are mostly limited to local directories, some visible and some obscure… but it’s mostly just your NAP featured: Name, Address, Phone.

Where can you put an infinite amount of Depth? On your own website or course!

You can put page after page,
content piece after content piece on your own site.

But here’s a problem.

WHEN, not IF… “Big G” changes the algo… your site just might be toast.

Ever hear the saying, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”?

Your own website is that basket.

Whatever is being rewarded right now may be obsolete tomorrow.

And ya can’t control that.

What you CAN do is take the content that you’ve spent your time, energy… blood, sweat, ‘n’ tears developing… (DEPTH)

…and make it live all over the place (WIDTH).

Go to the:

• Offer sites
• Lead Generation sites
• Classified ad sites

…and post your NAP, your offer and whatever images they let you do. Then populate your:

• Review site profiles
• Social media properties
• Google My Business images and posts

…with the content that you were putting in your own site.

I’m talking your About page, your sales pages, your products and services info.

Deep AND Wide: Rather than just putting everything into your website, consider repurposing the content and put it wherever it can live.

I call this the spaghetti on the wall approach; throw a bunch on the wall and see what sticks.

IN the case of one of my local business ventures… a come-to-you window screen repair service… I found that Fixr.com allowed me to post all kinds of content. That profile alone gets a first page listing on Google for my keywords… and I don’t have to pay a dime to host it!

Hey, shortcut: Google your geographical keywords and See what kinds of content and what kinds of digital platforms are getting rewarded, right now. Then make sure you have your own profile there, and go deeper with more content on those platforms.

Next Steps to Get Your Local Business on Google Page One

When customers in YOUR area search Google to find solutions… if they find your competitors instead of you that’s a PROBLEM.

Make Google YOUR friend. Put your local business on Google page one

An even BIGGER PROBLEM is having to “pay-to-play”;  PPC (Pay Per Click) or an expensive SEO to optimize your website.

But what if you could get your offer in front of qualified customers, just at the time they’re searching for an answer to their problem?

Then you could automate your sales process and have a constant stream of quality leads and new customers, but WITHOUT a big budget.

Three ideas to get your local business on Google within 30 days:

• “Done for you” service. Area and industry prices vary; call for a free consult! 719-505-3398
• The “Hack Local Search Course” for do-it-your-selfers. Enrollment will re-open soon
• Join the Get Your Local Business on Google Page ONE group on FB for tips, tricks, case studies!

This post and PDF will give you the basics to get your local business FOUND on Google, for free leads and sales.

Many of my Students are kicking local search ASS with these principles, and the quick and easy-to-do hacks we talk about every Monday and Wednesday.

Seems every day we have a new case study or breakthrough that translates to an increase in real, actual paying customers. Let me invite you to see!

To come and hang with the cool kids, join the group!

Happy Hacking,

Kurt