New To Local SEO

Just some simple clear me up things

[J_RaD]

So im stepping in kinda of new to me territory. I've been doing internet stuff for many years but now I wanna focus on local and helping local businesses.

1st off if a local biz does NOT have a website at all...when setting up a domain name.

normally I would go try to find (bestkeyword)something.com to help rankings.

Now with local would you try to get (bestkeyword)(location).com ? to help rank for the keyword + location?

also i need some clarity on hCard, and geo tags in the Meta tags.

[ulijonroth]

From my point of view if you are targeting local searches it is best to have your site listed at Google Places.

And the domain question can be solved as this way.
Use Google Keyword Tool at [adwords.google.com...]

Experiment the search results with your local place name and see which are more searched.

I simply use this way to get a domain name and it simply works.

[J_RaD]

goog keyword tool duh thats a great idea! haha

I do have goog places setup but it seems to get your places page to the top you'd best have lots of reviews/citations/directory listings so its taking some time.

[Hoople]

There are a lot of websites competing in the 'local' arena, many scrape business directories and create free listings. Find them, claim them (register) and enhance them as much as the free listing allows. Also identify their data sources for the business' core attributes (address, phone #, etc) and correct any errors (or omissions) in them.

Some have said here that having the address in exactly the same format increases the likely hood of reviews on other sites being linked to a Google local page. Using the preferred US Postal formatting has been mentioned too. Example: 100 South Main Street vs. 100 S. Main St. (preferred)

[J_RaD]

I've started to notice some of the business directories are chopping down my addresses

I type SOUTH, then when the listing comes live its S

[Hoople]

I've been trying to backtrack my original thought.

USPS - Postal Addressing Standards [pe.usps.com] What I can't find is a solid link between the two.

From Google Places Help for business owners Add and verify a listing [google.com]

* Address (required): The address should look exactly the way you'd write it on a standard mailing envelope.

Gives the inference with Google being a USA company that US Postal Service format should be used?

[J_RaD]

hmm blurry here, you don't always write on the envelope in the postal service format.

[Silvery]

J_RaD, it's pretty normal for each different online directory to have its own abbreviation conventions. The compass directions and street/road are pretty standard, and I feel Google and others identify them and interpret them correctly in most cases. So, "100 S. Main St." and "100 South Main St." are pretty likely to get mapped together properly in most cases.

The issue becomes more blurry when there are multiple possible interpretations of addresses and less-standard abbreviations.

For instance, "100 Northwest Boulevard Way Street" could be shown as "100 NW Blvd. Way St.". Or, worse, when there's actuall a "North Street" in a town along with streets that have "North" appended to the street addresses... These sorts of things increase chances for missassociation in processing of listings.

But, for simple and straightforward abbreviations, there's really not cause to be concerned unless you see Google making errors of some sort.

[J_RaD]

ok just trying to be on the up and up! Thanks!