Local SEO, hard time ranking a keyword

[Davidmez]

Hello.

Im working with beauty salon client, i do rank them for top services, but there a term that i can't rank for, my page it optimized for this keywords (url,h1,h2)

i  have this keyword in Google places, as a category, and in description.

i have build many citations with this term, BUT still cant rank it.

If anyone can help me on that, ill be really appreciated, as i'm still learning this.

Thanks You!

[mememax]

Hi David, local business is an hard niche since there are many places added and it's always difficult to exactly know how google ranks those results. However you're already ranking for general terms, this means you made a good job by now.

Try to optimize your website to enhance your local business page too (steps explained in details here).

After having do that I strongly recommend Rand's tactic on how to enhance rankings for one specific place. It seems really simple and logical but many sites misses this process.

I hope those two articles may help you getting to the top!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi David,

Without actually seeing the website and listing of a client in a situation like this, it's not possible to give targeted advice. So, we must speak generally:

1. Have you done competitive analysis. If not, try: http://www.51blocks.com/online-marketing-tools/free-local-analysis/ That may show you why competitors are outranking your client for this specific term.

2. Mentioning a keyword in the midst of many other keywords on a homepage is typically not going to be enough to get them to rank for it. As you say, you've gotten this client ranked well for their core terms, so I'm assuming this is a secondary, side term. How much content have you developed for the terms and what does the link profile look like?

3. You must always consider penalties in local when you fail to rank for something you think you should. Have you accidentally violated any of Google's policies? See: http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=107528

These are a few ideas to start with. Hope this helps!

[Davidmez]

Hi,

Thanks for the great content, I'm utilizing all of these strategies described in article.

The problem that i'm facing with is duplicate listings, not for many local directories, but for a few , so i don't know if thats an issue with my rankings.

Thank You

[MiriamEllis]

Hi David,

If you've got duplicate listing issues going on, then yes, that can definitely affect your rankings. Duplicates in Google+ Local can totally sap your ranking power. In other indexes the main concern with duplicates is that if their data varies in any way, they can decrease Google's trust in the validity and accuracy of your data. So, if you've determined you've got a duplicate problem going on, then that is a very likely contributor to ranking issues.