The Challenge
Bridgeview Bank is a top-rated community bank with 13 locations in the Chicago area. Simplified Solutions was tasked with improving the search rankings of each location within the geographic service area of each branch. The timeline was 180-days.
The Results
Top-ranking in Google search results for dozens of keyword terms translating in increased awareness and website traffic.
How We Did It
We began the project with Discovery, Keyword Research and Reports to understand the business goals and objectives. Keyword research determined the search terms that are relevant to the business to target efforts to rank highly in local search results. Reports included:
- Local SEO Audit – Technical Areas of the Website
- Current Ranking Report – Initial Ranking of Keywords at the beginning of the project
- Local Listings (Citations) Audit – To find incorrect business listings
- Website Review – Visual review of the website to develop on-page SEO recommendations
Google My Business Listing
Next, we claimed the business’ Google My Business Listing for each location. We built out and optimized their listings after verifying each location.
Creating Local Signals
We created new elements and optimized the assets (including provided business-related images). These send out strong ‘local signals’ to Google every time they crawl your website. We optimized and Geo-tagged images and videos. We developed microdata (schema) code with local signals (very search engine friendly). We created Google Map embed codes for each location along with links to nearby businesses. This helps Google validate the quality of the business based on its’ many relationships with other businesses in the community.
Citation Cleanup and Building
Citations are a very important part of a local search optimization program. The more citations with consistent Name, Address and Phone information the search engines find, the more trustworthy the business looks in the search engine’s view. This part of the project started with cleaning up the citations found in the Citation Audit that was performed at the beginning of the project. Making these corrections along with ongoing monthly citation building helped the business’ relevance and authority with search engines.
Reviews and Reputation Management
Another very important ranking signal with search engines is a steady flow of good reviews posted to review sites. Our strategy is to support the business so they receive good (to excellent) reviews regularly. We monitor reviews and flag any negative reviews that have been posted. A positive response to the negative review helped mitigate damaging or harmful comments; inevitable with a prominent business in a community.
Monthly Reporting and Consultation
We monitored keywords and phrases for ranking and looked for opportunities to rank higher with new or existing keywords. The objective is to rank in the Google Local Pack with as many high value keywords as possible. We worked with the marketing team and webmaster to determine the options to help rank higher for new keywords and then monitored their progress moving forward.