Business have been taking advantage of online local search marketing recently in their pursuit of increasing business. We have some great advice here that will help a local business to keep one step ahead of their market counterparts.
Look at Your Local Directories
Local search optimization, like any solid search engine optimization strategy plan, requires a bit of research. Search your own business online. Knowing where your business appears on directories is crucial, so this is the first step. When searching, don't limit your queries to just your business name though; plug in different variations of your address and phone number as well. Have a separate spreadsheet ready, and detail the information and copy the links so you can keep track.
Third party data providers and local directories inform the search engines. This external data on your business is compiled, processed, and compared to the index kept by the big search engines. It's important, therefore, to ensure the signals from every local directory and data provider are correct and consistent. Search engines also use citations in their determinations of rankings, along with third party information. The NAP (name, address, and phone number) of businesses are what citations refer to, and how often these are mentioned online.
Google Places
Use Google Places to list your business. And remember, completeness matters! Select the categories your business falls into, update contact information and verify it's correct, and describe your company and list the hours of service. The categories are one of the biggest parts; make sure that you include all categories that match your offering. For example, if you're an Italian restaurant, make sure to select both the "Italian restaurant" category as well as the "restaurant" category. Select a tastefully done cover photo, and some other pictures (at least 5) that will let the customer know the great kinds of products and services that you are offering.
Carefully Create some Geo-specific Pages of Content
When there is more than one location, be sure to create location pages showing them all. It may be a good idea to create individual pages on your site for businesses that have numerous locations, specific to each branch. Be certain that you choose the right keywords in order to generate business in the area that you are focused on, use some words that are well known in the area. Landing pages are helpful, that direct customers to the part of your business you are focusing on in the region.
Boost your rankings in your local area by targeting the consumers in your region on your website pages, instead of wasting time advertising to those on the other side of the world. When you focus on local as opposed to global response, you'll see that the number of competing pages plummets dramatically, leaving you with a greater opportunity to punch through to the top position for your targeted keywords and keyword phrases.
Solicit Reviews
A crucial part of business strategy is to get customer reviews, these make a huge difference. Reviews play a huge role in impacting search engine rankings, so you should encourage feedback from anyone you've felt has had a good experience. Let customers know that their satisfaction and feedback are very important to you, and ask them to share their opinions on your website.
Look at Your Local Directories
Local search optimization, like any solid search engine optimization strategy plan, requires a bit of research. Search your own business online. Knowing where your business appears on directories is crucial, so this is the first step. When searching, don't limit your queries to just your business name though; plug in different variations of your address and phone number as well. Have a separate spreadsheet ready, and detail the information and copy the links so you can keep track.
Third party data providers and local directories inform the search engines. This external data on your business is compiled, processed, and compared to the index kept by the big search engines. It's important, therefore, to ensure the signals from every local directory and data provider are correct and consistent. Search engines also use citations in their determinations of rankings, along with third party information. The NAP (name, address, and phone number) of businesses are what citations refer to, and how often these are mentioned online.
Google Places
Use Google Places to list your business. And remember, completeness matters! Select the categories your business falls into, update contact information and verify it's correct, and describe your company and list the hours of service. The categories are one of the biggest parts; make sure that you include all categories that match your offering. For example, if you're an Italian restaurant, make sure to select both the "Italian restaurant" category as well as the "restaurant" category. Select a tastefully done cover photo, and some other pictures (at least 5) that will let the customer know the great kinds of products and services that you are offering.
Carefully Create some Geo-specific Pages of Content
When there is more than one location, be sure to create location pages showing them all. It may be a good idea to create individual pages on your site for businesses that have numerous locations, specific to each branch. Be certain that you choose the right keywords in order to generate business in the area that you are focused on, use some words that are well known in the area. Landing pages are helpful, that direct customers to the part of your business you are focusing on in the region.
Boost your rankings in your local area by targeting the consumers in your region on your website pages, instead of wasting time advertising to those on the other side of the world. When you focus on local as opposed to global response, you'll see that the number of competing pages plummets dramatically, leaving you with a greater opportunity to punch through to the top position for your targeted keywords and keyword phrases.
Solicit Reviews
A crucial part of business strategy is to get customer reviews, these make a huge difference. Reviews play a huge role in impacting search engine rankings, so you should encourage feedback from anyone you've felt has had a good experience. Let customers know that their satisfaction and feedback are very important to you, and ask them to share their opinions on your website.
