Local SEO techniques are often overlooked by small businesses. Don’t make that mistake. Local search terms can be an extremely lucrative source of search engine traffic and provide a steady source of new customers for your business. Here are a few tips to jump start your local SEO strategy.
1. Your Local SEO Strategy Should Include the Creation of a Local Business Listing With the Major Search Engines
Have you ever noticed those local business listings in the search results that show the business name, address, map location, and hours of operation? Ever wonder how they got there?
They had to be manually created for each business. But don’t worry, it’s easy to do. All you have to do is go to the appropriate page for each of the major search engines and fill out a simple form. Since Google will probably generate the bulk of your traffic, you should start with them. Follow that up with Bing and Yahoo search and you’ll be all set.
Bonus Tip: Make sure that you properly categorize your business in your listing. The keywords that you use most commonly on your website should complement your chosen categories. For example, a dentist wouldn’t choose “Flower Shop” for their business category – not only would such a poor choice confuse potential clients, but it could harm the placement of the dental practice in the listing results.
2. Optimize Your Chances of Being Found by Local Searchers by Creating Content Specifically for Your Location and Target Market
Creating content that is specifically written for your target location will help your business to rank higher for local search terms.
For example, say you run a flower shop in Orlando. To help potential customers find your business in Google, it would be a good idea to ensure that the content on your website specifically mentions Orlando.
But you should go one step further. The search engines will notice if your content is superficial because visitors to your website won’t stick around for long (and this can lead to a negative effect on your search engine rankings). You need to keep visitors glued to your website long enough to impress the search engines and long enough to show visitors that the products or services that you provide are exactly what they need. You do this by demonstrating your expertise with informative, captivating content on your website (in the form of blog posts or articles).
3. Encouraging Customers to Leave Reviews Can Boost Your Local SEO Results
Often, prominent review sites such as Yelp and FourSquare show up in the first page of search results for local search. You can capitalize on this extra opportunity to drive new customers to your business by doing everything possible to ensure that your business has the highest number of top reviews on those kinds of sites. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time on your part either – just be sure to make it a part of your business procedures to always ask your most satisfied customers if they could leave you a review on one of those sites.
An Effective Local SEO Strategy is Important for the Success of Your Business
Imagine what you could do with the extra leads and sales from a steady stream of prospects that find you via the local search optimization strategies above. It’s well worth the time to set up, and you can reap the benefits for years.