Monday, July 1, 2013

Local Search Marketing Tips

By Therese Goodwint


Local search marketing online has become the standard for driving new customers to a local business. We have some great advice here that will help a local business to keep one step ahead of their market counterparts.

Investigate Local Directories

Similar to any type of SEO, local search optimization plans take some research and knowledge. Search your own business online. It's essential to find out how your business is listed on local directories, so doing this search is the best way to start. When searching, don't limit your queries to just your business name though; enter in your phone number and address in different ways to see how they come up. Keep this information in your records by using a spreadsheet to document links and listings.

These search engines are kept up to date by local directories and 3rd party information gatherers. This external data on your business is compiled, processed, and compared to the index kept by the big search engines. Local directory data must be constantly updated to be sure that everything is always right and easily accessible. Search engines also use citations in their determinations of rankings, along with third party information. Citations are mentions of the name, address, and phone number (NAP) of a business across the web.

Google Places

A Google Places listing is important, be sure to make one. Make sure you include as much information as possible. 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. One of the more important aspects of this is categories; as many categories as possible must be carefully chosen that match perfectly the business that you are promoting. For example, if you're an Italian restaurant, make sure to select both the "Italian restaurant" category as well as the "restaurant" category. Then make your listing catchy by adding the most gorgeous cover photo that you can, along with 5 or more other photographs to showcase your product or service.

Carefully Create some Geo-specific Pages of Content

Create location pages on site for multiple locations. If you have multiple locations, consider creating individual optimized pages on your website for each location. Keywords are crucial when you would like to increase business in a certain area, so choose these wisely and make sure they reflect the area of operation. It makes sense to use landing pages that correlate to the areas your business is operating in.

There is no sense advertising in all parts of the world for your walk in business in your city, so be sure to go after the local customers on your website, this will make your SERPs more effective. Keywords and phrases should be carefully selected in order to gain the most benefit from the area your business is in rather than globally, and this will help you get higher in the rankings when customers seek out your products or services.

Solicit Reviews

A crucial part of business strategy is to get customer reviews, these make a huge difference. Customers who have had a pleasant experience with your products or services can help you immensely by leaving a review on your website, and that helps you rank higher in search engines. Be sure that your best customers understand how important a review is, and ask them to take a little time to leave their opinions on your website's comment section.




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