Category Archives: Local SEO

Local SEO

Local Search 101: Understanding Local SEO

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by Sarah Carter

Nowadays, when consumers want to find information about a business in their local area, they turn to the Internet. The use of the Yellow Pages to find local businessinformation is in rapid decline, which is why businesses are now competing for the top spot on the first page of the search engine results. Local search is a way for businesses to market themselves online to consumers in their local area. If you have no understanding of local search and what it entails, you are in danger of letting your competition leave you in the dust.

What is local search?

Local search is any activity that is targeted toward finding information about a local business using a search platform. A search platform could be anything from a searchengine like Google, to an Internet yellow pages Website like Superpages.com.

Local SEO basics:

Currently, Google is the most widely-used search engine for local search. The Google Maps show consumers a wide variety of information including driving directions, contact information, a business description and a “click to call” option for mobile devices. Getting found in the Google Maps is a great starting point for any business that hasn’t started optimizing for local SEO.

90% of consumers start purchase decisions online. This is why making sure your business is found online is so important. The beauty of local Internet marketing is that you don’t need to have a Website in order to get found online. With a business listing, your company can get found in the Google Maps and Places results, which will give potential customers the necessary information they need to contact you.

The first step in getting found in the search engines is to submit your business information to various local search directories. The most popular one is Google Places. In fact, unless your business is new, odds are you’re already listed in Google Places. But just because you’re listed doesn’t mean you’re all set. You need to claim, update and enhance your listing’s information in order to really get a leg up on the competition.

Many unclaimed listings have incorrect or outdated information that could be confusing to your customers as well as hurt your rankings in the search engines. This is why claiming your listing is so important. Claiming your listing also gives you the opportunity to optimize it for local search. Using relevant keywords and categories in your listing as well as providing as much information as possible to make your listing complete will help boost your local SEO and get you ahead of your competitors in the Map results. Adding enhancements like photos, videos, coupons and more helps increase your ranking and makes your customer’s local search experience more pleasant.

Once you’ve claimed your listing in Google Places, start submitting your business information to other top local directories such as Superpages.com, Merchant Circle, Yelp and more. One way to figure out which directories are the best is to perform a search on Google yourself. Think of a search term that you would like to appear on thesearch results for. Look at the local businesses that pop up in the results. These are your competitors. Make a note of where their listings are coming from. If you’re seeing results coming from Yelp, you’ll know that’s a directory you definitely need to submit your information to.

The advantages of local search

There are many advantages to local search that other marketing channels can’t provide. Here are the top reasons why you should start your local search campaign today.

Local search allows potential customers in your local area to find your business onlineand via mobile devices. More people will be able to see your business information, which will lead to increased sales and profits.

Your business can be found on the first page of search results (if you use the best practices and techniques).

Local search allows smaller businesses to compete with national chains and franchises with large marketing budgets. The best part is that it’s common for smaller businesses to appear above the larger chains in the local search results.

Local search is more cost-effective than print advertising, Yellow Page ads or radio and TV advertising. You don’t even need to pay large sums for a Website, local search requires off-Website SEO, which means even without a Website, you can achieve high rankings with your business listing. If you have the time and knowledge, an effective local search campaign can be done for free.

Local business listings validate the credibility of your business. Many local directories allow reviews, which gives your happy customers a chance to tell others what they think of your business. You can also lure new customers in with photos, videos, coupons and more.

In order to succeed in your local SEO efforts, make sure you fully understand how to optimize your listings. Include keywords and make your content persuasive with the goal of moving the sales process forward. Also remember that reporting and analyzing your results will help you figure out what is working and what is not in your local Internet marketing campaign. Keeping up on the changing Google algorithms requires constant education, but with hard work and effort, you will be able to get your business to the first page of the search engines and stay there.

About the Author

Top local SEO service provider, Local Splash is part of Relevant Ads, Inc., and is headquartered in Santa Ana, California. Its proprietary technology and process secure high local search engine placement for local businesses and national chains with a local presence. To learn more about Local Splash and its local SEO services, visithttp://www.localsplash.com.

Local SEO, Website Marketing

Implementing Local Business Internet Marketing

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by Liz Jones

About one-third of people deliberately search for information about local businesses through the internet rather than through the phone book or other traditional media. Ignoring this fact can be detrimental, but those that take advantage of local business internet marketing will see the advantages that are available. There are three basic steps that a local business can utilize in order to market itself online. They are not necessarily followed in any particular order, but they include managing online business profile information, optimizing web pages for local internet searches, and increasing the local popularity of the site by dominating the search results.

There are various sites that provide business profiles, and the most important ones are those run by the primary search engines. In order to ensure that the search engines have an accurate profile of a business, it is necessary to improve and correct profile data through various online channels. These include data providers such as Amacai, infoUSA, and Acxiom. The search engines themselves have business profiles as well. These include Google Maps, Bing Local, Yahoo Local, Local.com, Ask.com Local, and TrueLocal. The search engines obtain information from the national data providers, but allow businesses to submit their information as well. Internet yellow pages such as Switchboard, YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, and Citysearch should also contain up-to-date information.

The next step is to optimize the primary website. This means performing keyword research, providing relevant local information, organizing the site both for users and search engines to understand, and obtaining links from high quality sites related to the subject of the business. In addition to these tasks, which are relevant to all online businesses, a local business marketing strategy will target keyword phrases that reflect local needs, and information on the site will seem targeted to local traffic rather than a generic audience. Furthermore, a local phone number and address should be listed on all prominent pages of the site, or even on every page. Display a local phone number even if a toll-free number is also available, as this is helpful for the search engines and people to determine the location of the business. Driving directions can also be helpful.

The final step is to dominate the search results for keywords related to the business. The first two steps contribute to this. There are three locations that a search engine can display a website: the general search results, the local listings, and the advertisements. The first step focuses on a high location in the local results and the second step focuses on a high rank in the general results. By taking advantage of pay-per-click opportunities, a business can advertise next to the search results as well.

About the Author

Author is a freelance writer. For more information on local business marketing, please visit http://www.local-marketing.com/.

Local SEO

Local SEO – Why Does It Work?

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by Adam

As a website owner or business owner you must understand the benefits of SEO (search engine optimization) to your business. In regards to the internet there is a lot more happening as far as searching is concerned and much less going on as far as browsing. If you want your business or website to expand and get more traffic and possible customers then you must understand the greatest method for them to get there is with the search engines.

Did you know that roughly 35 percent of searches return local results? The reason this happens is because companies and online businesses understand that their customers are using search engines to get information and if they want to be located then they must be on the search engine. Are you beginning to understand the benefits of SEO now? There are many advantages to search engine optimization but the fact is that you need to do something in order to be found on the online.

Another important factor regarding SEO is that you not only will be found by possible customers but you’ll also earn brand recognition. If your name is your brand then you want that to be out there for individuals to see, there is nothing better than somebody tossing your name out there for people to hear and that’s exactly what the search engine is making happen. Now that you know the importance of SEO to your business and you it’s time that you know a few tips to get to the top of the search engines.

Tips

Local business – The first method to get on the top of the search engine is to have your business listed as a local business but this isn’t always the best method. Many times individuals won’t click on a business website just because they are just looking for information so you want to do more than only that in order to be placed in the search results and in the local business results.

Content – If you’ve got a website then you need to have articles. One of the determining factors in where you rank on the search engine is what type of content is on your website and how important it looks. Lots of people think that articles are everything and in some peoples eyes it is but it is not that important to Google. Articles are important for the mere reason that it needs to be unique and read well, if neither is true for your site then your website will rank poorly.

Links – Now when it comes to Google the most important thing are links pointing back to your website. If you would like to rank at the top of the search engine then it is imperative that you receive as many decent quality links as humanly possible all pointing to your site. Lots of people think that quantity is what makes the difference but it is a mix of quality over quantity with the main thing being quality. In my mind the best way to earn links is to submit article to article directories and to just provide a lot of fantastic content and hope other websites will link back to you.

Something you should think about in regards to Local SEO is to hire a Local SEO company to help you out.

About the Author

To learn more about Local SEO click here and visit my website you will ever see.