When it comes down to it, here’s the major difference between traditional SEO and Local SEO…traditional SEO focuses on optimizing for keywords whereas local SEO focuses on optimizing for a location. At first glance, this may seem like a vague statement. However, it makes more sense if you think about two major ways search engines are used by people these days. One way people use search engines is to find information from a very large pool of sites; be it researching a health condition, tips for planning a surprise party, or even fact finding for a Civil War report. And another important way people use search engines is to pull up the information very quickly on stores and services that are close to their physical location.
Very well-informed of the latter, search engines are making great efforts towards improving local search results by integrating maps, reviews, directions and a slew of other types of information to help you find what you want– quickly. The search results page below is a great example of a localized search result page; turns out that “limosine services” (yes, I even misspelled limousine) is quite the competitive search query in celebrity-crazed Los Angeles.
The first thing you’ll notice about these localized search results is that you’re competing with a lot of other stuff– maps, reviews, a competitor-stuffed 7-packs and other organic listings. Getting prime real estate on the result page where you can also be noticed is more difficult on localized search results page. The fact is, optimizing for just a keyword sans location is not going to cut it. This is where a Local SEO strategy becomes super important. Executing the following 5 Local SEO tips are a great way to shape up your Local SEO campaign and improve your local online visibility.
1) Claim Your Listings
If you are not familiar with Google’s Local Business Center, it’s likely that you haven’t spent much time worrying about claiming your listings. Well I wouldn’t wait any longer, as people are making searches everyday that you should be benefiting from. Claim your listings on multiple search engines, including Yahoo Local, Bing Maps, Yelp, and any other you can think of. Be sure to clean up your listings so there aren’t multiple results showing up at different addresses, and be sure to include a local phone number in your listing, not a toll-free number.
2) Sign Up For Local Product Availability
This relatively new feature to Google makes it possible to locate local retailers that carry a specific product being searched for on the web. If I search for “Samsung HDTV 52”” for example, not only will I find relevant web results, but I will see what stores in my area are carrying the product. This is an incredible feature and you should not hesitate to take advantage by inputting your products.
3) Be Consistent With Your Brand Name
There is nothing that will confuse customers like a brand that is constantly changing its name. Make sure your business name or title is the same on all press releases and search result pages, and also make sure that you are listing the same contact information, including email, across all the various online local business directories.
4) Get a KML Sitemap
If you’re a business owner that created your own site, chances are you are interested in SEO and have already experienced Google’s Local Business Center, which allows you to list your business within the Google maps search engine. What you may not have experience with is KML Generator, which is a quick and efficient way to transfer your company data to Google’s server. By securing a solid listing on the most used search engine in the world you will notice a considerable difference in traffic to your website. KML will help you keep your listing updated in order to receive best results.
5) Build Geographic Back links
Back links will help you in traditional SEO and Local SEO, alike. With Local SEO, however, you want to make sure you are using geographic backlinks, meaning you include where you are located in the backlink keyword. For example, “dance studio in Santa Monica” is better than simply “Dance Studio.”
Follow these suggestions ought to get you rolling in the right direction with you Local SEO strategy. Consider boosting your traditional SEO marketing strategies to go along with your improved local strategies in order to see the best results. Keep in mind, too, that ranking for localized keywords energy and time. The most important thing to remember is that the search engines need to be tie your business (brand name) with a single location.
Brian Flores is a SEO and blogger for InMotion Hosting, one of the top providers of dedicated hosting in the country. He works with a team of awesome writers to post useful tutorials on WebHostingHelpGuy. You can follow him on Twitter @WHHG_InMotion or @BrianAFlores.
Nice – geographic backlinks. I had no idea!
Glad you liked it. –Isaac
Good pointers here. However, just to add that you must not only be consistent with your brand name, but also with your address and phone number, as the NAP is something like the holy trinity.
Cheers,
Nyagoslav