SEO Local – 7 Tips to Help You Succeed in SEO Local
Search Engine Optimization Local (SEO local) is the latest development in search engine marketing. Portland SEO, in contrast to global search engine optimization, is an optimization technique that focuses on specific sites and regions. Local search engine optimization is comparable to global SEO in that it too is a time-consuming process affecting not only the visibility of a site or a particular web page on a search engine’s paid results, often called “organic”, “natural” or “unpaid results” on a search result page. In fact, only 24% of search queries last year were natural or organic searches, according to Google Trends.
However, SEO local is a growing trend due to the fact that people are searching for local businesses and services more than ever before. Moreover, with an increasingly diverse population that is made up of people from all corners of the globe, local search engine marketing is especially important to businesses that want to tap into this local customer base. SEO local is relatively new compared to other forms of SEO and has been a challenge for many search engines. As such, the following tips may help you get started:
Research which keywords work best for your market. Keywords play an integral part in your website’s ranking on search results pages (SERPs). Thus, it’s important that you research what types of terms your target market is using to find your pages. It can be helpful to conduct a keyword research using tools like Google External keyword tool, Google Insights for Google Business, or Yahoo! Local SEO.
Keep content relevant. No matter how relevant your content is to your keywords, if your content is not relevant to your specific market, it will not make the grade. This is especially important for SEO local results, since your pages will only show up for local customers in the listings. Therefore, you should ensure that your content is related to the types of products or services your company provides.
Use directories. While it’s good to build your profile in the local community through local newspapers, magazines and websites, it’s also important to build your profile nationally as well. The Internet is a global marketplace, and by including your website address in all your pages you are ensuring visibility in other countries as well. Directory listings are available on a variety of websites. You can use them to build your profile in the national and international communities. Just be sure that you follow all the guidelines set forth for submission.
Optimize URL’s. URL’s play an important role in the SERPs. Be sure to create your own URL’s for local results pages and to include all of your website’s pages in these URLs. Be cautious about using keywords in URL’s that are too general (eg. “shopify” instead of “jeweler”) as this will negatively impact your ranking.
Make sure your SEO local site is search friendly. Google places a heavy emphasis on search results that are fully optimized. Therefore, your site has to be optimized properly for the local audience. Google will only consider highly optimized pages when they appear in the search results, so make sure you target this audience. Include local citations as well. If possible, try to obtain reviews of local businesses from both reputable and non-reputable sources, in order to increase your credibility with the local authority.
Be careful with how much personal information you include in your business profiles. Google and other major search engines have been cracking down on this over the past few months, so be careful what you write. Keep it relevant to your business and include names and contact information only where absolutely necessary. This ensures that the search engines will recognize your pages as legitimate.