18 Sep Local Optimisation for Your Internet SEO
According to Google, 97% of consumers search for local businesses online. So they’ve come up with a clever idea (as they do sat on their bean bags) and have created a new search service called Google Places for local business.
When Google shines their ‘psychedelic torch’ on something new, everyone needs to sit up and pay attention because when it comes to search engines Google are the oracle.
Local search has always been important for businesses which is why the paper book directories used to be the go to search tool of yesteryear. Google in the UK is now looking to take over where the Yellow Pages has left off; of course there is still Yell.com but Google is the all powerful, almighty and can run Google rings around these folks.
As most business owners know, the most powerful form to marketing is word of mouth.
Getting a personal recommendation for your business is paramount and this is especially important when you provide services or products to your local marketplace. Ensuring you get your internet SEO right will help you come up in more local search results drawing people toward your business.
It is now very clear that local, targeted search is going to play a big part in Google’s plans to make the internet more user friendly. Ensuring your online presence incorporates local optimisation is going to be vital if you want to increase your brand’s visibility and sales.
Despite most people now shopping online, there is still a great need for those businesses to be local to the purchaser. Just as businesses have always competed on a high street they are now competing on the internet so you want to ensure your business stand outs from the competition!
Ensuring you incorporate local search optimisation into your internet SEO campaign will give your business a greater positioning which could ensure you’re the go to business in your local marketplace.
Your keywords need to be on point if your local optimisation is to be a success.
Without applying the right keywords you won’t come up in searches and you may as well be a needle in a haystack! If you were to carry out an internet search on your business as a consumer, what ‘keywords’ would you use to search under?
If you don’t already have a Google+ account then go ahead and set one up now. You can set up a Google+ Local Business Page for free and it takes just a few minutes to complete. Your business will then be in pole position to come up in local searches and who knows, you may even have beaten the competition to it.
All good things come to those who create an effective local optimisation campaign, follow good SEO practices and have the patience to know that results will take time but they will undoubtedly come.
Tapping into your local market makes a great deal of sense, especially when Google thinks it makes sense.
So take the steps above or speak to your web master, SEO or Social Media Manager to get these in place and ensure you’re the company coming up in your local searches.
Click the links below to discover more about search engine optimisation:
Understanding the Hummingbird Algorithm Update
How to Use PPC Data to Maximize Your SEO