Posted by Christine Herrington on Tue, Jun 05, 2012 @ 02:58 PM
As Google and the other main search engines begin to refine their search results to YOU, the consumer, local SEO becomes increasingly important when it comes to attracting your target market. As a result, it’s important for businesses to have a local search presence, especially if the business that operates solely in their local market.
Below are few or our favorite Local SEO Tips and Tricks
Understand Your Target Audience
Common sense tip here but you’d be surprised… you need to understand who it is your trying to target or your SEO efforts whether locally or not are worthless. What words are your customers using to find you or your products? Are they buyers or researchers? What kind of budget are they searching with? Will they be ready to convert?
Optimize for Local Keywords
You’ve discovered what and who you want to target. You’ve figured out how they’re searching (i.e. which keywords). Now what? When focusing on local search you need to take the national implications out of your search terms. For instance, if I want to rank for SEO nationally my keyword would be SEO or search engine optimization. If I want to compete locally I would add Denver to those terms. SEO Denver, Denver SEO or Denver search engine optimization. This tells the search engine that I’m focused on the Denver market for my target audience. You can make this as broad or specific as you like. For instance using Colorado instead of Denver or adding a local area such as Cherry Creek SEO. Its all about who YOU are trying to target.
Update Page Titles
Once you’ve completed above be sure to incorporate those “long tailed keywords” into your page titles to tell the search engines how relevant your pages are to those searching for Denver SEO or whatever widget you’re trying to promote.
Include Contact Information on Every Page
Include a physical address, a mailing address, and a phone number on every page of the site and make sure that this text is visible to the search engines, we always recommend the footer of your website.
Submit to Local Directories and Create Local Search Profiles
Crucial that you submit your local profile to each of the main search engines. These local search profiles are featured prominently on a search engine results page for a local search. Basic listings are free, but paid “Enhanced Listings” offer more options like photos, logos, and a more detailed business description. Don’t forget about local directories like Yelp and local.com if they make sense for your product.
Have a Mobile Friendly Website
A large percentage of searches for local establishments are conducted on a mobile device. As more and more people use smart phones and tablets. If a visitor can’t view your website via their mobile device, they obviously won’t purchase or do business with you.
Optimized Social Profiles
Social media is no longer only a place to connect with friends and family. It’s also a place for consumers to connect with brands. Take the time to optimize social media brand pages just as you would optimize your website and incorporate local keywords. For our company, this would include Denver SEO as previously mentioned.
Contact SeoSkye to start optimizing your local marketing efforts, 720.328.0415.
Posted by Christine Herrington on Wed, Feb 16, 2011 @ 01:38 AM
Search engine optimization (SEO) is of top priority for all those who realize it holds the key to greater profits. Among the numerous techniques used to stay on top of the various search engine list is the specific content, which you can deliver, based on the physical location.
Metadata, page titles, and keywords are remain the heart and soul of SEO since it is this information that guides the content to be uploaded be it articles, pictures or videos. However, the audience today wants more detail and more specific and this comes in the form of personalized searches via location based search.
A strategic way to go about this is by adding certain information like physical address to all or key pages. You can also add specific markets to page titles and metadata. Many companies are already cashing in on this option and as a result are seeing greater profits and gaining more visibility. Perfect examples of location based marketing are Four Square, Google Places and Yelp. All of these search tools use location based information from your site to yield search results.
SEO trends are a clear indication of the changing audience and their changing tastes. Knowing these and keeping pace with it is all it takes to stay on top in the field. At the end of the day, it is only smart choices you make that will predict your success.
Contact SeoSkye today to start making the most our your location based marketing efforts, 888.865.4888 or contact@seoskye.com.
Posted by Courtney Tilley on Thu, Sep 02, 2010 @ 02:06 PM
It’s always been true of real estate, but increasingly so it’s true of almost everything SEO. Sites like Twitter now allow you to attach location information about where a tweet is sent from, and Facebook has announced intentions to support location information as well.
In the mobile space, a number of standalone applications exist primarily to let users “check in” and broadcast their current location to their friends. From Foursquare to Gowalla, new start-ups are racing to amass “location mindshare” and be the world’s go-to application for sharing your whereabouts. Players such as Google are also getting into the game with services like Google Latitude, which allows your location to be updated automatically if you’re comfortable with that level of privacy setting.
Focus on location is great news for a lot of small businesses, many of whom have vested interest in catering to a local clientele . Even Yelp, one of the gold standards of local recommendations, has added a check in feature similar to what apps such as Foursquare and Gowalla provide.
Contact SeoSkye today to start amassing your local mindshare.
