Tuesday, January 15, 2013

SEO for your Local Business

By Alina H. Winamaker


In the world of business, SEO is a very important aspect to discuss if you are engaged online, regardless of the size of the industry that you are running; it is so useful, effective, and can be availed at a very affordable rate by any entrepreneur who competes in the World Wide Web. Businesses who are local can survive any competition at a lower cost. The kind of industry where you move around will be the basis of the quantity of SEO that you need so you could create an impact on the net with respect to your visibility. Another important element is the place where your business is located. Regardless, there are some basic principles that guide all SEO strategies and some others that are specific to local targeting.

On-Page SEO - the Basics

Each page of your website must contain the complete address of your company. Normally, this is placed in the footer. Ensure that the name of the company, complete address, and postal code are included in the footer. A nice little feature to add is a google map link, but make sure it opens in a new window so you aren't driving visitors away from your site. The address can also be placed in the header provided that it will not make the design appear to be too crowded. This can be suitable if you are targeting a particular area for the kind of business that you have.

For the search engines to be able to easily locate the exact address of your business and its area of coverage, GEO Tags can be applied. Each page of the site should contain these tags and they are to be positioned in the source code's head portion. You need not worry because this information could not be seen by anyone who views your site.

Keyword Strategy for Local

In any campaign for SEO, this is very important. Make sure you don't miss obvious target in your implementation. In creating a page title do not forget to incorporate the location, for instance "Electricians in Vancouver" or "Real Estate Detroit".

Content that is based on Location

Lots of high quality, relevant, optimized unique content will help your search efforts and give you an edge that in many cases your competitors will not be utilizing. Every new page you create gives you the opportunity to target a new keyword or build more content to support and advance the promotion of existing keywords.

The Importance of Local Testimonials

Obtain endorsements for the services or products that you are offering. It is undeniably important in the cyber space. Without trust, your business will never be successful in this space. There's only one way to manage this and that is to address it directly. Having testimonials published on your site is a vital thing to do and you need to exert effort to get recommendations from 3rd party review sites such as Yelp.

Creating Account on Google Places

Spare enough time to make a captivating and fully-optimized Google Places account. Your account has to be verified and needs to be updated frequently especially if there are facts and figures that need to be changed periodically such as rates and discounts. It is a must to pay attention to this.

Local Off-Page SEO

Link building or off-page SEO is also being done for businesses in the local area, but often the compete level is relatively low. You have to take note that Google distinguishes links to a particular website as a sign of its significance. Take the time to develop an effective link building strategy and before you know it, you'll be ranking at the top of the search engines for your keywords. Online marketing that is confined locally is not being maximized by most entrepreneurs regardless of the types of business that they run. Find the best strategy that would fit your needs. As an option, sign-up a reliable company to take good care of your search engine campaigns.




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