How To Get Into Local Search?
December 13th, 2006 | 101 Views RSS Feed
Matt McGee at Search Engine Guide provides some simple steps to make a page more local. The tips would be useful if you're a small business that relies on local search traffic, as then you must make sure 'search engine crawlers have a good sense of where you're located.'
The first step is to put your physical location on every page of your site. It is also important to place local phone number along with physical address. Giving address an extra prominence on Contact Page is a good idea. Creating a page called "Directions / Location" helps customers as well as search engine crawlers. Instead of using a MapQuest or Google Maps image write where you are and how to get there. Somewhere on your site, list all the cities / towns your business covers. Internal linking opportunities with smart anchor text and providing link to Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps are other tips.
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2 Responses to “How To Get Into Local Search?”
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December 13th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
Great points, maps and directions increase the offline purchases (which still dominate over online purchases in the local SEM world). A couple others worth adding:
1. Local (not toll-free) phone number. Still the preferred way for local consumers to contact local merchants. It should be prominently displayed on every single page. Having it included in the title tags is also helpful as pages are often printed out for reference later.
2. In my experience, a lack of any "call to action" statement on home page is the most often overlooked piece to successful conversions. Think "yellow pages headlines".
3. Local service area. All target markets should be identified or listed, not just the physical location. Make the prospect feel as if he's being catered to. "Serving the tri-state area" or "free delivery throughout Westchester County".
4. Keywords which include geo-modifiers. This includes city names, county names, zip codes and any other relevant terms.
December 13th, 2006 at 10:23 pm
Good points Rich. I agree "call to action" statement often goes missing. Other than these getting backlinks also helps a local site in competing for high rankings against sites.