Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to earning rankings on popular search engines, such as Google and Bing. Through these rankings, your website will be more likely to gain traffic.
There are plenty of tactics used for SEO. The practice of adding keywords to your website content and adding valuable back links throughout your site will help you increase your visibility.
Local SEO is another search engine optimization tactic that’s important for your business. Local SEO works similarly to regular SEO, but there is a bigger focus on geographic location.
In fact, in March 2012, Google launched the Google Venice update, which focuses on local SEO. With the update, Google uses the geographic location of the individual performing the search in order to produce results. For example, if you are in Boston and you want to find a place that sells tires, you no longer have to enter “tires in Boston” into a search query. Instead, simply entering “tires” will generate results in Boston due to your current geographic location. This is local SEO.
How do I implement local SEO?
You can implement local SEO through the use of keywords. Make sure that your website contains keywords relating to your location. For example, if your business is in Chicago, IL, you will want to make sure that “Chicago” and “Chicago, IL” are listed as keywords throughout the content on your site. This way, if someone is performing a search for your product or service in your area, your website will have a better chance of appearing in front of them on the search engine results page (SERP).
Another great way to implement local SEO is to sign your business up through Google Places. When your company is listed on Google Places, it appears on the local maps provided through Google. If a user performs a search for your products or services in your area, your company will appear in the map section of the SERP. This is great for your local SEO strategy.
Why should I implement local SEO?
Customers don’t want to weed through thousands of websites on SERPs in order to find the company in their area that provides the product or service they want. Instead, they want to be directed to the specific content. With local SEO, your website will land directly in front of your target audience in the right geographical location, increasing your chance of not only earning website traffic, but also earning sales.
