Local Search - Be Found by Local Consumers
Move over Yellow Pages, the word is out: over 80% of consumers use Internet search to find and research products and services, emphasizing the increasing importance of search marketing.
Local search works in two ways. The first way is fairly straightforward; the second is more intuitive. Visit Google and search for a type of business and a city name, and look at the results. For example, search “home improvement Sussex NJ”. The first result, both organically and in the Google Places listing, is our client Tom Madsen, a New Jersey home improvement and remodeling specialist.
This method of deliberately searching a specific city will override the second more intuitive way in which local search operates.
In the second way, without entering a city name, search engines use the computer’s IP address (think of this as the Internet’s version of a home’s address) to determine the approximate physical location and provide contextual local search results. See how local SEO is especially important for businesses that deal largely with local clients? If this isn’t clear, call us at 317-805-4933 and we will explain further.
Local SEO Begins With a Search Engine Optimized Website
Local search engine optimization begins with a properly search optimized website. For this purpose, we integrate geo-targeted keywords into the framework of your website from the very beginning, so you already have a leg up on the competition when it comes to local search marketing. And once your site is built, we regularly add fresh content, as search engines favor dynamically changing websites over more stagnant ones. Living organisms are constantly changing and evolving, and this is how we (and search engines) like to think of a website. We also create and compare monthly reports to track a website’s progress and make improvements accordingly. We share these reports with clients on a monthly basis as part of our dedicated account management service.
Local Search With Google Places and Google Maps
Many Internet users are fairly familiar with the idea of Google Maps: type in a company name and a map pops up displaying the exact location of the business and even provides the option to get directions. And for a long while, this was the extent of it. However, this is no longer the case thanks to Google Places, which was created with local search in mind.
Envision, for a moment, Google Places as a resume or job application. As a job seeker, no one would ever leave areas blank on a job application just because they did not have the time or motivation to properly fill it out, right? Of course not; everyone needs a job and needs to beat out the competition! This is exactly what a properly optimized Google Places listing does for a business. Only in this case, the “potential employer” is actually a potential new lead or paying customer! A one hundred percent complete and accurate listing is absolutely crucial to helping your business stand out from the crowd in a local search opportunity. But it is only the start…and the easy part, frankly! There are many other details that matter for moving a listing from the bottom of Google Places to the top.
Google Places is a free service. Anyone can create and verify a listing for their own business within Google Places. However, to fully tap into the potential of Google Places and optimize the benefits of local search, it takes much more effort than a one-time five minute set up. And while people are busy running their successful business, they don’t always have the time to get all the details and intricacies of Google Places 100% correct: thus, our local search engine marketing services. That’s why we are here to help. Local search engine marketing is an important part of the larger search marketing and search engine optimization process. Don’t lose potential customers (and revenue!) by letting local SEO fall by the wayside.
To learn more about our local search engine marketing services, contact us today at (317) 805-4933. We will also be happy to answer any questions regarding our website design, search marketing, and SEO services.
