Optimize your Site for Local Searches

Local search marketing is a term you should be familiar with; and if you’re not already familiar with it, now’s the perfect time to get familiar with it. Local search marketing is all about utilizing various search engine optimization techniques to get your website on the map – literally! Making sure that local customers are finding you is crucial if you offer location-relevant goods or services.

Getting yourself on the map via local search optimization begins with understanding the major controllers of the local online sphere: Google+ Local, Yahoo Local, Bing Places, and of course Yelp. Setting up profiles with all four and making sure these profiles are connected to each other and your primary website is the first step in making sure you’re present where your customers are going to be. These special location-specific search engines/social media profiles provide relevant information to users based on their geographical location and their search terms – so if you’re an Italian restaurant within a 3-mile radius of a family who’s in the mood for spaghetti and meatballs, then congratulations: your Yelp profile may have just earned you another visitor who will soon be a customer.

Local search should matter to you because it has the potential to not just increase the number of local visitors who find you, but it can also positively influence your online authority and relevance. Imagine making it to the first page of Google’s search results, or even near the top of the first page, simply because your local search is really paying off. And the best part is that your niche doesn’t impact your potential with local search – local search and local search marketing can benefit anyone who chooses to utilize it.

Optimizing your website for local search is a multi-step process, with the first step already outlined above – making sure you’re registered and active on the location-based search engine/social media compound sites, such as Yelp and Google+ Local.

The second step is to slowly but surely make sure your location is emphasized throughout your website. You’ll want to re-do your keywords and related content so that your location is present throughout your website. In turn, search engine bots will pick up on your revamped written content, and index you accordingly.