Think of local search engine optimization as the Internet’s version of a faster and more responsive phone book, where entering a zip code or city into the search engine followed by a subject, such as “hotels” or “haircut” will instantly generate results of available hotels and salons near you. Best of all, it will provide you with quick directions to these local businesses. There are also local search specific search engines that can be optimized in order to display the site’s listing when the specific keywords are searched on them. Local search is also available on mobile devices. Because local intent is behind up to 40 percent of all online searches, local search engine optimization is something that definitely needs to be heeded as a local search presence will help bring in local and geo-targeted customers and can increase your online audience.
Steps for on-page local search optimization include making sure that specific local search qualifiers are present and displayed in text form on every page and indexed into the search engines, having a good title tag on your page using popular, geo-targeted terms, and putting your zip code in at least one of your page’s title tags which will help with local and mobile search on local platforms.
To optimize off-page, SendTraffic would register websites with specific local search listings and directories in order to rank in local search engines. We can also upgrade the listings in Google’s Local Business Center and Yahoo’s Local Listing as well as other online local directories such as Yellowpages.com, SuperPages.com, InfoSpace.com, InsiderPages.com, and Local.com. In addition, specific local directories with geo-centric organic clues to algorithmic compliance to local search engine results are often a prime target for a local search engine optimization focus. With the increasing use of Google Personalized Search, Google Universal Search, and constant improvements to Google Maps, local search should be on the agenda when optimizing for organic search.
