Local Search
What is Local Search?
Local search is a highly used subset of search results that visitors find when searching for a product or service within a certain geographical area. Visitors can find these results in Yahoo! Local, Google Maps, and Bing Maps/Local, but what makes these results really valuable is that the results are also found in the first page regular organic results, correlating to a specific point on a map. More importantly, the local results are often found higher on the first page than most if not all of the regular organic results.
What Kinds of Businesses Benefit from Local Search Optimization?
In general, any website that also has a brick and mortar store or physical location can benefit from local SEO. These businesses include:
- Shops & stores that rely heavily on real, live, in-person business: retail shops & boutiques, bars & restaurants, salons & spas
- Businesses that rely heavily on online business, but also hope to build presence in their community: technology companies, ecommerce sites that also have physical stores
- Businesses, such as travel or tourism sites, that rely heavily on generalized online marketing, but need to target a specific locality: hospitality sites (hotels, inns, resorts), tours, camps
- Professionals who want to be found by local clients and patients: medical professionals, lawyers, real estate agents, accountants, photographers, auto mechanics, contractors
Local SEO and Maps SEO Strategy: Key Points
- Local Directory Submission: This is not to be confused with regular directory submissions (for Organic SEO) or search engine submissions (an archaically useless technique). Local Directories are sites like Yellowpages that are home list businesses that are targeted to specific localities. We can submit your website or create a account for your business on some of the most popular local or map themed directories.
- Review Site Account Creation: Sites like Yelp, CitySearch, and Angie’s List are hugely popular for consumers looking for high quality products and services in their area. We can set up your accounts with good SEO practices in mind, to insure that your customers can find you.
- Reputation Management: Like social media, local search holds the potential for reputation management. We can keep track of your local review accounts to see what your customer are saying and what can be done to improve the status of your brand.
It is important to remember that local SEO also requires a robust Organic SEO strategy, as many search engines have explicitly stated that the organic results do affect the rankings in local results. We offer packages that include standard SEO and local SEO to insure the best possible results. Contact us to discuss local search engine optimization for your business.