Think you have your business web site optimized for local search? Think again! Neil Patel wrote an informative (and lengthy) blog post on the latest techniques for optimizing your local business web site for local searchers and local search.
We follow most of the techniques he suggests for our clients and they do work. The challenge for small business owners is finding the time to do all these steps.
His advice boils down to the following:
- Use Google’s free keyword tool (http://adwords.google.com) to assess which local keywords to focus your effort on. He recommends using your business search term such as dentist, lawyer, plumber plus your city name or other local area names.
- Update the title tags and meta descriptions on your web site to make the most of the keywords you identified in the first step.
- Claim your business on local search and business directories and make sure you have optimized each listing with your physical and web address, hour of operation, phone number and pictures of your business.
- Once you have claimed your business on local sites, then grow your local reputation by getting your business reviewed, especially on Yelp and Google Places.
- Using social marketing sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to further enhance your traffic and local reputation.
See Neil’s full blog post here
