Be Found in Town
January 15, 2012 | Shout your comments at fb.slingshotmoon.com
When is the last time you picked up a phone book to locate a business? Chances are pretty good that it’s been a while. Today, consumers are much more likely to go to Google than they are to the Yellow Pages.
The skinny on local searches
Here are some numbers that reflect the trend toward local searches:
- Approximately 65% of consumers turn to Google when searching for local businesses. That number rises to 85% under the age of 30.
- There are more than 3 billion local searches every month.
- About 1 in 5 Google searches are for local information.
You can’t afford to ignore this trend.
Yet, how do you make your local presence known on Google?
There isn’t a central repository where you simply list your business by geographic location and category. Yahoo tried that sort of thing in the 1990s, and the model was supplanted by today’s search algorithms.
Tricks to optimize for local searches
Optimizing your site for local searches – also known as “Local SEO” – is key to staying ahead of the competition. Here are several things you can do to increase your business’ standing in the local search engine results:
- Blog locally.
Blog about local events on your website. Consider including customer success stories, or highlighting special events at your business.
- Network. Build relationships with local businesses. If you do dog grooming, network with the local pet food store. Link to one another’s’ pages (and advertise in one another’s’ stores, too).
- Incorporate location into your SEO tactics. Include the name of your town in page titles, headers, image tet, and more.
- Optimize your site for mobile viewing. More and more users are utilizing smartphones to find company information. If they hit the link to your website, you want it to be easy to read and smartphone-friendly.
- Register with Google Places. Claim the Google Places page for your business name in your town.
- Submit your site to local web pages and directories. Get linked from local business directories, local tourism sites, and more.
- Incorporate a social media strategy. Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ all have tremendous potential when it comes to boosting your local visibility. Develop a robust social media strategy that’s consistent with and flows from your overall marketing strategy.
- Get reviewed. A presence on review sites like Yelp! will also increase your local visibility.
30 years ago, you could send $500 to the phone company, get listed in the Yellow Pages, and see a steady stream of customers. Today, it’s not as simple, but the potential to capture an even bigger share of your local market exists if you can dominate local search engine results.