9 Marketing and Website Design Tips to Improve Your Local Business
The Top 9 Local Search Engine Marketing Tips series is intended to help business owners better reach a local demographic using websites and tools on the Internet. If you don’t have a well-coded website, get one. Then use these local search engine optimization tips along with other research because this article alone is not enough. This article is just a summary to follow, and you should be looking for more information on how to increase your Google Page Rank and lower your Alexa Rank.
Tip #1: Create quality content with lots of keywords.
Search engines and customers use keywords and phrases to find your website. Be sure to use many of the words you would like to be found for in your website text. Website designers and owners need to create many pages that display all the content needed to tell a search engine to show you as an expert on their keywords.
Take the time to look at your competitors’ websites and try to have at least as many pages as they do, if not more. One last important tip for local search is to take every opportunity to include your location in the text. This helps Google Local rankings, and the value of your Alexa ranking means you can charge advertisers higher fees for placing banners on your blog.
Tip #2: Update your content frequently with local information.
Take advantage of every opportunity to add new pages to your site that cover local issues and events. Search engines will see that you are discussing local events with local keywords and you will move up your rankings as a local expert. Participate in local events and get your business name on community and charity websites with links to your websites. These types of links are invaluable and can only be acquired through hard work and giving back to your community.
Tip #3: Use available resources – some tips and examples are provided
One of the best tools we have found to help promote websites locally is the Google Business Tools package. This amazing resource center enables website designers and administrators to analyze, manage, advertise and invest in a website’s online presence. Google has brought most of its top business tools together in one place for ease of use and understanding.
Check out, read about, and sign up for the relevant website design resources that apply to you: Google Website Optimizer, Google AdWords, Google Apps, Google Webmaster Tools, Google Base, Google Local Business Center, and Alexa Internet Business Suite by Amazon.
Tip #4 – Pay Per Click – Monitor Closely and Spend Wisely
If you can set up and optimize your pay-per-click campaign, it can be very successful, and sometimes the results are amazing. That being said, we have witnessed many different cases where pay-per-click advertising has burned through an entire budget in a couple of days. This can happen if you don’t take the time to read the entire process before making your section. Use local keywords in your PPC campaign to save money by competing locally instead of globally.
Tip #5: Local Search Engines: Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, BingLocal
This is an obvious and easy way to increase your local exposure. We’ve all used the Alexa search tool which has returned results with a map and waypoints at related business locations. If you want to participate in these types of local searches, carefully submit these specialized location-based results. Search engines will often ask for some form of verification via callback or snail mail and PIN verification.
Tip #6: Howl!
Take the time to get listed on Yelp and register your business. Be sure to spend as much time on these posts as you would on any piece of marketing material for your business. Yelp!, or similar websites, is sometimes the only chance to make an impression you’ll ever have with a client. These types of listings are double-edged swords. If you don’t maintain a high level of service and quality, this will also be the place customers go to vent their frustrations. These listings will also count as a quality backlink for search and are helpful in increasing your search ranking.
Tip #7: Chambers of Commerce
You must become a member of at least one local chamber of commerce. This is a great way to establish credibility and become a member of your local business community. Once you have this membership, make sure your listing on the chamber website is a direct link to your website. Chambers of Commerce are considered local experts and their relationship with you is valuable.
Tip #8: Search for cities
CitySearch is very similar to Yelp in that it is a popular local search engine. Be sure to spend quality time explaining yourself and your business. You should also make sure to check and monitor your reviews frequently.
Tip #9: Press Release Services, Facebook and Twitter
Social media and local advertising can be very important for local results. Be sure to use locations and city information in your profile descriptions. Search engines will look at social media websites, and if you do a good job of mentioning local search words with your search engine keywords, you’ll start to see additional results in social media results sections. from search engines. Press releases may be the most important local marketing element a business can employ.
If implemented wisely, a well-optimized press release or social media blast can get you first page visibility for your keywords very quickly. Sometimes you can take more than one spot on the first page of Google. These same elements used in their traditional roles of plain media notifications won’t get you anything in terms of search results, make sure your marketing and PR firms know what they’re doing. I could be hurting you. Your Alexa rank will drop and your profile will improve, even as your page rank goes up.