Optimizing Your Site For Local Search Success
Posted by Jon Hines
Here are some factors that can help increase your local search results on Google, Msn, and Yahoo. If you just joined us, this is an ongoing series on “Local Search”. Local search has gotten really important for local businesses in 2009 due to customers search behaviors online.
So it behooves every business to learn how to get ranked for their business. Heres another insight info on consumer search behaviour “studies found from Yellow Pages Online shows that 75% of the top 100 keywords searched were non-branded, indicating that a majority of consumers haven’t decided on a specific company or product brand when they begin their search. This is good news for local businesses looking to compete with larger brands.
Look at companies in the home improvement industry, one of the biggest names for lead generation is Service Magic. So any general contractor trying to outrank Service Magic, will be hard. But if you follow our suggestions, your company can outrank Service Magic locally for your area.
Ok, lets get to the nitty gritty, here are some local search factors that are important and prioritize in order :
- Local Business Listing Address in City Search
- Citations From Major Data Providers – i.e. belonging to associations and social network groups – this may be the most important factor for local search ranking.
- Listing in Proper Category – very effective factor
- Product/Service Keyword Listing – effective in lower competition ranking
- General importance of Off-page/Off-Listing Criteria – a strong website will help you to outrank other businessess
There you have it, these are some of the most important factors for getting your local search ranked geared up.
About the Author: Jon Hines is an SEO/SEM consultant that helps businesses become findable on the internet thru organic search, paid search, and social media since 04. Check out his site at http://spidermarket.wordpress.com/.
