Since there are lots of new company startups offering localized services, local SEO is becoming a very important and highly desirable skill these days. There are plenty of reasons for you to use local SEO but one of the most critical is that you can access highly responsive markets that are less competitive. You can take advantage of local SEO irrespective of the type of business you run because you will always have customers in your local area. This way you will be able to grow your business in a new direction and obtain more targeted prospects. The following article will provide three vital local SEO strategies that will help you rank well for the keywords you choose and in the area you are targeting.
If you’re going to take advantage of local SEO, then you better take the time to dig for the appropriate keywords to optimize your site. You have to dig deeper and not limit yourself to basic keywords when you are preparing your site for a certain location. Since you have a higher level of relevancy, your competition will be much lower and you will be much closer to local internet users. You want to search for long tail keyword phrases because that is when people are absolutely certain of what they want. Since people are using these keywords to run a search, it usually implies that they want to take some action which could lead to results you want.
By adding a location to these keywords, you make them even more specific. So make sure you invest enough time into keyword research and use the right tools so that you can optimize your site effectively.
You should ask for reviews openly if you want your site to become well-known on a local level. If you shy from this one tactic, you’ll lose many good opportunities. You will find that the majority of local sites have absolutely no problem with you requesting reviews and communicating with your customers. So why not enjoy the benefits of this strategy?
It’s simply a matter of taking the time to ask your customers personally for a review. Of course, you don’t have to go out and ask people one at a time. You can plaster around a simple message such as “It would be great if you can give our business a short review on Google/Yahoo local/Bing.” This request can be put in your email signatures, on your thank you page – which they see after signing you for a newsletter or contacting you – or on your website. These reviews, regardless of the fact that they are good/bad/ugly, they do add up to your business and its credibility, which brings in more customers in the future.
It’s actually a good idea to put your business address on every page of your site. This is to make your geographical location clear to your visitors so that there isn’t a need to search for your address when needed. These are the kinds of small details that will help you.
It really all depends on where you are, but if the traffic justifies it then you should use local SEO. You can do local SEO yourself if you want because there isn’t much to it and it’s easy to do. If you do it, then you may discover good results in a relatively short time. You can paint yourself in a corner if you suddenly start getting a lot of inquiries and extra business. And the best part about this traffic is that it converts really well because of the location.