Local Search Marketing Basics

Local SEO marketing is anything that you do offline to promote a physical location-based organization that interacts directly with its local clients in person. Local SEO marketing is often done by all kinds of companies from small independent operations to large chain retail outlets. A physical location is really about a business being in the area and providing services to potential customers-not just advertising. In this growing information age, your physical location is an important factor in your overall success as an online entrepreneur.

How does your business listing perform on the major search engines? Do you have to spend tons of money and hours generating articles, blog posts, press releases, and testimonials just to get noticed? This article provides a complete guide to getting more traffic and better search engine ranking for your local SEO marketing efforts.

The most important goal of any small business should be to make it as easy as possible for customers to find their way to your door. Doing your best to attract new customers is a good place to start, but local search engine optimization doesn’t stop there. You want to generate as much interest as you can among those searching for products and services in your area. Here are several ways that you can use local SEO marketing for your small business.

One: Use social media to boost your Google ranking. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and StumbleUpon are great tools for generating local SEO citations. These social media sites work hand-in-hand with major search engines such as Google and Yahoo to generate local traffic. By connecting yourself with other local businesses and offering free information and content, you can share insightful information that you’ve picked up on what your customers are looking for. By using Facebook fan pages, you can also rank well for related keywords.

Two: Increase your website traffic by building a presence on social media. If you’re still focusing on traditional marketing strategies, then you should be thinking about incorporating social media into the mix. It’s vital that you get inbound website traffic by creating a presence on various social media sites. By connecting yourself to other businesses, you can also gain inbound website traffic from these businesses.

Three: Build your brand by getting recognized in your community. When people see your logo or slogan, they instantly have a connection to your business. No matter whether it’s a simple link to your website, it’s an easy way for customers to recognize your brand. For example, think about the numerous times a family member opens the paper to find coupons for local businesses. That person may have recently come across your business, and if they don’t already know about your business, they may look into it after seeing your logo or slogan.

Four: Your web pages will have better SEO results if you optimize them for the major search engines. SEO experts agree that meta tags, titles, headings, and images are all important factors in local search marketing. If you optimize your web pages for major engines (such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing), your site will rank higher on the search results pages. However, there are many more factors that play a role in ranking a site on the engines. For instance, an inbound link from an outside source plays an important role in how well your site ranks. In addition, using multiple keywords in the meta tag can increase your rank.

Finally, when it comes to online visibility, social media is becoming an increasingly important marketing tool for small business owners. Many small business owners use social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to engage customers and clients in conversation. These services are free, but you must remember that once you tweet, Facebook or other social media will pick up the post. Additionally, review sites may pick up your post and report on your marketing efforts. Therefore, it is important to follow review site guidelines to gain the most benefit from your social media marketing efforts.