Local SEO isn’t your regular ball game. And the local search scenario is changing more rapidly than you imagined. So if you want your business to rank locally, it is important to understand that the real difference lies in the type of links you focus on. In this post, we walk you through some tips and tricks that’ll help you in getting your business ranked locally.
Make Sure You Are Labelled as ‘Local’: Before you start optimizing your business for local search, it is important to evaluate what your business appears like on the search listings. Just because you are an online business working in a particular area, you aren’t necessarily local. There are several factors that come into play here. Being local isn’t enough. You must have a local identity. This means people should identify your business to be belonging from a specific location. For this you must have a physical address (not just a P.O. box number) and a local phone number (not a 1800 number).
Consistency is the Key: No matter where you promote your business, keep the key information like name, address, and phone number consistent. Promote them in the exact same fashion everywhere, unless dictated otherwise. From your website to social media pages to maps and directories, you should display the same information everywhere. Being consistent will have a positive impact on your online brand image. Plus, the more places where your NAP (name, address, phone number) will be listed the same, the better impact it’ll have on the search results.
Don’t Forget to Claim Listings: Being on local listings is the next big thing. Make sure your NAP is listed on as many local directories as you know of. This will help search engines in finding you quickly. Some great directories to be listed on include Yelp, Google Places for Business, Bing Places for Business and Yahoo! Local Listings. Once you are done updating information on these directories, you can move on and start getting your business listed on industry-specific directories.
Content can take You Places: The aforementioned 3 tips will take care of your SEO, but SEO alone can only take you so far. Not posting content regularly is like letting opportunities slip from your hands knowingly. There’s a reason why they call content the king. It lures your audience in a way that no advertisement or listing can. By regularly updating content on your blog, and using keywords in it intelligently, you will reinforce all the hold you’ve created in steps 1 through 3.
These 4 steps will help you rank your local business and bring a host of new customers to your door.
Stay Digified !!
Sachin Khosla
