9 Website Design and Marketing Tips to Improve Your Local Business
The Top Local Search Engine Marketing Tips Series is aimed at helping 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 in conjunction with other research, as this article alone will not be enough. This article is just a summary to follow, and you should look for more information on how to increase your Google Page Rank and lower your Alexa Rank.
Tip No. # 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 that you would like to find in your website text. Website designers and owners must create many pages that display all the content necessary to tell a search engine to show you as an expert on your 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 local search tip is to take every opportunity to put your location in your 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 No. # 2: Update content often with local information.
Take every opportunity to add new pages to your site that discuss local events and topics. Search engines will see that you are discussing local events with local keywords and will move up your ranking as a local expert. Participate in local events and get your business name on charity and community organization websites with links to their websites. These types of links are invaluable and can only be acquired through hard work and giving back to your community.
Tip No. # 3: use available resources – some tips and examples are provided
One of the best tools we’ve found to help promote websites locally is Google’s business toolkit. This incredible resource center enables website designers and administrators to analyze, manage, advertise and invest in websites with an online presence. Google has gathered most of its top business tools in one place for ease of use and understanding.
Check out, read about, and sign up for relevant website design resources: Google Website Optimizer, Google AdWords, Google Apps, Google Webmaster Tools, Google Base, Google Local Business Center and Amazon’s Alexa Internet Business Suite.
Tip No. # 4: Pay Per Click – Monitor Closely and Spend Wisely
If you can set up and optimize your pay-per-click campaign, you can be very successful, and sometimes the results are amazing. That said, we’ve seen many different cases where pay-per-click advertising has consumed an entire budget in a couple of days. This can happen if you don’t take the time to read the entire process before creating your section. Use local words in your PPC campaign to save money by competing locally instead of globally. Remember, spending money to earn money is necessary, but spend wisely.
Tip No. 5: Local Search Engines: Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, Bing Local
This is an easy and obvious way to increase your local exposure. We all use the Alexa search tool which has returned results with a map and marker points at related business locations. If you want to participate in these types of local searches, please submit carefully to get these specialized location-based results. Search engines will often request some form of verification via callback or traditional mail and PIN verification.
Tip No. 6: Yelp!
Take the time to sign up for Yelp and register your business. Be sure to spend as much time on these posts as you would on any marketing material for your business. Yelp !, or websites like this one, is sometimes the only chance to make an impression you’ll have with a customer. 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 will go to vent their frustrations. These listings will also count as a quality inbound link for search and are helpful in increasing your search rankings.
Tip No. 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 connection to you is valuable.
Tip # 8: CitySearch
CitySearch is very similar to Yelp in that it is a popular local search engine. Make sure you have a good time explaining yourself and your business. You should also make sure to check and monitor your reviews frequently.
Tip No. 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 will start to see additional results in the social media results sections of search engines. Press releases can be the most important local marketing element a business can employ.
If implemented wisely, a well-optimized press release or a social media blast can give you first page visibility for your keywords very quickly. Sometimes it can take over more than one place on the first page of Google. These same elements used in your traditional simple media notifications features will get you nothing in terms of search results, make sure your marketing and PR companies know what they are doing. It could be hurting you. Your Alexa rank will drop and your profile will improve, even as your page rank goes up.