Tips to Optimize Your Site for Local Search

There are many factors in how well your website comes up for relevant searches. Here are some page elements to consider:

Include your location.

Search engines now localize based on the user’s location, but you still need to make it clear where you are located and the area that you serve.  Make sure this is clear on your home page as well as any key landing pages.

A physical address will greatly boost the relevance of a page for a search query.  Your address and other contact information should be in the footer of your website.

Finally, add your service area to your meta title tags. This is the content that will be displayed on search results pages.

Seek links.

The quality and authority of links to your website from other websites is an important search rank factor. A local business that earns links from a variety of sources will rank higher than other similar businesses.

Take time to ask for links from your chamber of commerce, business partners, clients, professional directories and other websites that are relevant to your business.  Ask for the link to be to the most relevant page at your site. “Deep” links are often more valuable than home page links.

Devote space to important products and services.

You don’t need a page for everything you do, but you should have a page devoted to each key service. This will help you have strong pages for links and to optimize for searches relevant to each service.

The title of the page and the URL should contain the keyword for the particular product or service featured.