Once upon a time, when people wanted to find a local business, they would look in their Yellow Pages. Since the arrival of the internet however, the main form of search has become Google. Sure, there are other possibilities for those who don’t like the world’s major search engine, but the reason that every business concentrates on Google is that the vast majority of people use it. Regardless of your locality, most of your customers will be looking for you on Google.
Local SEO is usually an afterthought. When people think of Google, they often look at the worldwide, or at least national, possibilities. The trouble with this is that it puts small, local businesses off search engine optimisation, when regional SEO should be the answer to their prayers.
If you operate a small business, local search engine optimisation should be a major part of your marketing plans. Regional SEO should be seen as a replacement for the older and more basic forms of reaching your local audience. With the use of traditional research sources going down, if you’re not in Google, you’re not anywhere.
So, what do you do if you need regional coverage from Google? Your first step is to begin putting regional keywords on your site. You need to let Google know that you’re operating a regional business. You can back this up by developing links to directories and a number of other moves that will help out your local SEO. You can discuss this with our experts at SEO Consult.
This is not to say that you should no longer bother with traditional forms of local advertising. Some groups have not made the jump to the internet for everything, particularly older portions of the population. Most small businesses can’t afford to move completely onto the net. However, SEO should be a basic part of any local business’ day to day operations.