4 Steps to Benefiting From Local Search
You’ve undoubtedly heard of search engine optimization (SEO) and hopefully, have already applied the principles to your small business’s website. But are you familiar with local search optimization?
When potential customers do an Internet search looking for businesses near them that offer what you sell, local search optimization helps ensure that your business lands at the top of their search results. For example, if you own a coffeehouse and a man on his way to work is looking for a nearby place to get a latte, optimizing for local search can make the difference between whether that prospective customer visits your coffeehouse or heads over to the nearest Starbucks.
Fortunately, optimizing your business for local search is pretty easy. Here’s how you can get started.
- Claim your listing on Google My Business. Data from Google My Business is used when customers do a search and Google pulls up a map showing local businesses, so it’s important to have a listing there. (It’s free.) There might already be a listing up for your business, but if you haven’t “claimed” it, it’s probably not complete and may contain incorrect information. Once you claim your listing, make sure the information about your business that’s essential to potential customers—such as business name, address, phone number and hours of operation—is current.
- Once the basics of your listing are complete, you can boost your chances of attracting customers by including additional information to help them decide between your business and competitors that show up in their search results. For instance, you may want to include:
- Photos of your business. This can include images of your storefront, the inside of your business, menu items, you or your employees, etc.
- Your business logo
- Information about parking or directions
- Seasonal information such as current specials, menu items, special hours or promotions
- Use your Google My Business information as the basis for creating listings on other local search directories such as Yelp, Bing, Yahoo and YP.com. It’s important that your name, address and phone (NAP) information be exactly the same on all local search directories. For example, if your business is located on Harvard Street, it can’t be spelled “Street” in one place and “St.” in another. If there are variations, the search engines may think the listings are for different businesses, and this will hurt your standing in search results.
- Regularly update your listings on all of the search directories. Is your store closing earlier than usual or staying open later because of the holidays? Did your restaurant recently add lunch to the menu or stop serving brunch on Sundays? Has your business’s phone number changed or have you added a toll-free line? All of this data needs to be current. Outdated or inaccurate information will just frustrate customers. (There’s nothing worse than driving across town to a restaurant for lunch, just to find out they’re only open for dinner!) You should also be sure to regularly update photos, promotions or anything else that has changed.
Does that sound like a lot of work? With so many local search directories out there, it can be. Fortunately, web hosting companies that provide marketing services can often take care of updating your listings across all of the local search directories where you’re listed, so you don’t have to do it yourself. Ask your web host or web marketing services provider if they offer this type of service.
Once you get the hang of local search optimization, you’ll see how simple it is. By taking a few easy steps to optimize your business for local search, you’ll raise your profile in search engine results and attract more customers.
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