Localized Search Engine Optimization (LSEO)
Local SEO Tips
Some of you may have noted that when you’re doing a Google search the results seem to be more localized. If you type the query “Mexican restaurant” into Google you’ll get results from your area, not from all over the country or the world. You may also be aware of Google Places; which is something to look into and sign your company up if you haven’t already. These small changes show that there is a larger change underfoot, the change to localized search engine optimization. For some companies this is very important, for others it’s not very important at all. If you’re a company that feels your location is important, then you may want to pay attention.
The first thing to keep in mind when thinking about LSEO is if it is for you. If the majority of your clients are national or even international then LSEO may not matter to you at all. But, if you’re a local business with local clients, it may be very important. Take the example of a hairdresser, LSEO can be very important here if that hairdresser wishes to beat its competition and come up first on a Google search.
Begin by reviewing your keywords. Think of the words the average person would query to find your business. Madison hairdresser probably tops the list or comes pretty close. Build a keyword list that uses locators in the keyphrases to distinguish them from someone with the same business in a different location, i.e. Madison hairdresser versus hairdresser. Remember, locators don’t have to come first in your keyword list. Madison hairdresser and hairdresser Madison both get roughly the same amount of searches per month.
There are several places throughout your website where you want to include your location along with your company name and business description to get the most out of your LSEO: the title tag, the H1 or heading, at least three times in the content, in the URL (if possible), in the alt attribute tags, and in the meta description. You don’t need to include the keywords in all of these places, but the more you can hit the better optimized you will be for local searches.
Contact Tingalls if you’re interested in optimizing your website to better reach your local audience.
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