The 5 Most Important Local SEO Factors

24th September 2013

Before the Internet came on the scene, local business owners relied on newspapers, infomercials, flyers, postcards and other forms of promotional materials to spread the word about their operations. Today, the Internet has drastically altered the way local business owners gain awareness and increased exposure. Even the growing popularity of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs, is creating new advertisement avenues for local companies. Implementing the proper Internet marketing techniques to drive traffic to a business’s website is a process that requires search engine optimization. Above all, outsourcing SEO is the most important marketing strategy to use online.

Why Local Business Owners Outsource SEO

SEO firms hire teams of experienced writers, link builders and PPC campaign managers. A single person is unable to keep up with teams of professionals when it comes to producing quality and unique content, and building back links. Finding the right local SEO strategy requires some research on behalf of a business owner. Luckily, it is easy to find common local SEO strategies that produce positive results. Increasing a website’s PageRank is a process that involves both onsite and offsite optimization. While quality and unique content is crucial for onsite optimization, offsite optimization primarily focuses on building back links on sites with a high PageRank.

Here are 5 of the Most Important Local SEO Factors to Keep in Mind

• Use Google Analytics and other free web grading tools.
• Perform keyword research to target a local audience.
• Outsource web design and implement responsive web design.
• Get involved with social networking sites and be consistent.
• Take advantage of Google Maps for local SEO.

Web grader tools are essential for discovering problems and issues of a website. Optimizing a website first requires knowledge of areas that need improvements. Keyword research is just as important for local SEO as it is for traditional SEO. Local business owners must target their surrounding audience by using the appropriate keywords and key phrases. Outsource web design to a professional web designer that offers solutions for responsive web design. Responsive web design is exploding in popularity because of the percentage of Internet users looking for local businesses with mobile devices. Providing an easy user experience for mobile device users should be a top priority for local business owners. Get involved with popular social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. New studies show the majority of Internet users looking for local businesses are spending more time on social networking sites than search engines like Google.

Furthering Offsite Optimization to Capitalize on Local SEO

Many experienced Internet marketers view offsite optimization being more important than onsite optimization. While this may be true, it is extremely important to make sure all content on a website is optimized, unique and informative for visitors (potential customers.) Local business owners should submit their business to Google places in order to help achieve a competitive organic position on Google. Using PPC campaigns will also help produce more exposure for a local business. Out of all the essential strategies used for acquiring more visitors to a website, outsourcing is definitely the most important factor to keep in mind. Paying attention to the search habits of a target audience requires research and time, which is why the majority of successful local business owners outsource search engine optimization and web design.

Photo credit: Lars Plougmann / Flickr