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SEO For Local, Regional & Small Businesses – As Easy As 1 – 2 – 3!
SEO or Search Engine Optimization for local or small businesses looking to grow their online traffic from search engines such as Google and Yahoo as well as gain increased exposure in IYP (Internet Yellow Pages) and other online directories is as easy as 1-2-3.
Much ado is made about the complexities of the Internet, especially as it relates to search engine marketing and optimization. While I am not going to say there are not nuances in search marketing and that the extra mile doesn’t make a difference, the simple truth is that for local and regional businesses, getting to the top of SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) can be very simple and uncomplicated.
Here is my three step approach to generating search traffic and Internet traffic for your small, local or regional business.
Step 1 – Build a well designed and keyword enriched website.
The first problem I diagnose with my clients is the failure to understand what makes a search engine work. It is called relevancy. Relevancy in its simplest terms is having text on your website that matches the text a searcher uses when searching.
For example, if a person needs a plumber in your local area and searches Google for a “plumber serving West Chester, PA” and you have that exact term on your website, then you have an excellent chance of showing up in that persons search results.
Now this may sound easier than it is. Consider how many different ways there are to search for your business: services offered, products sold, business name and variations, misspellings and then all the geographic areas your business serves or draws customers from.
So when building or fixing your website, you have to accept that 100% coverage is not possible. Instead, you need to identify the 20 or so top services or products that you want to be found for locally. I suggest starting with those things you do well, have a competitive advantage over your competition; are the most profitable products or services you offer or are unique to your business.
After you identify the top 20 products or services, you need to identify the most common geographic searches you want to be found in. This can be county, city, zip code, neighborhood and regional names. Be specific. Exact matches are rewarded by search engines.
Once you have the top 20 services or products and the top 20 or so geographic markers, you need to create your keyword database. That is, combining your product and service keywords with your geographic markers. An example would be “plumber west Chester, pa 19380, plumber Exton pa, plumber Malvern pa, heating contractor west Chester pa, heating contractor Exton pa, heating contractor Malvern pa” and so on until you have about 400 combinations.
I know this might seem silly, but remember you are talking to a computer, not a person with these keywords. Computers don’t care if your website is pretty, if you match the search term, you win – PERIOD! So make sure you have these keywords in the footer of every page of your website and watch your google search results from organic search rise every day.
In addition to these keywords in the footer, you also need a well designed site with separate pages for each service or product group and pages for every geographic area you serve. By combining a well designed page structure that is fully keyword optimized, plus your footer keywords, I guarantee you will see results.
Step 2 – Utilize FREE directory listings to optimize your site, manage your online reputation and drive website traffic.
Your online business profiles are the basis for any sound search engine marketing campaign. There are literally thousands of these online directories that you can list your business in for FREE and gain valuable search marketing and direct link traffic.
Maintaining these online profiles is also very important as most major search engines and mapping systems get their information from these profiles for mapping your business and locating your business when people search for you by name or address. Keeping these online profiles current ensures that your business name or address can’t be hijacked by one of your competitors.
Directories that offer FREE listings include Yahoo Local, Superpages.com, Yellowpages.com, Yellowbook.com, Local.com, Yelp.com, Ask.com, Switchboard.com and national data providers such as InfoUSA, Amacai and Acxiom.
It is extremely important that you take the time and update your info in all these directories and data bases.
Step 3 – Get inbound links.
Inbound links are like votes for your websites in the eyes of search engines like Google. The more you have the higher you rank and the more often you show up on the first page of the results pages. Now, this is step 3 for a reason. Until you do 1 and 2, this step will not really help you. Relevancy and online reputation are more important,
However, after you get a proper website and make sure your information on the world wide web is correct, you should turn your focus towards link building.
For local and regional businesses, the key is to get your web address in as many places as possible. Some suggestions include the local chamber, networking or business association website, your vendors and customers’ websites. You need to start a blog and post articles that link to your website and if you can write expert content, write articles for a online publisher like Ezinearticles.com or some other vendor.
Identify local vertical or regional directories that can offer FREE or very inexpensive listings.
Any and all places you can list your web address and have it link back to your site is helping to build your websites ranking and therefore increasing your placement in Google and other search engines.
By implementing this three part strategy for your small, local or regional business, you can be assured that your Internet search traffic will grow and you will start to see traffic on your phone and through your front door without having to use pay per click or direct mail.
