Local Search – How To
July 30th, 2010 by NPasiAs a form of advertising, local search visibility must be incorporated into any good SEO strategy.
Having taken a peek at local searches and how they’re most often utilized by users, let’s check them out from the SEO point of view.
Local search is the digital evolution of the yellow pages. As a form of advertising, it must be incorporated into any good SEO strategy. When someone enters local search terms into an engine, organic search results don’t appear above the fold. On a standard-size (1024×768 pixel) display, searching for “Plumber, Raleigh NC” fills the screen with the search engine’s local business listings. Users have to scroll down to get to organic results.
Any web designer should know that important information has to go “above the fold”, where visitors can view it without scrolling. People are busy and usually will not search beyond the first half-dozen results, especially if they have user reviews attached.
The first thing an SEO specialist does to get a client listed is to create entries with the search engine giants. Google, Yahoo, and Ask all have their own local listings, and these are the ones featured at the top of result lists. The specialist creates directory entries detailing the client’s address, hours of operation, contact information, website, industry, products and services, and can add photos and logos.
From there, effective copywriting comes into play. A business description is required, but stuffing it with mere keywords may result in rejection of the submission. With a limited number of characters to work with, the writer must draft a brief summary of services that won’t ping as spam. For example, one of a Raleigh plumbers’ listings reads:
“[Provider] provides experienced professionals specializing in plumbing, electrical, HVAC, heating and air conditioning across greater Raleigh.”
Something like this, however, would likely get your entry flagged for deletion, or worse, skipped over by customers because it doesn’t contain any real value that separates it from the rest of the pack:
“Raleigh, plumbing, Raleigh, electric, Raleigh, air conditioning, Raleigh, HVAC, Raleigh, contractor.”
Keyword terms such as those listed above are better put to use in the business categories section, where the optimizer chooses categories that best describe their client’s services. Here’s where analytics come in handy; if armed with a list of the most frequent and infrequently used searches, the SEO provider can play the field for optimal results. Sticking with the plumber example, “water heater installation” might be more effective than “plumbing”, or at least may help to bring in specific business.
Beyond major directory listings, your SEO provider should make sure you are visible in independent listings, such as YellowPages.com and CitySearch. These sites will cherry pick from each other (search for your business, it may pop up somewhere unexpected), but a good SEO service will check to make sure that their clients are correctly listed on credible local search sites.