Increase Website Traffic; Be found by those valuable Local Searchers 

Locally focussed search traffic is generally better qualified and more likely to result in contacts or purchases.

If you are a small/medium sized business operating in one or a few local areas then keep reading. If your website is not set up properly to be found by those searching for your products or services using what we call local or regional “geographic locators” e.g. flower shop swindon or graphic designer wiltshire – then you are certainly not maximising the opportunities available to you.

With more and more clients/consumers searching online you can not afford to be overlooked by this very valuable audience. And...it’s only going to get bigger and bigger as people start using mobile phones and PDA’s to search for products and services while “on the move”.

Google as ever are up with the game and have recently adapted their search return listings to show more local results. What is more they will try and show local results even if the searcher has not put in any geographical locator! 

So how can you make sure your site is optimised for local search traffic?

The first key step is to undertake some detailed research. You need to identify the keywords and phrases that are being used by the local searchers. Of course you could just guess – and you will probably get a few right – but there is no substitute for actually knowing what phrases are used.  There are many ways you can do the necessary research though be aware - it will be time consuming. If you have a couple of locations each location should be analysed separately. The difference between the way they search in one location versus another may appear small but it could make a big difference in traffic levels.  As my old mom says “if a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing well” and keyword research at this stage is absolutely what you need to do properly. Otherwise you’ll build a strategy on guesswork and assumptions!

Once you have established a clear picture of how people are searching locally for the services and products you can supply, the next stage is to apply that knowledge to your website.  This will be done using traditional Search Engine Optimisation techniques. You need to review your page content and make sure it is properly addressing and reflecting the findings from your research. Where you can, add in images and even video that is location specific and which reinforces your geographic position.

If your business operates from a couple or more locations then make sure you have a page set up per location. Don’t just lump all the location details on a single “contact us” page. Create a page for every “brick and mortar” presence you have and make sure it shows the full address - including post code and county as well as a map.

Don’t just look at what the “visible” page is saying though – you need to make sure that all your meta tags, page names, titles and descriptions and keyword densities are reflective of the potentially new keywords revealed by the research. If you can get geo meta tags inserted too.  If you have put pictures on your pages then don’t forget the alt tags. (Search engines can’t read pictures so you need to “label” the images for them – this is a good place to put in those new keywords – but make it meaningful – this text will be seen by the site visitor as well).

The above all refers to things you can do “inside” your own site but there are many other external or “off-site” tactics that you should be employing.

Top of this list must be to get your business location(s) listed under Google’s Local Business Centre and Yahoo Local – this is how the maps that you see appearing on page one of the search returns, get generated. If you do nothing else, do this!

One key tip – make sure you put a local number here. Don’t use your 08** numbers – you are appealing to the local searchers after all.

The next thing you need to do is get your business listed in as many local directories as possible. You must have noticed that any search for a product or service will return a number of local directory sites. Try a general search on your products or services and see what directories appear. Join them.  Local business listing will benefit significantly your local search strategy. Another key tip – when they ask for the site URL put in the link to the page in your site which is addressing that local area – sending them to a generic “home page” may not be the best approach.

Use review sites - Review sites are growing in popularity and can be a significant boost to your business in terms of real referrals, not just from an SEO point of view. Yelp and Qype are good examples here. http://www.Yelp.co.uk  http://www.qype.co.uk

Once you have located the review channels appropriate for your area/business a good tip is to link to these review sites from your website. The “contact us” or “testimonials” pages are the logical places to locate these links. In this way you encourage your customers / clients to add their own reviews and in so doing they boost your internet presence. And just in case you are worried about being reviewed think about this - a recent survey (by The Kelsey Group and comScore) found that online, consumer-created reviews have a big impact on prospective buyers. Virtually 1 in every 4 people who purchase local services via the internet consult online ratings and reviews before making a choice.

Don’t stop now –you are on a roll...sign up to all the community and local business sites that you can find. Request links with these sites and with any partner sites relevant to your business. Tip – if possible make sure your link has a local keyword in the anchor text.

Finally – for now – consider the possibilities that have opened up with social networking. If you haven’t yet got a business profile with “fans” pages on Facebook you should seriously consider it. Also get a profile on Linked in and other similar business/social networking services - good example here would be Business Scene http://www.business-scene.com because of its local focus.

I haven’t mentioned blogging or twittering and of course these can be hugely significant in terms of appealing to a local audience but that – as they say – is a whole new ball game. One I will hopefully cover soon.

If you need any further information on any of the areas covered  please e-mail us now using sales@digitaltradingcreative.co.uk  or just call us on 01793 832102. we would be delighted to talk to you.