Local SEO Tips

Local SEO is getting increasingly important for many sites; do you depend on foot traffic or local business?  Are you a restaurant, shop, salon, or retailer that markets to people right in your own neighborhood – or at least the surrounding vicinity? Mobile users tend to look for this type of information – addresses, phone numbers, etc. – and businesses can greatly benefit from making sure they’re primed for local SEO.

Here are some tips for optimising for local traffic:

• Narrow it down a little. Instead of “Football boots,” include your city or locality’s name in the keyword. “Football boots in London,” or “Manchester football boots,” for instance. If a local footballer is looking for footwear to purchase, he/she will likely put in the city they are shopping in.
• What if you want to target surrounding areas? Look at your web analytics to see which might bring in the most traffic and target those.
• But what if your shop is located in Denshaw and more people look for “football boots in Manchester”?  You can still target the Manchester crowd by adding a tag like “located near Manchester” or “close to Manchester” so you are not misleading visitors.  Do put your physical address and phone number on each page of the site though.
• Encourage user reviews and ratings. Even negative ones can be helpful; just make sure to address the problems posed.
• Add yourself to local directories, such as Google Places and/or Bing Local.
• Consider designing a QR code so customers can find more information before they come to the store, or they can find your website after visiting.

Local businesses can boost their traffic by using these SEO steps.  The internet doesn’t have to be all about ecommerce; it can be a great tool for driving people to your physical location.