Key Facts about Local SEO
One of the easiest SEO tips that you can use is to create optimized local classified ads. This is a very easy way to leverage the local searches in your area because the major search engines really like those kinds of sites and using them a lot is a great way to send local traffic to the website of your business. Start out by listing your business on Craigslist because, out of all of the classified portals out there, it is the most popular. Posting SEO'd ads on Craigslist regularly is something that you need to do. You need to make sure you target your ads to your chosen market. Be careful not to make your ad garish--simple is best. When you create an ad put a lot of effort into the title of the ad because that is what will catch the attention of people looking for your business. Your title should include your keyword phrase as well as your city and state. You might think of your Craigslist ad as a landing page of sorts because, if you pay attention, you'll see that often the ads on Craiglist are higher ranked than the websites they advertise. The best strategy for business owners is to think of Craigslist as a funnel for targeted traffic and your website. Besides that, there is also USFreeAds: it does not work as well as Craigslist but it can still provide you with a great response since it is a well ranked classified site. You can either try to piggy back your site's traffic from the classifieds sites but your main goal should be to simply use them to send targeted traffic to your business directly. Many local websites, like Yelp, are fine with the idea of business owners asking customers or clients to post reviews for them. Because the sites allow this and because it helps you with your local SEO efforts why aren't you doing it already? It is important that you remind your customers to do this however you can: e-mail signature, invoice, contact forms, etc. It doesn't have to be hard, just a quick "we'd really appreciate it if you could take a moment to review our company on LocalWebsiteOfYourChoice.Dot." Even though you are not able to control any of the text in the reviews, whether you get good or bad reviews, having them online adds credibility to your business and makes you look more reliable to new customers. This is one of the main tips that you need to take to heart because it has the potential to help you business grow quite a lot and have lots of success.
You will also want to make sure every page your site has lists your address. This always impresses the search engines and they'll rank you higher. What does this include? You must have the address, number as well as zip code for your business on each page you publish. You'll then reveal yourself to be going after local searches and that makes it easy for the searches. Local SEO is the best way of getting you the exposure you want; there's no denying that.