Get ahead in local search
Local search can be extremely valuable to a business. If people search online for a business or product in a specific geographic location and you get your business in front of them at this point you are well placed to convert them into a customer.
With online competition being so fierce any successful online local search marketing strategy takes planning, time and some good old fashioned hard work. Of course, there are some quick, easy steps you can take to help ensure your business gets found when people conduct local searches. Getting free listings on online directories is a good place to start. Infoserve has a number of high ranking online directories that will give your business solid online visibility. These include the popular business directory www.city-visitor.com and a range of industry specific business directories, including accountancy, cosmetic surgery and car hire. You can also get your business listed on Yahoo!Local through Infoserve.
There’s no magic wand when it comes to local search and it is important that you take a wide view of local search marketing. The algorithm used for delivering search results to users remains something of a mystery and constant monitoring is needed to keep your business visible for the searches you want to be found for.
Your URL, inbound links and keyword rich meta data and website content all help. A good website is essential to your business: there is no point doing all the hard work in terms of local search marketing and getting found if your website doesn’t deliver what the user wants or expects. Infoserve provides businesses with websites that are optimised for local search and which give visitors the information they are looking for. Some examples are:
· www.theyorkshirekitchencompany.co.uk
· www.electriciansstratforduponavon.co.uk
· www.urbanedgeacademy.co.uk
Infoserve offers a wide choice of websites, including E-Start websites, KeySite websites and bespoke and e-commerce websites.
Customer reviews can be extremely useful to your business: the launch of Google Hotpot emphasises this. Reviews need monitoring, however, as they can be both good and bad. You will need a plan in place with regard to negative reviews: perhaps that will be to respond; get additional positive reviews, or just accept you can’t please everyone all of the time.
Social media is growing in importance and you should always consider how the likes of Facebook and Twitter can be utilised for local search. You can use Facebook and Twitter to attract people to your website; although be careful not to oversell on these platforms – they are social arenas and people can get turned off by pushy sales tactics.
The way people look for information has changed. Gone are the days when people used a paper directory to search for information. The world has changed and if you want your business to survive it is important to embrace the changes and aim to get ahead in local search. It will pay to do so.
Tags: Infoserve, KeySites, Local Search, online local search marketing, www.electriciansstratforduponavon.co.uk, www.theyorkshirekitchencompany.co.uk, www.urbanedgeacademy.co.uk, Yahoo!Local