Categories: Improve Search Engine Rankings

Optimize for local searches

“Optimize for local searches” is one of the recommendation that every local business owner will get. Local optimization is no longer an optional part of your SEO optimization strategy; it has to be one of the most critical aspects of SEO. Just like having relevant titles for your pages are a must, local presence and optimizing the presence is now a must.

In addition to the residents of a city, there are some people who arrive in the city for business or leisure. With free or very reasonable Wi-Fi rates available in almost every hotel, everyone has access to the internet, and therefore information is easily available. People can get quick answers to common queries such as the below-mentioned:

Where is the nearest grocery store?
How do I hire a car?
Where is the closest movie theatre?
Where is the closest pharmacy?

The answers that are displayed in the SERPs and Google maps are largely from localized businesses that have optimized for local searches.

For example, I wanted to know where the closest pharmacy is from my location, and I easily got the information from Google maps:

Do not miss out on this growing number of searches that is happening today. Optimize for local searches.

Searches happen not only from local residents, a lot of searches are contributed by a percentage of people who are new to the city.This is a great opportunity for local businesses; they should do their best to ensure that people find them on searching through local sources on-line, such as, Google maps. The best part is, if the first time visitors have a great experience at the store, they will come back again, and refer others. A good experience gets shared by word of mouth, through reviews…there is so much potential here!

It has never been this easy to attract visitors to local stores earlier, why not make the most of it? And the best part is, this service is absolutely free!

It is so easy to add a business on Google. Go to “https://www.google.com/business/” and click on “Get on Google”.

A Google account is required, and it can be created easily. The next step is the Google verification process, once the business gets verified, the listing goes live. Upon getting added on Google, the local business starts showing up on Google SERPs, Google Maps, and Google+. The details provided (such as, mapping, timings, contact numbers, special offers etc) need to be checked for accuracy so that potential customers can contact businesses without any issues.

Google makes it so easy for customers to endorse you. Customers can show their appreciation on Google by using the +1 button.

Local listings needs to be a critical part of your on-line presence. If your business is fairly new, you may want to run a couple of paid campaigns ( such as Google AdWords) so that your business gets an additional boost.

With almost everybody seeking information on-line, can you afford to stay off-line?

Ranjana Jha

The internet has been a great source of interest to me. I have been involved with website promotions and SEO since the late 90s. Those days SEO was not as well-known or wasn't really the top priority for most businesses. The whole SEO concept was still at its nascent stage. It is interesting how SEO has evolved over the past decade. My objective of setting up this website is to share my experiences and help your business attain a higher visibility on the internet.