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Get practical advice, strategies and tips from The Web Silo Online Marketing on all things digital marketing.
Local S.E.O also dubbed “local search” happens when we look for information online with the intention to make a purchase offline or gather more knowledge with an intent to purchase or visit a location. Online marketing has drastically changed in the last few years, so also has SEO and search techniques.
If you have a local based business, being found by your customers during a local search becomes a necessity for your business.
– The Web Silo Online Marketing
There are 2.6 billion local searches in a month, which means there is a large audience who search constantly for local businesses, and 91% of them use search engines to perform their search for a local business.
Google, Yahoo, and Bing are search engines that have created algorithms for local search, including customizable business listings for every business. When it comes to local SEO we use NAP to maintain business listing consistency across the web.
NAP is shorthand for “Name, Address, and Phone Number”. Keeping a consistent NAP is an important part of local SEO, as it helps Google accurately identify a business and boosts its confidence that it has the right business info. These listings include basic information for your local business: e.g., name, logo, contact information, map location, business times, website, address, and a description of your products and/or services. You can enhance your listings with image, video, coupons, and special offers.
Consistency across the web is key for maximizing your SEO potential and boosting your rankings – it’s essential! For instance, make sure your info is always the same – no exceptions! See the example below:
Say your business is The Web Silo, your address is 505 E Grand Ave Unit #152, Des Moines, IA, and your phone number is (515) 635-5633.
Your NAP citation for every one of your business listings on the internet should read as follows:
The Web Silo
https://thewebsilo.com
505 E Grand Ave Unit #152
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 635-5633
Traditional local media companies, including newspaper, television and radio, are starting to add local search to their local websites to attract local search traffic and advertising revenues from the niche market in which they serve.
These types of companies develop their own technology or licensed from a third-party online local search solution provider. These are “Private Label or White Label” local search.
This local search is incorporated with social signals. This type of social search includes Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, LyfePal, Foursquare, and LinkedIn. Social local search increases your listing ranking. You can combine social search signals, such as Facebook likes, and ranking signals, such as keyword relevancy and distance, to give a better crowd-source experience to your audience. Social media also helps you with featured mobile apps, which make your business discoverable to your audience.
Several providers are providing local search for mobile devices. It will help your customers search your local business using their mobile devices. Your customers can search for your products and services, contact information, and much more.
Every business owner or individual who wants his details, like name, phone number, address, business description, and business hours, to show up in the local search have many options for doing so. They can do this by claiming business listings through Google My Business, Yahoo’s, and other search engine’s local service centers. The listing information can be listed via traditional yellow pages or search engine optimization services. The geo-tagging techniques (i.e. tagging photos with the location) can also be used.
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