Local Search Optimization
Local search optimization is not exactly a new trend, but
one that is getting more emphasis now days as the competition
is heating up in different geographical locations. Every since
Internet websites have come to be, business owners have been
staking their claims by geography around the world.
Whether the online business sells real estate, attorney services,
dentistry or a whole host of other goods and services, trying
to control the local market has been the aim for many. When
the Web first began it was not always clear on just how to
do local search optimization.
Does one want to put one's city, county, region or state
into the title tag and meta tags? What about body text and
back links? Does this business want to limit itself to only
one particular geographical region or does it want to expand
its online borders to other regions as well?
These are important questions that need to be asked when
commencing on local search optimization as they will have
a large impact on the strategy right from the get-go. For
instance, optimizing a website for "Pennsylvania lawyers"
may take an entire different strategy than optimizing for
"Pittsburg lawyers".
The competition will likely be fierce for either terms so
the business owner would do well to pick the one that most
suits their business and optimize for that particular one.
Many websites are not geographically centered in that they
can sell their goods and services anywhere and may not have
a brick and mortar store that people can walk into off the
street. Others, however, are very geographically-centered.
For local search optimization, some search engine optimizers
like to use the following address meta tag:
<META NAME="address" CONTENT="
Max Enterprises
1234 Main Street
Anywhere, ID 83201">
This lets the search engines know the physical address of
a particular Web business. Of course, title, meta tags, body
copy and back links that mention geographical location are
also important, as well has having those back links in the
correct geographically-centered directories, message boards
and blogs.
Local search optimization is in most ways like traditional
SEO, though knowing a few tips like those stated above, can
help a website go a long way in the SERPs.
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