A Few Tips from Our San Diego Internet Marketing Team
If you have been marketing your website at all the past 12-24 months, you’ve no doubt discovered the importance of local search engine rankings. Last year, a Local Consumer Review Study surveyed nearly 3,000 people and discovered that 85{c55e560418ce770390e014a82a8daba02ae2bc5167395c1376161ff6ec3b989b} of them use the internet to find local business services. You probably don’t need to look much past your own habits to figure out that being present in local search results for your business type has definite value in terms of attracting new customers. However, many business websites fail to rank locally due to minor issues that they could easily change or update.
Here are a few tips for higher local search engine rankings:
Have a local address and phone number listed on your website. Too often, small business owners omit their address from their website or don’t have a phone number with the local area code. These things do not go unnoticed by the search engines (or by your web visitors). Understandably, smaller home-based businesses may not want to list their home address on their website, but understand that the lack of an address could have a significant effect on local search rankings. While a PO Box isn’t the most optimal preference, it is far better than no local address at all.
Have keywords integrated into your content. This seems like an obvious thing to do but it often gets overlooked. Example: If you are a real estate attorney who is internet marketing in San Diego, then the words “San Diego Real Estate Attorney” should appear throughout your website. This doesn’t mean over-stuffing your site with spamming keywords, but it also doesn’t mean you should neglect them. Using keywords properly in your headings and descriptions is also helpful. If you are not familiar with this process, it would be worth it to hire a professional to make a few updates to your site.
Have an accurate Google Places page for your business. If you want Google to rank you well, then it only makes sense to make sure you register your business with them and provide accurate information. This can be done in less than 10 minutes. Go to http://www.google.com/business/placesforbusiness/ and register your company. If you have already done this, go back and make sure the information hasn’t changed and that your profile is filled out completely. Failing to do this could keep your site from being properly ranked.
Ultimately, high search engine rankings come down to having a properly developed website, writing well worded and compelling content, and getting the word out via avenues such as social media and proper back linking. It takes time and know-how, but the good news is that most industries still have plenty of online opportunity for companies willing to invest in their internet marketing future. Contact our office if you’d like more information.
