Six Ways to Gain Customers using Local Search Engine Tactics

The Internet is home to all manner of great ways to drive customers to your local business. It all starts with local search engine optimization, which can create a viral buzz about your business. This often has the effect of driving live leads to your front door, just so they can get a better feel for what your business is all about. If you are looking to give your business a boost, read on to see how search engines can help.

Method 1: List your business in directories

There are a number of great local business directories online, with the likes of Google Places, Yahoo Local, Bing Local, and Yelp among the most popular. Those are often the places that potential customers will go to first when trying to track down a local business. Your business will automatically land in search results, complete with a map, reviews, and feedback from existing customers.

Method 2: Optimize for local keywords

Google has a number of invaluable tools for the business owner. The Google Keyword Tool will help you find keywords that are relevant to your business and which are most to likely to be used by searchers. Use those relevant words on each of your pages, making sure to add local search modifiers like city and state. You should also change the URL and link structure of your website pages to reflect those changes. Doing so will allow search engines to spider your website more efficiently, ranking you higher in the process.

Method 3: Go local with your advertising campaigns

You can turn to Google again when it comes to local advertising. Google Adwords is a great place to start as it allows you to target your ads using keywords that include geo location. This will ensure that your ads are only shown to those in your geographical area, which means you wonít end up wasting money advertising to people that canít avail themselves of your services. The ability to track how well each ad is doing means that you can dump those that are underperforming whilst putting more money into top ads, all of which will increase your ROI.

Method 4: Create blog posts with a local touch

It has often been said that content is king, so deliver quality content to your customers so that you may rule your market. Blog articles about common questions that you hear from your customers or choose to focus on local news and events. Give out as much information as possible about your business, as well as the products and services that you offer, making sure to include relevant keywords in a way that sounds completely natural. Spread your content around the web as this will create valuable backlinks to your site, which is something that search engines love.

Method 5: Get involved in local online discussions

Itís a good idea to be active in online discussions on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Respond as quickly as possible when you see a question or comment made about your business. You should also consider randomly giving away products or giving discount to people that talk about your business. That simple act can lead to a great deal of positive buzz being sent in your direction. It can also help to build trust and situate your business as a brand that is an authority in your chosen industry.

Method 6: Write for relevant websites in your area

If you are already in the habit of writing content for your own blog or website, you should consider creating content for other sites in your area and industry. Providing entertaining, informative content will help you broaden your potential customer base and is likely to send more people to your site. For example, writing for the local newspaper will increase your visibility locally and may help your business be discovered by readers who may ordinarily never have known about you.

Conclusion

A good deal of your local search engine optimization is done by actively building an online presence, whilst being sure to use proper keyword techniques. Maintaining an active online local presence in the community may very well save you a small fortune in traditional marketing methods. This process is not something that is a one shot deal, but rather an ongoing process that will reap its own rewards.