Hi there-
We are interested in a local search optimization for our restaurant in Houston. How do we get started?
Best,
Christina
home / ChooseWhat Forums / Additional Small Business Resource Forums / Search Engine Optimization / Local Search Optimization
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christinaano
Posted 7 months ago # -
Reece Freeman
Posted 7 months ago #Thanks for the post! Lindsey, from our SEO team, is currently working on an answer and will respond as soon as she's done.
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Lindsey
Posted 7 months ago #Hi Christina and thank you for your inquiry!
There are a few things that you can do to get started optimizing your website for the search engines as well as for the local search engines. One main general starting point is looking at your on page SEO. Your on page SEO includes optimizing the content of your website included in the text, images, and links on your site.
Your on page SEO starts with researching keywords that are related to your industry and a good tool for that is to use Google's keyword research tool. For example, if you own an Italian restaurant then you would want to search for words using the keyword research tool that are relevant to Italian food. By finding keywords that are related to your niche, you can then begin using those words in your content such as in your title tags, headings, and within the content itself. This helps to make your search results more relevant when you use the correct keywords related to your business. The most important part of your on page SEO is your title tag which can be seen at the very top left hand corner of the webpage. You want to have your top keywords located within the title tag.
As with your content, the first title is very important along with the first few words used in each sentence. These need to be filled with your keywords but in a manner that is not forced but rather appears natural.
To help with your local SEO, a few things that you would want to consider would be making sure that you have the correct contact information such as your name, address, and phone number along with a web page to house this information. With this information, you can then enter your profile data along with your website into Google's Local Business Listings and to do this you will need a Google Account. Once you have this, you can complete the business information section with all of your business data. The web page you want to submit is your contact/location page as your landing page. If you have more than one location, you will need to have a landing page for each location. This will help to get you higher local rankings. You will also want to register your profile with with Yahoo Local, Bing Local and Merchant Circle.
Another big aspect of local SEO is getting online reviews. Reviews help build your credibility.It is very important to monitor your customer reviews to make sure that you don't have negative reviews popping up in the top search results. You can do this by looking at your profiles under place you have registered such as Yelp, Local.com, and Google Places. Hope you find this a good starting place and if your have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask!
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Lindsey
Posted 7 months ago #Also, if you are interested in learning more about Local SEO, we have an excellent video resource that provides step by step instructions for getting your website listed in Google's results section here: The Local SEO Formula. We have reviewed this video and found this to be very easy to understand and very useful information. This is a really good resource for getting started in Local SEO!
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Casey Jones
Posted 7 months ago #Hey I've always wondered what 'Local' means specifically with regards to SEO? Sometimes I've heard it means search within your country, sometimes I've heard that it means search within your city. Is there an exact definition?
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Lindsey
Posted 7 months ago #'Local' in regards to Local SEO here means that you are optimizing your website to be found in Google Maps as well as business listings so that you can be found within the city you live such as in Google Maps. There are some techniques that you can implement to perform country specific local SEO one important aspect being registering a country specific domain name.
Local SEO is typically more widely known to mean SEO performed to reach the audience living in your city with you being a business that does local sales like a restaurant or clothing store. Great question! I hope this clears things up a bit.
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Jen Udan
Posted 7 months ago #Hey Christina,
We've actually got a resource page on our Build a Website section that has links to the local search engine listings for Google, Yahoo and Bing. You can find it here: http://build-a-website.choosewhat.com/website-builder-resources#search-engine-submit
I would suggest submitting your website to the local listings of all three search engines. This will help boost your website's visibility on the web and direct more people to your site/your business, as well as doing all of the things Lindsey suggested above.
Hope this helps!
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Posted 7 months ago #lindsey and jen, thank you very much for the optimization info . . . we have started the process and will be in-touch!
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Reece Freeman
Posted 7 months ago #Hi again, Christina. I just wanted to let you know that Lindsey has just wrote a "Best Business Tactic" blog piece on this topic for you need any more information. I'm sure most of it is covered in her explanations above, but didn't want you to be left out of the loop!
Check her blog out here: "How to Use ‘Local SEO’ to Attract More Customers in Your Area"
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