How to Optimize Your Green Business Website for Local Search

Search engine optimization for your small business website is quite a difficult process, especially when facing competition from older, more established giants. Larger websites often have strong domain authority and many pages of content, which makes it easier for to rank higher in search engines for competitive keywords, as well as rank for a plethora of long tail keywords, enabling them to capture more search engine traffic. But there are ways in which a small green business can easily compete with the bigger and more popular websites on various search engines, especially at the local level.

Nearly 40 percent of all searches include some reference to local information. Even when the search query doesn’t ask for local information, search engines still provide local results. This is because, more often than not, when a consumer is searching for a product or service, such as “organic catering company“, chances are, they are looking for one that is local. Therefore, smaller and medium-sized businesses now have a terrific opportunity for local search engine optimization.

Now you may be asking yourself, what is local SEO? Local SEO is the art of driving geo-targeted search engine traffic to your business website. Local SEO involves whole combination of strategies and tactics that will ensure your website is found quickly and easy by potential customers in your geographic locale.

By optimizing your website to appear in local searches on the Internet, you’re adding yourself to a crucial virtual directory that millions of people access every single day.

How to Optimize Your Green Business Website for Local Search

As with regular SEO, local SEO is comprised of on page factors and off page factors. In other words, you need to add content to your website that tells search engines where your business is located. In addition, you need to get your business listed in search engines, directories, and linked to by other websites in a way that clearly indicates your business location. On page optimization is within your control, however, for it’s still possible to rank well in local search with low optimization. In highly competitive markets, however, on page factors are more important. Off page SEO are where you will need to spend most of your time and energy if you want to rank for local search.

Below are 7 steps important steps to optimize your green business website for local search:

Claim your local business listing NOW. Claim your local business listing on Google Local, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local, and. For branding purposes, you want to make sure that you control what’s yours – your own business profile - and protect your geo-listing from getting hijacked by competitors.
Optimize your local business listing. Now that you’ve claimed your business profile, make sure you indicate your address, local telephone number (NOT 800 number) and associate your business listing with keyword rich catogories. Making sure your target keywords are in your business title and description also help.
Add your business to web directories. Adding your business to web directories like Yelp, SuperPages, infoUSA, CitySearch, BOTW Local etc, increases the number of address citations around the web that contain your business name, your address, your telephone number, and your website. Every citation you get from a reputable source on the web is another vote of confidence that your business is indeed in that specific geo-location.
Include your address on every page. It’s a good practice to include your business address and contact information in the footer of your website. This simple step is not only great for user experience, as it eliminates visitors having to plumb the nether regions of your website to find out where your business is located and how to contact you. It also tells search engines where you are as well. If you cannot, for some bizarre reason, include your contact information in your website footer, in the very least, make sure your address appears on your home page, in your your about section, on your press page if you have one, and your Contact Us page.
Localize your title tags. Make sure your title tags include your target keywords, as well as your locale. For example, you have a green landscaping company in Lagunitas, California, your title tag should read something like this, “Green Landscaping & Design | Company Name | Lagunitas, CA.”
Get local links. Get listed on local business directories, in your local chamber of commerce website, and solicit local business owners to link to your website from theirs.
Get good customer reviews, often. Frequency of customer reviews appear to be increasingly important for local search. A steady stream of good reviews will also be great for your business.

If this all seems like a lot of work, you may want to first hit up GetListed.org, a service that allows you to submit to several search engines and directories at once. GetListed also provides great information about optimizing your business website for local search.

Local SEO for your green business ought to be high on your online marketing priority list, because it is one of of the easiest SEO and least expensive tactics to implement. As your website begins to appear in local search engine results, your business will be more visible, and you should begin to see more search engine traffic.

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Washington DC Marketing Firm Says:
July 31st, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Our firm has been focusing on Local SEO for clients this year and it is definitely a can’t pass up deal. Businesses that would never have a shot are now dethroning the big boys in their local areas.