Local SEO & Domain Strategies to Boost Site Traffic

Domain Names and Local Search Engine Optimization

Increasingly consumers are searching the web for locally available items – from cars to pizzas – and they are relying on information and reviews found online.

This local focus offers solid opportunities for a local domain name strategy to help drive traffic and customers, especially as search engines incorporate local search into their algorithms. The “local” results are displayed alongside “standard” search results.

The Cross Section Of Universal & Local SEO

Universal Search is, basically, search results including standard webpages with videos, blog posts, images, news, and local results mixed in. A standard query in Google for pizza will now return a search engine results page (SERP) with an excerpt of local pizza restaurants, based on your automatically detected search location. A query for a specific model computer will return a shopping excerpt listing the prices of that computer in various locations, including “Nearby Stores”.

Requirements for ranking in local results line up with standard SEO principles, including the use of relevant domain names. For example: if you own Joe’s Reliable Plumbing and your primary domain is “www.JoesReliablePlumbing.com”, you would do well to consider the purchase of additional domains such as “www.JoesPlumbing[your town name].com” or “www.[your town name]plumber.com”.   In addition, getting links to your site from trusted sites such as the local chamber of commerce, and keyword rich content are all relevant to SEO.
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Take a moment to search for a local domain name to build your online brand. _______________________________________________________________________

Specific Techniques for Local SEO

All top search engines offer specific location based web pages available for local businesses to “claim”.  They include: Places for Google, Yahoo Local for Yahoo, and Bing Local for Bing. These pages are a great way to showcase local sites by including useful contact information, pictures, and a link to your website.

These local listing pages provide search engines and users with an easy-to-view, go-to source for your local information. In addition, the direct link between your local page and your website can improve visibility and rankings.

Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local also provide beneficial categorization that helps users and search engines to more readily determine what your business is all about. Google Places also allows the adding of photos, embedded YouTube videos, and more to enhance the quality of the listing for users, which can, in turn, increase traffic to your site and your store.

Location Specific Optimization

While search engine location pages can enhance your visibility on SERPs for specific categories and keywords, it is still a competitive space for many industries and areas. Particularly in major cities where there are numerous businesses offering the same services, the competition for first page positioning in local search is intense. To improve your chances in this race, there are key local SEO factors you can implement within your site itself.

• As we noted: consider purchasing domain names with a specific (local) focus. For example, the domain “bostonhousecleaning.com” is likely to boast high search engine positioning for the query “house cleaning”, as searched by users in the greater Boston area. However, take care when purchasing a location and keyword specific domain. If your business operates beyond this specific vicinity or offers additional services that may be overlooked with this domain, a more universal domain would be beneficial. Massachusettscleaningservices.com would cover the Boston area and the entire state, while encompassing both home and commercial cleaning.

• Second, ensure your location is clearly stated on your website. For best results in local searches, your address should appear on every page of your website. Many sites choose to place this information in the footer, an easily accessible location for search engine spiders and visitors that doesn’t get in the way of the content.

• Lastly, integrate location specific keywords into your web pages. To readily optimize for pizza delivery queries in the greater Boston area, local pizza shops can optimize their web pages for “Boston pizza delivery”, “Boston pizza”, and other like phrases. After all, these phrases are often those that will be used by nearby city dwellers looking to fulfill their craving for a late night snack.

It is these local searches that will drive the foot traffic you need to keep your business running. However, make certain to follow key principles of search engine optimization when implementing a new keyword strategy, so that you don’t over optimize, which will actually hurt your rankings.

Free Local Listings & Review Sites

While directory farms are a thing of the past, free local listing services offer unique benefits. Popular websites offering these services today include: Yelp, CitySearch, Local.com, Urbanspoon, Trip Advisor, and more.

These website provide a go-to source for users looking for local service providers. As such, adding your business to their portfolio can go a long way in increasing both website and in-store foot traffic. Each of these local listings also provides an additional web page about your business that can be ranked by search engines. By adding a link to your company’s website, you’ve made your business more accessible by users and your site more visible to search engine spiders.

Many of these local listings are primarily review sites. Users can provide their honest opinions about the good and the bad of local restaurants, stores, services, and other businesses. In their essence, both good and bad reviews provide unique benefits, as they get consumers talking about the business and create unique content to improve positioning of that page in search engines.

Ultimately, by increasing the value of these pages through unique content, the weight of the links back to your site is also increased. Since each quality link counts towards your site’s backlinks, you can readily improve your site’s positioning in both universal and local SERPs.