subject: Why Google Is Important for Local Businesses [print this page] Why Google Is Important for Local Businesses
Believe it or not, people do not spend all of their time on the Internet searching Google. Most people check their email, primarily. Second to that, people share pictures and videos (which is why YouTube goes between being the 2nd or 3rd most popular website).
Facebook is another place where people spend time online, and shopping sites make up another massive chunk, especially during the holiday seasons.
Why Google Is Important for Local Businesses
Spending time sprucing up your website is good. Think of it like a wedding - people spend lots of time and money make the wedding space/reception space look good. But without invitations, and without a relationship with people that will make them want to come to your wedding, all that money and time will be wasted.
Google is like the invitations and the relationships in the example above. People are looking for services in your area, all the time. No, they don't spend all day doing it - with good reason: they don't have to. Google (and similarly, Yahoo!) are very regularly used by local residents to find service providers.
How Local Residents Search with Google
This is where many business owners get confused. Residents who don't know you or don't know where to find something are not going to type your business name into the search box. They are going to search for something really broad, like "plumbers in Tucson."
Optimizing Your Site for Those Searches
It makes little sense to optimize your site for something like your business's name. Most likely, you use that name everywhere, it's in your domain URL, and you probably link your website's URL to your name everywhere - Facebook profiles, articles, blogs, blog comments, etc. So, it's very likely that your website is already optimized for your business name.
What you need to focus on is optimizing your website for the keywords people are using to find the services you provide. If you are a plumber in Tucson, you need to optimize your site for the searches that people will likely use to find plumbers in Tucson.
Don't Forget Google Places
Google Places is a free business provided by Google to help residents find local businesses in their area. Google Places is also free for business owners. What's key here is that the search results for Google Places show up ABOVE the rest of the results, giving them prominence. You really ought to get your business into Google places.
Keep Your Customer's Needs In Mind
Your website really shouldn't be all about your services and your business. It should be all about what your customers need. Each page should be dedicated to a need or pain point that you know your customers have - such as a 'leaky roof,' if you are a roofer, or 'how to replace carpet' if you are a carpet reseller.
Researching the Right Keywords
If you are optimizing your website for Google, the very best place you can go to research keywords is the Google AdWords Keyword Tool. You will want to use this tool to find keywords and key phrases that people are actually searching for, instead of things you just think people are searching for. It is free, and although you can use it even if you don't have an AdWords account, you will get better and more keywords if you do have one (that's one of the perks).
