subject: Local Marketing. 4 Ideas To Achieve Higher Search Engine Ranking. [print this page] There are ten billion distinct online searches conducted each month in the United States, and roughly 40% of these searches are for local services, businesses and products. For small and medium size businesses that want to be visible in today's highly competitive online marketing world, local search marketing is essential. I don't know of any one using dusty old telephone book to find businesses. Now, most people actually search for your services on the web, mobile devices, car navigation systems, enhanced 411 services or other high tech devices. A lot of people rather filter their searches to their local places simply because of the increased need among people to know who they are dealing with, or they may want to personally visit your establishment. Local Search Marketing will build brand awareness, build trust for local visitors, and most significantly increases return on your investment. Hiring a professional marketing services can make the most of your revenue for pennies on the dollar. If you are a do it yourself person, the steps below will help you along the way.
Step One: Get a listing, claim your listing, and bring up to date your business details on major local data providers and top rated local search engines for free of cost:
oTop Local data providers: Amacai (or Localeze), InfoUSA, and Acxiom.
oMajor local search sites: Google Maps, Yahoo Local, MSN Live Search, and Ask City.
oMajor internet Yellow Pages sites: YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, and DexOnline.com.
Step Two: Post and enhance your website to Goggles Places page (formerly known as Google Local Business Center). Make sure to include these items below:
oEssential company information
oe-mail,overview and web site address.
oService areas
oBusiness category selection.
oHours of operation and payment options.
oGraphics and online videos.
oAny other details of your Business.
oLast but not least, examine accurateness of data, and then submit to save the changes.
Step Three: If you want to "get found" on prominent search engines and to increase your ranking, start off by building citations (or links) to your listings. Most citations will contain the following: your company name, your business number, business website URL and business categorization. Any extra sources that will allow more rich information about your organization such as customer reviews will also help your ranking.
Step Four: Select the correct service provider: your website should be hosted in the country where most of your customers are located. For instance, if your organization is based in the USA and your domain is hosted in the England, the chance of your website ranking well in the United Kingdom is greater since search engines will interpret your website to be a UK website!
As a savvy business owner, make Local Search Marketing a major part of your website advertising campaign in order to increase community popularity among end-users, and thus boost sales and revenue. Local search advertising is also a great way to start your marketing adventure, since it takes less time and a smaller budget in comparison with other online advertising methods.
