subject: Search Engine Optimization For Local Businesses That Works [print this page] Every industry has big names, and if you want to get the most from those local searches, you'll do your best to get listed with those names. This refers to Google Maps and Yahoo! Local. These two happen to be the most influential in this area, which is why you should try to get listed with them first, and then get on with the other things. If you can list with them, the rest is downhill because the search engines and human searchers will always know where to find your website.
Getting listed in Google Maps isn't that difficult if you take the right steps. All you have to do is fill out a little form and you'll then be sent a phone message or an email so that you can let them know you are who you claim to be. Once you're verified, all it takes is a short waiting period of a few weeks for you to see yourself listed in the local searches. Similarly, coming to Yahoo! the process is the same, except that you don't need to go through the verification. Yahoo! allows you to fully customize your listing any way you wish.
Another plus about going with Yahoo! is that the approval process is very fast. If you can do this correctly, you'll see targeted traffic in no time.
Don't forget to target the local site listing services run by the search engines, such as Google Places, Yahoo! Local and Bing Local, and these sites all allow you to "claim your profile," which is something worth doing. All it takes to claim your profile on these sites is to verify your basic information with a phone call. This doesn't take much time but it will definitely give you an edge over the others who haven't done it. By including photos of yourself or your business on these local site listings, you enhance your reputation, as people feel more positive and trusting when they see an image. It isn't hard to upload some pictures from your site, camera or desktop, and it can benefit you quite a bit. You don't have to use gallery quality photos (unless your business is photography), but they will be reflecting on your business, so they should have some quality.
Diversifying your anchor text is something you need to do. Every SEO marketer knows the value of long tail keywords and how they can help you rank better in the search engines and when you're working with Local SEO, that's exactly what you're doing. This will allow you to both fiddle around with your anchor text in your links and add to the variety of anchor texts available to you while also expanding your reach exponentially.
For example let's say you sell chocolate in New York: don't just concentrate on "New York Chocolate Store". Go ahead and create incoming links for other variations of the same keyword phrase, such as "Chocolate Store in New York", or "Chocolate Stores in Manhattan, New York." No matter what, always remember that search engines give a lot of weight to anchor texts so you need to implement as many variations as you can so that you will be able to increase your rankings.
In conclusion, if you have always wanted to get targeted local traffic, then this is how you do it. The tips that we discussed in the above article will definitely help you get started.
