Understanding Local SEO

Local search engine optimization is the process of making sure all the online elements of your business are optimized so that your search result appears in front of an extremely relevant audience at a time when they’re displaying interest in your product or service.

In the case of local SEO, that relevant audience is someone that is currently, or will be, in the same vicinity as your business. When you visit a search engine, say Google, and enter a term, the goal of Google is to provide you with the best possible result. It’s why you continue to search on Google. If they keep delivering what you were hoping for in the first few results, you’ll continue to conduct your searches on their system. Google is motivated to deliver the best possible result, it’s how they make their money. So when you enter that search term, in an instant, Google has to make a determination.

Is this something the user would want near them or is this something global?

Looking for cupcake recipes is very different than looking for cupcake bakeries. If I’m in Las Vegas, a cupcake bakery in Florida is likely not what I’m looking for. However, a cupcake recipe can be on any blog written by anyone, regardless of location. But how does Google differentiate?

In an extremely simplistic explanation, a bakery is clearly a category of a business that would be local, a recipe is not. How they know the difference between those words is a course in itself, but that’s how it matters for you.

What matters is that Google knows you’re a cupcake bakery and not an outlet for recipes, that’s local SEO.

Get Listed in Directories

There are lots of directories that we recommend getting set up with. Some of these are more industry-specific so pick the relevant ones. To list a few we use for a new domain:

YP, which is formally Yellow Pages https://www.yellowpages.com/
Yelp https://www.yelp.com/
Super Pages https://www.superpages.com/
City Search http://www.citysearch.com/
Yahoo Local https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/local
Manta https://www.manta.com/
BBB www.bbb.org
Angie’s List https://www.angieslist.com/
MerchantCircle https://www.merchantcircle.com/
HomeAdvisor https://www.homeadvisor.com/
Facebook (isn’t really a directory but is still important)