Terrakon Blog

If you have a business with a physical address or a chain of businesses with local addresses — this post is for you.

As a local business you want to ensure that you are positioning yourself to be found in as many ways as possible on the Internet — this includes the local side of the search engines.

Google has numerous types of results it returns based on the keyword that is searched including Google Maps results –

Google Maps Results

Yahoo! and Bing have similar sides to their search results.

How do you ensure that your business is well represented in the local portions of the main search engine algorithm?

Local SEO Checklist

You or someone from your organization should “own” the following activities and ensure that they are taken care of to increase local traffic to your website using local search engine optimization. If you don’t have the time, resources or know-how to get this done you can outsource it to a professional SEO firm, like Terrakon.

1. Claim Your Business Listing – This is the most important factor.  It is entirely possible that there is a listing for your business in dozens of directories that you have not yet claimed as yours.  Google, Yahoo! and Bing are all in the business of delivering trustworthy results to their customer — the searcher.  When you claim your business listing as your own, you add a layer of trust to the local business result.
2. Check The Accuracy Of Your Listings – Again, the search engines are looking for trustworthy results.  If they are finding different versions of your physical address all over the web, you are making it difficult for Google (and the others) to trust what they have on file for your business.
3. Keywords In The Title – There is a fine line between natural placing of a keyword in the title of your business listing and SPAMMING the listing.  Here is a good example of proper use here — if the listing is for a discrimination law firm called Kerry, James and Ellis, I might create a local listing with the title “Kerry, James and Ellis Discrimination Attorneys at Law”
4. Ensure Proper Categorization – Most business listings that you will create will have a group of categories that you can choose to place yourself int0.  Take your time here, don’t put yourself into categories that don’t correspond with what you do, but make sure you are listed in every category possible.
5. Keywords/Location In Description – Generally, you will also be able to include a written description of your business in a local listing.   Natural use of keywords and your business location in the description may have a slight effect on your ranking but will certainly increase click-through rates — use this where it makes sense.
6. Location is In Actual City – Unfortunately there is currently a world of difference between being located within the Saint Louis, Missouri city limits (from a postal address point of view) and being located 10 feet outside of that city with a Ballwin address, for example.  If you are in the unlikely position to choose your physical location, from a local SEO perspective, it is best to have a postal address within the city limits of the largest municipality you are servicing.

What about you?  What questions/comments do you have about this Local Search Engine Optimization checklist?  We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section or you can contact us here.

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