Some Tips to Help You Optimize Your Website for a Local Audience

Some Tips to Help You Optimize Your Website for a Local Audience

SEO – search engine optimization, was the buzzword of the decade. Not much has changed, as search engine optimization remains the most important thing to have a website found. However, a few things have changed as well. Today, Google looks not just at regular SEO, they look at local SEO. And, to add to the confusion, the now also look at pages that are mobile responsive. This means that your website has to function properly on mobile devices as well.

So what does this all mean? The first thing it mean was that some web pages that ranked highly in Google went to the third or even fourth page overnight. It also means that the approach to SEO has had to change completely. Now, the focus is all on these localized and mobile services. The philosophy behind that makes sense: people are out and about and want to know where to go from where they are, so they use their mobile to find out about it.

Local Indexing

What is now happening is that SEO combines a lot of different things. Most good SEO companies have always offered website design services in conjunction with their SEO services. This remains unchanged, but they now make sure that these design services include responsiveness. Secondly, they focus on listing their client on local website, which includes things such as CitySearch, Yelp, YahooLocal, InsiderPages, JudysBook, DealerRAter, Edmunds, TripAdvisor, OpenTable and Zagats. These pages are about more than listings, however, they are also about reviews and ratings. So, SEO companies now offer a range of different services, which are:

  • Website analysis, to see whether your site is optimized and responsive.
  • Website design, particularly if you are nonexistent or non-responsive.
  • SEO services, with a specific focus on local SEO.
  • Reputation management and review management.
  • Social media marketing.

Each of these elements are vital to the success of your business. Without a properly functioning website, you may as well not have an online presence at all. And, without an online presence, you may as well not be in business. We have already explained how important it is that your website is mobile responsive. This is true also if you don’t have a physical store that you want passersby to find. It is important for all websites. According to recent calculations, 51{f48cdb843be78821f3e6bad1e0e37d22b133730599e0a9a60c52ba26b491813c} of internet access in this country is done through mobile devices.

Then, there is the fact that people make decisions on whether or not to shop with your store depending on the reviews they read on the various local websites, such as those mentioned earlier. This is also where social media comes in, however. Social media, and particularly Facebook, are vital tools towards making your website found and known to your local audience. Facebook is a huge part of your overall reputation, as this is where people can talk about you and talk with you at the same time. It is the customer service helpline of the 21st century.