Over the years, the search engines have been placing an increasing value on links that point back to your business’s web site. These links along with other factors are rolled into a formula or an algorithm. Search engines use these proprietary algorithms to determine where your site ranks for a specific geo-targeted keyword or keyword phrase. Off page optimization is the process of creating links on highly respected external sites that can improve your rankings in the search engines and result in additional traffic to your web site.

Major Search Engines
The first place to start are sites that are focused on local search or have sections of their site that provide the visitor with the ability to find goods or services in a particular city. Chances are these sites may already have your company’s basic contact information. The majority of local searches begin at one of the three major search engines: Google, Yahoo!, or MSN. Take some time to test these major search engines to make sure your business information is in their databases and that the information is accurate and up to date. Google and Yahoo! allow businesses to update the information directly from their Web site, and MSN uses a third party to maintain its database of business listings. To find the link to update your businesses information, look for a link entitled “Edit this listing” on your Google and Yahoo! business profile.

Online Yellow Pages
The next type of web site that online users visit to find local businesses are Internet yellow pages. Just like print editions, online yellow pages are focused on organizing business information into categories based on industry specialties. Instead of thumbing through the pages to find businesses, users type in a keyword that describes the product or service they are in the market for along with a city, state or zip code. A few of the most popular online yellow pages are SuperPages.com, Citysearch.com, Yellowpages.com, and Dexknows.com. The same steps of verification of your business data or adding your listing should be performed on these sites to increase your company’s visibility on the Internet.

Data Aggregators
These online databases are often tapped by the major search engines as sources for business information. Some of these companies were created to service the direct mail industry and have now evolved into sources for local search engines and Internet yellow pages. The four sites that feed all of the major search engines are as follows: Amacai.com, Acxiom.com, Geosign.com, and InfoUSA.com. Visit each one of these sites and make sure your site is listed and the data accurate and up to date. Google and Yahoo Yellow Pages use the data from the database at infoUSA, which contains information on 14 million U.S. businesses.

Consumer Review Sites
Consumer Review Sites or Social Local Search Sites are the online equivalent of asking your friends and neighbors for the name of a good mechanic, dentist, or doctor. The two busiest social local sites are Yelp.com and Insiderpages.com. The popularity of these sources of local business listings is growing. Market share of visits to these online directories with user generated content increased 44 percent from August 2005 to August 2006 according to Internet analysts at Hitwise.

Leverage the growth of these sites by listing your business if it’s not already listed. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool and it’s the reason why these sites are so popular. Increase the visibility and improve your company’s reputation by encouraging your customers to leave a favorable review of your business.

Other Local Directory Sites
Web sites run by Internet entrepreneurs focusing on smaller communities can be found by searching on Google.com with the search phrase incorporating your town such as “Batavia, IL, business directory.” While these sites may not be as popular as the previously mentioned business directories, each additional link pointing back to your site increases your status in the major search engines.

Community Organizations and Newspapers
If you are a member of a community organization such as the local chapter of Rotary International or the Chamber of Commerce, ask about having a link from the club’s site to your web site. Look for opportunities to feature your business in your local newspaper. For example, most newspapers either share content with their online edition or have a separate editorial staff.

Spending time creating business listings on local search engines, Internet yellow pages, and other web sites should result in an increase in visitors to your business’s web site. Statistics show that consumers who conduct online searches are more likely to buy a product or service in their geographical area.

Local SEO Series:
Part 1 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – Introduction
Part 2 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – On Page Techniques
Part 3 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – Off Page Techniques

On page optimization is the process of changing or “tweaking” elements of pages of a web site to achieve top performance. Performance is measured in an increase in the amount of visitors that view your web site. The first step for on page optimization for local search is to develop a list of geographical terms that are relevant to your company’s location. This list would include terms such as counties, schools, cities, nicknames for cities, and landmarks. Armed with this list, create a paragraph that answers the who, what, why, and where of your business.

Who are you and how long have you been in business?
What does your company produce or sell?
Why should I choose your company instead of your competitors?
Where is your company located and what geographical area does it service?

The following is an example of before and after local search optimization techniques that have been applied to text found on a typical “About Us” or “Contact Us” page for a fictional bakery.

Before:
The Red Hen Bakery is located at 1315 Paramount Pkwy, Batavia, IL.

After:
Located in Batavia, IL, The Ren Hen Bakery has created delicious pies, wedding cakes, and cookies at our Fox Valley location since 1976. Situated between Kane and DuPage counties, our bakery is just 10 minutes north of I-88 (Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway).
Our complete street address is 1315 Paramount Parkway; the closest cross street is Schuler Drive.

If you’re coming from the “Windy City” of Chicago, take I-88 west to the Farnsworth exit. Head north on Farnsworth for three miles. Take a right on Hubbard and travel east for approximately a half a mile. Turn left on Paramount Pkwy and travel about a half a mile. Our store is on the west side of the road and ample free parking is available on the south side of the building.

Your goal is to write in a style that is helpful for online users and is keyword dense for search engines to index and subsequently help your site to rank higher in the search engines for local search terms.

Use this same list of geographically relevant keywords in different page elements of your web site. The most important part of each page to apply this technique is the title. The title tag is that part of the page that is displayed at the top of the visitor’s browser. The text shown in the title tag is also what potential visitors see if your site appears in the results of a search engine query. It’s that reason that the title has to be crafted as carefully as a headline for an ad. It has to be compelling and informative enough that the visitor is motivated to click on the link to visit your site. Studies have shown that the ideal spot to have the keyword appear is at the beginning of the string of text that makes up the title. Since placing a geographical keyword at the beginning of the title may look odd, incorporate it in a natural position as close to the left as possible. For example, the following title, “For delicious wedding cakes & birthday cakes for the Batavia, IL area, visit The Red Hen Bakery,” is more effective than the following, “Batavia, IL – Wedding Cakes, Cupcakes, and Birthday Cakes – The Red Hen Bakery.”

Another page element to optimize for better local search engine rankings is the description meta tag. This is a short paragraph that is hidden from view on the Web page, but is seen and indexed by search engine spiders. This text is often displayed in the search engine results page along with the title. The same concept applies to the description meta tag as the title tag. Write a compelling statement that convinces someone scanning the results that they should click on the link to your site. Google displays a maximum of 150 characters, so plan your description carefully or you’ll run the risk of having the most important part not being seen by a potential customer.

Each page of your site should include company contact information. This should include street address, city, state, phone number with area code, fax number, and email address. If your site contains this as a graphic, the search engines will not be able see and index this information; it must be in a text format. Change the format on each page to rank well for the abbreviated and non-abbreviated form of the state where your business is located. For example, Illinois is abbreviated as IL or ILL; to rank well for this state all three variations should be used.

An example of good local search optimization can be seen at www.fleckensteins.com, the web site of Fleckenstein’s Bakery. The index page or home page has the name of the town the bakery is located in as well as the names of the surrounding communities. That information is in the title tag and the meta tag. The full street address, phone numbers, and operating hours are all in text toward the top of that page. The result is that their site appears on the first page of Google if someone types in one of those fifteen town names and the word “bakery” in the search box.

According to the vice president Fleckenstein’s Bakery, Ray Fleckenstein,

“We created the site in 1998 and it has been very effective for us. The site’s primary purpose is an informational tool for potential customers. The bridal market is where we see most of the leads coming from via the web site. Brides often search the Internet for wedding cake bakeries, so if they are from our area, they find us.”

Local SEO Series:
Part 1 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – Introduction
Part 2 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – On Page Techniques
Part 3 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – Off Page Techniques

Over the past 10 years, the World Wide Web has helped build a global marketplace. Now with little cost and time, a small business can create a web site that can reach new customers across the street or across the ocean. Compared to other advertising and marketing methods, you can’t beat the Internet as a cost-effective marketing tool to grow your customer base.

Although the Web site strategy of most businesses is focused on reaching distant customers with products that are easy to ship, this is usually not the goal of most retail bakeries. Most companies focus on attracting customers from the immediate geographic area. By refining or optimizing the elements of your company’s Web site, you’ll capture the attention of that local market and increase sales volume.

According to research by The Kelsey Group and Constat, Inc., 80 percent of U.S. small-to- medium size businesses reported that 75 percent of their buying and/or selling of products and services occurs within a 50-mile radius. Reaching customers within that 50-mile radius can easily be achieved with a web site optimized for local visitors.

A recent survey by comScore reported that the local search is growing at a 20 percent increase year over year. Of the 3,000 survey participants, 60 percent used the Internet as their first choice for locating goods and services in their area. Half of these online users used a major search engine such as Google.com or MSN.com and the other half used a mixture of Internet Yellow Pages and local search sites such as Citysearch.com or Local.com. When they questioned the survey participants about their specific behaviors using the Internet to find local businesses, they discovered that 50 percent of the searchers only contacted one business listed in the search result, and 30 percent contacted between two and five businesses.

Based on this survey, if your web site doesn’t show up in the first page of these search engine results for terms specific to your niche followed by the name of your town, chances are they may take their business elsewhere. Getting your site to appear higher in search engine results is both an art and a science. It involves both on page optimization and off page optimization.

Local SEO Series:
Part 1 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – Introduction
Part 2 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – On Page Techniques
Part 3 of 3: Local Search Engine Optimization – Off Page Techniques