Businesses included websites because that’s what everyone was doing. The results are similar to what happened with the yellow pages. Without any thought relative to how the web was supposed to deliver customers, many business still wonder if the website was a good investment. At least in the yellow pages, businesses beginning with the letter “a” were getting phone calls. Unfortunately web search results are not alphabetical.
We find ourselves well into the internet era with still many local businesses scratching their heads and saying: “How come that guy is number 1?” Local internet marketing is still puzzling. The good news is that when I look at the intentional search engine optimization done by most brick and mortar, local type businesses, it’s non-existent. Even in a competitive category like mine, “search engine optimization”, the number one position was totally beatable. In fact, I was able to get my site from a dismal 22nd page position to number 1 in THREE DAYS! I’m not kidding and even I was a bit shocked and happy.
What do I mean by “local” search engine optimization. Very simply, you fall into this category if someone looking for your services is looking for someone in your geographic region. It makes no sense to rank number one for “plumber” but by contrast, it makes total sense to want to rank for “plumber dayton” or “plumber dayton ohio”. If your business exists to serve local business clients or consumers then the search terms your website should be visible for generally include a geographic qualifier.
Almost without exception, any business can rank for his chosen keyword terms plus the geographic region where that business operates. The general rules associated with search engine optimization apply but the keywords are now geographically specific. Generally, the way to derive the keywords that would be the most popular is to use Google’s free keyword tool which will give you the search volume for the most popular terms. For example: type “plumber” and Google returns related terms and associated search volumes for 100’s of terms like: “plumbers”, “joe plumber”, “commercial plumber”, “licensed plumber” and on and on. Here, I’d choose a couple of popular terms and add a geographic region to create keywords like “plumbers columbus ohio” or “Plumber columbus”.
While it’s difficult to rank for some of the popular general categories, when you add a geographic term it becomes an easy niche term. The term becomes less competitive and much easier to rank for. All local businesses that understand the value of the internet to their business should really seek out a reputable SEO services company and apply local internet marketing principles. If the 80-20 rule sticks, only 20 percent of businesses will end up doing this. Right now that’s not even happening. Jump on this now and you could dominate your local internet market.
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