Local SEO

If you are a business that generates most of its revenue through “Local” sales, then Local Search should be an important part of your SEO plan.

What Is Local Search?

When a person searches on Google for a “Geo-targeted” keyword or keyphrase, such as “dentist Portland Oregon”, then Google may generate a Map with a number of companies listed beside it (see picture below). [update: Google is continually changing the format.]

If you’re a local business this is where you want to be.

One of the goals of Local SEO is to get listed in this group. Depending on how competitive the market is, this may be quite difficult. At a minimum, your business must be registered with the major search engines:

• Google Maps
• Yahoo! Local Listings
• Bing Local Search

An immediate benefit of registering is that people searching using say, Google Maps, will now also see your company (see picture below).