Get Listed On Google Local Search- Increase Local Traffic

If you are looking to get you business listed in local search, it is a lot easier than you would think. Additionally, it can be an extremely powerful tool in driving traffic to your website. Getting to the top of the search engine for your local listing should be a top priority. We cover several tips that are a near guarantee to get you listed fast.

The first step to local listing glory deals with local search engine optimization. This means that you have to tweak several factors on your actual website to really get the results that you are looking for. The first change that you will have to makes is to make sure that you address and phone number are listed on your site. While having it on your contact page is a must. It isn’t a bad idea to place you contact info in the footer of every page on your site. On the contact page you will want to list your information in what is call hcard format. Google “Hcard format generator” to make it easier on you. While this is not a necessity, we have found that it does help.

Next you will want to claim your listing in Google. You can do this by going to www.google.com/local/add. After you are done with Google, make sure that you do the same thing for Yahoo. You can help your chances of appearing at the top by making sure that you include the keywords you are going for in the business name. for example, if you are kyle’s plumbing and you are in the orlando market, make sure that your listing says Orlando Plumbing somewhere in the business name. Add as many videos, pictures, and descriptions to the listing as possible. Then go do the same for Yahoo at listings.local.yahoo.com with no www at the front.

One thing you can do to get a little bit of an edge in the search results is to tweak your address. The closer to the epicenter of the city that you are trying to rank for, the higher you will rank without more effort. I will leave it to you to decide whether this is a route you wish to go. I am simply explaining your options.

You are going to want to use a local number and not an 800 number. This will have a good impact on your ranking as well. Using a local number will have an effect on your rankings.

The next step is to go at get backlinks from websites that Google considers local sites. These can include the following:

1.A chamber of commerce

2.School websites

3. other local businesses and services

4.Local networking groups

5. Contact your local trade organization and ask if they have a directory on their website.

Make sure that you request that you name and location be included in the link text. Link text/anchor text, which is usually blue, are the words that you click on to go to a another site.

Visit this link to download the google local listings checklist free.