Local Search Optimization – I – On-Site Tactics:

Posted by | Jignesh T | August 25, 2009 | No Comments

Wikipedia defines Local Search as:
“Local search is the use of specialized Internet search engines that allow users to submit geographically constrained searches against a structured database of local business listings. Typical local search queries include not only information about “what” the site visitor is searching for (such as keywords, a business category, or the name of a consumer product) but also “where” information, such as a street address, city name, postal code, or geographic coordinates like latitude and longitude.”

Long before the Internet and Search Engines came in our lives, it were the road-side hoardings, newspapers, magazines, radio (all local mediums) and TV where businesses spent most of their advertising money. However, today, search engines are gradually replacing these traditional advertising mediums. And all major search engines are following the same local approach by integrating ‘local listings’ in their search results. And hence, for us internet marketing firms, local search optimization has become an imperative activity for businesses that have limited geographical focus.

This post talks about few on-site local search optimization tactics that should be executed to make a website ‘local search ready’. 

1. Dedicated Page for Each Location: Assuming that the business you are marketing, has multiple offices or locations from where it provides it’s products/services, it is important to have a dedicated page for each such location. For example, you do not want to have a single page for New York, if the business is present in 5 cities under 5 different counties of New York. Each city should have its own page. It is important to show up in search results when the exact (city level) target audience is looking for your product/service in their area.

 2. Driving Directions: Adding Maps to the page that has driving directions to your office(s) is now a common practice. But you need to go one step ahead and write details of the location/directions. For example, wherever required provide ‘directions for car’ and ‘directions for truck’ separately.

 3. Use Geo-modifiers: In your titles, Meta datas, H Tags, ALT  tags, internal link texts, content, etc. For example, instead of “click here for directions”, write “Directions to our Local Area Name, Product/Service, Office”.

 4. Embed Google Maps on Landing Page, wherever feasible: This will provide an interactive way for a customer to map their way to your location. It will also count towards a better ranking in the Google local listings

 5. Address on Each Page: To the extent possible, mention the business address on each page. If it is not feasible, at least the name of areas served by the business should be mentioned somewhere on each page of the website.

 6. Add Geo-Sitemap with KML reference: This should be added to you authenticated and verified Google Webmaster Tools account. A Geo Sitemap can help a website listing stand out with following an extra line (Show map of…) to your listings, which gives users a quick link to a map of your location. For ex:  

 

 

 

 

 

7.  Coding Address On Website In hCard Microformat*: Search Engines support hCard format and Rich Snippets which help them separate address information such as business name, street address, locality, and postal/zip codes. This may help increase visibility and CTR.

 I’ll soon come up with another post “Local Search Optimization – I – Off-Site Tactics:” to cover the remaining aspects of local search optimization.