Local Optimization

I’ve talked at length about organic optimization; but unless you’ve sat through one of my locally-focused webinars or presentations, you may not yet understand how local search results differ from “normal” search results.

We need to assume a few things for this discussion:

1) We’re focusing on Google, since they matter most anyway.
2) Your customer searches for a general term like ‘windshield replacement’. They do NOT add a local descriptor like the city name
3) Your shop(s) only cover a small geographical area in one town or city
4) We’re talking about organic results – not Pay-per-Click (PPC)

With the above assumptions in mind, let’s go through a customer scenario.

Joe Bob is sitting at home, pondering what to do about his broken windshield. He jumps on Google and types in a general windshield replacement related search term. His Google results will typically be displayed in one of three ways:

1) National results, based on a general search term.
He will receive national listings, but will also get a few locally targeted listings based on the geographic location of his IP address as tracked by Google (about 90% accurate depending on your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

2) Highly customized results
He will receive results customized to his search history, location, and other criteria if he is logged in to a Google account. These results will be mostly locally focused.

3) Local listings based on Google Maps
If he types in a company name that includes a city, street, or similar name, he may be given the Google Maps local search results display.

In any of the above cases, you have a good chance of showing up in these locally based organic results if you focus optimization efforts on your locality. This can come in many forms, depending on your location, number of shops, and local competition.

As an example though, you should have location pages for each physical address (shop location). Each page should be optimized with physical address, phone number, street information, neighborhood details, local parades, charities, clubs…anything that gives a local flare to each page.

There’s more to this than I can cover in a post, but don’t list all of your locations on a single page. It will dilute the strength of each location’s optimization. This is also great if you belong to any local chambers, clubs, or charity events; as it gives you a wonderful opportunity to expose your contributions to the local community.