Localized SEO

Continuing the conversation of the University of Michigan – Dearborn Search and Visibility Concept, I would like talk a little bit about localized SEO. Google has evolved over the years and has become more focused on not only providing accurate results but also localized results. It used to be that if you performed a search for a term like ‘pizza places’, you would end up getting results for pizza places anywhere from Los Angeles to New York. These days, Google is tied into where you are as a user and search results will offer up your local pizza options.
If you would like to know about pizza restaurants in an area outside of your locale, you may need to extend your search keyword and add a geographic tag. For example, if you are in Novi, MI but would like to eat pizza in Dearborn, MI, a likely search would be ‘pizza places in Dearborn’. The results displayed will be a mixture of paid ads, localized results, and organic results. A very noticeable portion of the localized results will be a map with markers that indicate pizza places in the area. The top organic listings may not be a restaurant’s website but a third party directory website like Yelp or Trip Advisor. The restaurants that dominate these results have the strongest localized SEO strategy.
In order to ensure that your business is dominating the results page for geographic related searches, it is important to make sure the businesses information is accurate on all the directory listing websites that are available. Business listings like your Google business listing, Foursquare, YP.com, Yelp, and many more are usually the last step a customer takes before calling your business. If the name, phone number, hours, or address are not accurate, a business could risk losing a potential sale.
An additional benefit to having uniform information across a variety of local directories is the organic value that it provides a business. It has been recognized that when external websites backlink to your website, your site is legitimized in the eyes of the search engine. When this happens, your site will rank higher in search engine results.
In learning the Dearborn Search and Visibility Concept students are equipped to improve marketing for not only the pizza industry but also the automobile industry. If you are interested in improving your automobile dealership’s localized SEO, utilizing a service like Search Optics’ Local Search is the way to go. With Local Search, Search Optics will optimize more than 50 directory listings, write a description, post pictures, post special offers, and more for your dealership. If you would like to add Local Search to your dealership’s marketing strategy, contact Greg Stewart at 248-556-4677 or email at greg.stewart@searchoptics.com.