Is your homeopath business one that would do better if it were ranked locally in the search engines? This article will present three effective ideas you can adopt right away to start making your way to the top.
The best tip you can get local SEO would be to get into your customer’s shoes and think like them. To understand the way your customer searches online you need to look into their mind. So, you have to try and analyze what someone would put into the search box when they are looking for your site or for the products you are selling. Let’s say that you are running a furniture store where you sell all types of furniture such as tables, chairs, beds, etc. But what if you specialize in office furniture; will the searcher be able to find you if they search for “table”? Will that be a good search? Certainly not. However, if they search for “office computer table” then that will be a suitable match. Don’t make the mistake of getting caught up with broad keywords that are popular, which can bring in lots of traffic but won’t convert well. Instead go for keywords that are less popular but are more targeted and have a higher probability of getting you a customer.
If you want your site to be recognized on a local level then you need to be open about asking for reviews. You will be missing out on a lot of opportunities if you don’t use this strategy. Most sites on a local level are absolutely fine with you communicating with your customers and asking for a review. So why not take advantage of this simple tip?
Just take the time to request a review from your customers but do it personally. This doesn’t mean you should be going out and asking people individually. You can simply post a message like “We would really appreciate it if you could review our business on Google/Bing/Yahoo local.” You could post this message either on your thank you page after people have sent you a message or signed up for your ezine, in your signature on your emails and on your site. These reviews, regardless of the fact that they are good/bad/ugly, they do add up to your business and its credibility, which brings in more customers in the future.
Last but not the least; go ahead and add a local phone number to your site. Since search engines can’t understand it, make sure your phone number is mentioned in text. You want people to realize you are a real company which means you should have a real number and not an 800 number.
Why not? They are nice and professional but they don’t really indicate your location on their own. Thus, you should ensure your number is completely real.
Local SEO is still at its beginnings and we still have a lot to learn about it but there will certainly be more to come with more and more companies starting up location based services. It will take you sometime to really take advantage of this type of SEO on a local level, but once you understand that dynamics there’s absolutely no looking back.