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Here’s another article in our SEO Matters series, and here we’ll look at how local search really helps put a business on the map.

by Scott Frangos

A lot of “Content Masters” (a name for all of you managers using a Content Management System for your business websites) focus their Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategy on good SEO techniques to rank as high as possible.  And with today’s modern CMS and blogging tools like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal — you get a lot of built in help in the form of RSS feeds and tag support.  But what about Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, and in particular… PPC and SEO strategies when you want people to find your business in a local geographic location?  How do you do that?

…changing your Domain Name, or buying a second or third name with proper keywords in it is one strategy to consider.

Well, let’s find out what some of the gurus say, then consolidate the advice to construct a strong local search strategy.  We’ll use the example of a local search for Pizza in my area (why Pizza?  I love it, that’s why).

Thoughts from a Directory Master…

Chris Smith, previously head of technology for SuperPages.com, has some great tips at the NaturalSearchBlog.com.  Here are some top tips he gives:

• Change your business name to include keywords users type into search engines looking for your type of business
• Get a separate directory listing for every city in your area where you provide services
• Encourage positive ratings of your business because Google Maps uses them, in part, to rank results
• Include common nicknames for your city and neighborhood in your front page

My Take? Changing your name could be expensive (Smith even suggests having the street name where your business is located changed to reflect popular search terms — tough for a small business).  But changing your Domain Name, or buying a second or third name with proper keywords in it is not.  How about instead of BucksPizza.com, for example, you get a new domain name like this — BucksVancouverGourmetPizza.com?  Separate directory listings could be good, but which ones?  Free listings, or “enhanced” (adding paid elements to your listings like featured position, etc.)?  Which ones work best?  Answer:  study this question using Google Analytics.  Find out which free listings bring you the most traffic, then try a couple of “enhanced” placements at the top two.  Encouraging ratings — honest ones, and nicknames for your locality on your front page should work well for you.

Seven of GrayWolf’s SEO Gurus…

Next let’s check out a series of interviews that Michael Gray, of GrayWolf’s SEO Blog (you should read it regularly), did with search experts specifically regarding local search.  The list of articles is here, but for this discussion, I will pull out some interesting tips and credit each guru with a link to their site.  I hope you’ll read the full interviews (there are over 20 full interviews there) and add some comments here.

From Carolyn Shelby who has an SEO and Public Relations blog she runs at cshel.com:

“Make sure you include your physical address on your site, including the zip code (and the plus four if you know it — if you don’t know it, go look it up at the post office’s website). If you don’t have a physical presence in the city you want to be associated with, I’d go get a post office box either at the real post office or at one of those places that provides that service.”

From Aaron Wall, the author of the popular SEOBook:

“Search engines such as Google sell geotargeted pay per click ads, and also allow you to buy keywords like “mytown mykeyword” and “mykeyword myzipcode”. They also allow you to buy ads on Google Maps and create free coupons for Google Maps.”

From Mike Belasco aka Mike the Internet Guy:

“The number one thing a local webmaster can do to make his/her website ‘more local’ is placing the business address and local phone number on every page of the website and placing a location modifier (city, state etc) in the title tag.”

From Matt McGee, who does SEO full-time for Marchex:

“You have to know how people search. I mentioned this a bit earlier. Local keywords aren’t just about city and town names. You have to use the names of landmarks and neighborhoods; sometimes even street names or intersections. And you also have to be aware of alternate keywords people might use for your industry. For example, not everyone will search for “manhattan restaurants” — they might search for “places to eat in manhattan.”

From Merrick Lozano of PRLeap.com:

“I would target the town level first, county second. While I would not necessarily target the state, I would include the state name to help search engines in cases where the same town names exist in multiple states.”

From Greg Hartnett of Best of the Web (a well known Directory):

“If you are looking to maximize your local exposure for the listing, I’d suggest submitting your site to the most relevant subcategory within the Regional branch of a directory. Most general directories have a Regional branch, and if you dig around within those branches, you are bound to find a category that represents your business.”

From Rebecca Kelley of SEOMoz.org:

“We would probably register their site with Yahoo! and Google’s local search portals, encourage content that centers on local relevance, find local directories and register with them, and try to create some visibility with popular local sites, such as Citysearch, Seattle’s NWsource, New York’s Village Voice, etc. (Obviously, we’d target the sites that are appropriate for our client and his location.)”

Recap and final thoughts…

• Include your physical address and zip code (get a PO box with local address if your business is small, or home based)
• Customer reviews, geotargeted PPC ads (at Google), coupons on Google are a powerful combination strategy
• Put your city in your title tag (I recommend an SEO plugin like HeadSpace for WordPress to automate this)
• Find the right subcategory in a large directory/local search portals that suits your business

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About the Author: Scott Frangos develops dynamic, automated WebSites at WebFadds.com, based on the WordPress platform. He is also a college instructor for CSS, XHTML and Photoshop courses and enjoys martial arts and digital photography. He lives with his wife, Pepper, and three dogs (Wisdom, Spirit and Steggman) in the Pacific Northwest.

About WebHelperMagazine: WebHelperMagazine is a digest of tutorials and helpful articles for WebMasters, BlogMasters & Social Marketers.