Category Archives: Local Search Techniques

5 SEO Tips for Your Website or Landing Page

Local Search Techniques, Local SEO, Organic SEO, , , , , , ,

Want to help boost your website or landing page to the top of Google, Yahoo! and Bing search engines? Here are some tips that you can follow in order to help your chances of being on the first page of the results.

1. Conduct keyword research. Before you even begin your search engine optimization (SEO) campaign it’s important to figure out which keywords will be best for your business. Use tools like the Google Wonder Wheel to find suggestions or consult an expert to help you find the most effective keywords.

2. Choose your links wisely. If you’re familiar with SEO, you know that the more links that point back to your website, the higher the site will be in the search rankings. However, not all links are highly effective. Only quality links will help boost your rankings. So use Alexa.com to check link popularity and page rank before you submit your link to a directory or another site that you think would be beneficial.

3. Update your site regularly. Search engines see fresh content as more relevant and therefore award it with higher rankings. This means you should update your website and listing with new content as often as possible.

4. Spy on your competition. Check out what your successful competitors are doing and do it for your own company. If they’re using certain categories in their Google Places page that seem to be beneficial, then you should add those categories to your company page. If your competitors are using Facebook and Twitter to engage their customers, you should be doing the same.

5. Use location based keywords. Using keywords like “hair salon long beach” will help people in your local area find you in the search results as well as lower the competition for certain keywords so you are more likely to be found on the first page.

Stay tuned for more quick tips on how to optimize your website or landing page for search engines.

Don’t Make These 4 SEO Mistakes

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Local Search Techniques, Local SEO, , , , , ,

SeomistakesAre you a search engine optimization (SEO) newbie? There’s so much information on the Internet about SEO that you may get confused when trying to distinguish the truth from the rumors. Let the experts tell you the real facts. Here are 4 common SEO mistakes to avoid from MarketingProfs.com.

Don’t assume social media is enough. Some business owners think that if they have an engaging social media campaign they don’t need SEO. Although Facebook and Twitter can bring in new customers and help build customer loyalty, without SEO you’re losing the opportunity to be seen by thousands of potential customers in your area via search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

Don’t build a Flash website. Although Flash looks cool and can be appealing to the eyes, it’s not SEO-friendly. In order for the search engines to know what’s on your page and see keywords, tags, etc. you need an HTML version of your website for it to read. If the search engines can’t read what’s on the page, there’s no point of having any content to begin with because no one will ever be able to find or view your site.

Don’t keyword stuff. Keyword stuffing is loading your content with keywords in an effort to appeal to the search engines. However, overloading your site with keywords does the opposite. It will hurt your ranking and also annoy visitor to your site because the awkward wording will likely be difficult to understand.

Don’t only focus on the approval of the search engines. Focus on pleasing your visitors too. Make sure you create a site that’s both SEO and user-friendly. Without SEO it may be hard for visitors to find your site. However, you need to remember that once they do, you want to make sure they have engaging and interesting content to read that encourages them to buy your product or service.

Avoid these 4 SEO mistakes and your business will be getting found on the search engines in no time. Local Splash can optimize your business information for search engines and more. Find out more about Local Splash’s service here.

Choosing the Right Keywords for Your Local SEO Campaign

Last Updated On August 13th, 2014Local Search Techniques, Local SEO, , , ,

KeywordsThe keywords you choose to use while optimizing your business information for local search are extremely important. The right keywords can boost your business to the first page of Google while the wrong keywords can ensure that no one from your target audience ever sees your company information. Don’t have the slightest clue of how to begin choosing keywords for your business? Here are some tips for beginners on how to choose the right keywords.

  1. Know your customer well enough to predict how they communicate. What are some words that your customers use in speech and writing? Pay attention to how your customers communicate in order to spot keywords. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. If they were searching for your business, what keywords would they search for?
  2. Use the Google Wonder Wheel. Type in a keyword phrase in the Google Wonder Wheel and you’ll be provided with more keywords similar to that one. It’s great for getting new ideas and helping to inspire more creative keywords that you might not have thought about using before.
  3. Use the Google Adwords keyword tool to see the competition for each keyword. When a keyword is more competitive, it means more people are optimizing for the phrase. This means it will be harder to rank on the first page of the search engines for it. Try to focus your efforts on optimizing keywords with less competition. You can also use the Google Adwords tool to find out whether the keywords you want to optimize for are being searched for. The best pairing would be to find a keyword phrase with low competition and high searches.
  4. Come up with long tail keywords if you are in a more competitive market. These are longer keywords that are more specific to your business. For example if you are a beauty salon in Long Beach, CA, a long tail keyword for you could be “curly hair stylist long beach.” Since this keyword phrase is so focused, less people will think to go after it, which makes it more likely for your business to show up on the first page of the search results if you optimize for it. It’s also good to think outside of the box and cover all the possible keywords your clients could be searching for.

These tips will help you during the process of choosing keywords to use when optimizing your website and business listings for search engines. Once you’ve established which keywords you want to use, use them everywhere; on your site, blogs, social media networks, business listings as well as when link building and social bookmarking, and more. Local Splash can help you choose the right keywords and optimize your business listing to enhance your online presence today.