Search Engine Optimization

Do you have a local, brick-and-mortar business? If so, you’re in luck. Optimizing websites for geographical terms is generally far less competitive than optimizing website for general queries. Here are 7 simple steps you can take to boost your website’s search engine ranking.

1. Do keyword research

First, figure out who your target audience is. Then, conduct keyword research to determine what words potential customers are searching for in order to find websites/products/services like yours. You can use Google’s free Adwords tool to find keywords with good search volume that you think will convert well.

2. Make sure the title tags on each page are unique and include target keywords

Every page on your website should have a title tag that contains keywords that are relevant to the content on that specific page.

3. Create a meta description tag for each page that is promotional and informational

Write unique sentences containing target keywords to serve as meta description tags for each page of your site. The description should provide information to searchers as well as promote your site. It should entice searchers to click on your site’s search result. Keep in mind that the description is what will appear under the title of your website in search engine results.

4. Add internal links to your site

The quantity of links that your website gets matters, even if those links come from your own website. Your home page is considered the most important page on your site, so make sure that your website’s most important pages are linked to on there. Use relevant keywords as the anchor text of those links. Furthermore, on other pages that you want to rank highly on the search engines, add more internal links.

5. Make sure your contact information is on every page

Try to include your business’s address and phone number on every page of your site. Not only is this helpful for your site visitors, it also makes it easier for the search engines to rank you in local results. If you serve multiple locations, try creating a page for each location or at least one page that lists all of the locations you serve.

6. Build in-bound links

There are lots of yellow pages-like directories where you can get your website listed. Not only will these sites help to drive traffic to your website, they’ll also improve your website’s search engine ranking because of the valuable link juice they provide. Examples of directories you’ll want to check out include: Dmoz, CitySearch, Yahoo Local, and Google Maps.

7. Add a blog to your site

Adding a blog to your website is a highly effective way to increase your site’s search engine ranking. Blogs provide fresh content, which search engines love. And you don’t have to write Pulitzer Prize-worthy content in order to create an effective blog. Simply incorporate keywords that you are targeting into your blog content in order to get your site to rank better on the search engines.