Do you want your business to be found everywhere online?
Local businesses and organizations need potential clients and current customers to be able to find them on the internet whether it’s on the search engines, IYP directories, through mobile apps, etc. Being included in these results is now unbelievably essential for local businesses to survive. An enormous portion of queries or “searches” typed into Google and the other major search engines have a local intention, such as “Naples SEO” or “Ice Cream Shop Naples FL”. Without even typing a city specific reference, such as “Naples” in the query, most search engines will actually consider a users location automatically by IP range at an attempt to deliver results within their neighboring area when appropriate. Try a search for “dry cleaners” and it will return a search result list of the local businesses that depends on the origin of the query by IP.
Local businesses can sometimes appear next to the geographical map in the search results pages. Local business listings that are included in this A-G pack of 7 business listings are highly visible to users and typically ranking above most national brands as well as PR 8 and above niche websites in the search engine results pages (SERP’s). Geo-targeted local business owners simply can’t afford to be absent in this kind of positioning. Our local listing service submits your business’s information with the major online directories, internet yellow pages (IYP’s), portals as well as the top three search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing) so that you can show up in the A-G 7 pack of results. Local businesses need these listings now more than ever as a primary step in their search engine optimization.
Can web users find your website? As a business owner, you would like to have people to find your website when they are looking for a product and or service you provide online. These days most consumers go straight to the computer (or mobile phone) first to research the items and services they would like or need, and typically their search begins on a search engine. For small and midsize businesses to thrive online, your website absolutely must appear in the SERP’s.
How will your local business be a part of this new online experience?
Google has now introduced a Place Search; this is a new type of local search result that lists a business’s information around geographical places. Google has groups of search results around specific locations so you can quickly and easily make comparisons and decide which business is best suited for your specific needs. As an example if you’re looking for the top rated, or most recommended barbecue restaurant here’s what you’ll get with Place Search:
The “Place Search” results are marked with little red pins as a marker, and each one is a unique restaurant with information and links that are relevant from across the web. From this example I can see that Rudy’s has a country store, and I can click citysearch.com, yelp.com, urbanspoon.com and other sites in order to read reviews and get a good idea of what other consumers have experienced there. Not long ago, the same search query would return several different links with information about Rudy’s in different sections of the SERP’s (here’s a screenshot of what it used to look like). Now with Google Places, information is collected and grouped together to make it easier to understand and compare the various businesses in your local area.
Place Search results are appearing as you type in real time on Google as they attempt to predict what you’re looking for locally. Also, you’ll find a new link for “Places” in the left-hand side of your computer screen for the local search results pages so you can toggle these results whenever you need them. For example, if you type a query for a national term such as “video games”, I love to go to arcades, but a search for “video games” doesn’t automatically show me the Google Place Search results. If I click “Places” I am presented with the new look and local results.
Place Search is dynamically connecting hundreds of millions of web properties with over 50 million real world physical locations. Google now automatically identifies when websites are talking about physical places and cluster’s links even if they fail to provide a physical addresses and are using different names such as “Rudy’s bbq” is also recognized as “rudys bar-b-que”.
To sum up the life of a small business owner as “busy” would be an enormous understatement. You have to get up super early to set up or open the shop, spend countless hours on your feet working with your customers and co-workers as well as spending the evenings balancing expenses and still have to get up and do it all over again the very next day. It’s completely understandable that you often feel your overwhelmed when you are just trying to stay afloat.
With all that needs to be accomplished in a day, we know you haven’t much time to take on the role of marketer as well. But attracting prospective clients or customers is defiantly an essential part of being successful and growing your business. With that aspect in mind, Google has developed Google Tags, the newest online advertising opportunity through Google Places that allows you to personalize your Google listings with specific materials and information such as a coupon, menu, video, photos, your company slogan or something as simple as a custom message.
As a local business owner, one of the many things that will set you apart from your competition is the ability to make personal connections with your potential customers because of the passion you have for what you do. You should, and we encourage letting people know who you are and what your business is all about. In our technology driven age this is a vital part of finding and more importantly, keeping customers, you should strive to build long lasting relationships with your clients and customers. Google Places was developed to help business owners like you to develop, refine and manage your online presence with your Place Page by being able to share all the information about your business that will help people decide to utilize your services.
Your site could rank in organic and local results
I can help your business show up in the natural search results for your niche specific keyword phrases. I will reinforce your website so it can show up in the local 7 pack for keyword searches in your surrounding geographic area. Studies have shown that about 40% of web searches are actually looking for something locally, what we want to do is maximize your businesses opportunities for clientele.
I will work to optimize your business website for natural search results as well as distribute your business information to the major online business directories for the local listings.
How does it work?
I will create a comprehensive strategy that’s favored by the search engines and completely custom for your business. We will have scheduled improvements and milestones that increase your website’s rankings over time. I will also make adjustments to your new or existing website as needed.
How long does it take?
Typically, it takes six-months for a complete search engine optimization project. Before I begin, I will create a six-month timeline that defines specific tasks and milestones to be completed weekly and monthly.
It is very important to understand that tasks can be scheduled, but some results cannot. Some of the local directories (such as Google and Bing) send a pin code by mail for verification of your business listing, sometimes this process alone can take up to 8 weeks. Some terms or “keywords” can take several months to be seen in the SERP’s, depending on the competition within the industry. Ranking in the search engines is a gradual process of optimizing the website, distribution of fresh, relevant content attracting inbound links and building your businesses authority in the eyes of the search engines.
What results can be expected?
Completely optimizing a website to appear higher for the natural search engine rankings and the local 7 pack requires a combination of on-site improvements and a plethora of off-site citations. There is no magic formula for SEO, although skillful optimization does in fact work. Many minute changes will work together to ensure the site is competitive and supports its relevance to an individual’s search queries. This can and often times will result in improved visibility in the search engine results for targeted terms related to your website.
By working with me, your website gets a comprehensive, strategic and completely customized SEO action plan based on research and analysis of your site and your top three industry competitors, locally or nationally. Application of SEO is in accordance with the best practices outlined by the major search engines will bring your business increased rankings and more potential customers to your businesses website.
Local listings contracts are specifically designed for small, local and regional geographically targeted businesses; our business listing services has been developed to address the specific needs of a local business owner where the client site offers services to customers within their local area. “Naples Florida Hotels” is typically not a local phrase as most users performing the search are not in Naples Florida. Generally we will take five to ten phrases that when combined with your location will generate traffic appropriate to your industry/service or product. Naples Motels, Hotels in Naples, etc. will generate traffic that may convert into sales or the acquisition of new clientele.
Where will your local business be listed?
There are actually three dominate search engines (Google, Yahoo and Bing), dozens of specialty specific search engines, and thousands of directories online. You could take the time to submit your business’s information to each one manually and continue to check back to ensure the listing is live and in complete detail, but we have a much more efficient way to verify all your business data is listed correctly.
By working with me you supply me with your business information just one time and I will post it on all the major local engines and directories online. Your business listing will be included in the Internet Yellow Pages such as Google, Yahoo!, Bing, mobile directories, professional directories, directory assistance (411), and more. Contracts also include the delivery and reporting from the same databases the search engines use and trust for their information, infoUSA and Acxiom are a couple that you may have heard of.
What else does this include?
• Distribution to the major search engines and local directories
• Inclusion in the key InfoUSA, Express Update and Acxiom databases
• Time and effort saved by not having to register at hundreds of websites and directories
• Ability to make updates anytime if your business’s information changes
• More visibility in organic search results for your relevant keyword phrases
• Increased traffic and prospective customers to your website
Locally owned businesses now have the opportunity to be displayed next to the map in the search results pages. Internet users can see in an instant the names, locations and customer feedback of the listings known now as the 7 pack. Having your business appear in this A-G area gives your business an enormous amount of visibility. Being prominent in these positions can give your brand exposure, credibility, authority, increases inbound calls as well as generate more traffic to your website. Local results can also appear in addition to a natural search result for the same site, giving your business a branding opportunity and developing the authority you need for your business to be successful online.
It takes time, resources and understanding of search in order to manage each particular local business listing website individually. Most of the larger search engines, Yellow Pages, AOL, Merchantcircle, SuperPages, MapQuest, Yelp, Citysearch, Localeze, and thousands more are basically a mystery to most local business owners even though they are now more important than ever. Now is the time to embrace the power of the local search listings.
Local business listing platforms like Google Places, offers consumer reviews, product information, distance and directions to a specific location, other businesses similar that are in the surrounding area, hours of operation for that particular business, photos of the business, videos or commercials and more. Your business listing gets published, enhanced and if needed, corrected on hundreds of premium publishers as a “verified” business listing. We will also make updates to your information anytime for the life of your subscription. So as your company grows and you decide to move to a different location, we can easily update your company information for free.
Contact me today for more information about local listings and SEO.
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