What Do You Do and Where Do You Do It From? - Local Search Made Simple

Oct. 9, 2009 - PRLog -- What and where? These are the two big questions that must be answered over and over again in local SEM.

Local searchers ask these questions implicitly and explicitly. In some cases, geo-terms are used and in other cases they aren't. For example, search queries can be "SEM experts in NJ," "SEO NJ" or simply "SEM experts" or "SEO."

Search engines such as Google and Yahoo want to know the same things about your business that searchers want to know. Where is it and what products/services does it offer?

Are you answering these critical questions for your potential sales leads as well as the search engines?

Many times local businesses choose a website development firm based on the attractiveness of the websites they create without giving any thought to SEO. Even those website designers who know how to help with search rankings are rarely knowledgeable enough about the specifics of ranking for local search. As a result, the local business owner ends up with a beautiful website that never ranks for competitive keywords or attracts any new customers.

By following a few simple tips and tricks, you can prevent this from happening to your online marketing investment.

Your Home Page

You need to make it clear to people who land on your page what you do and where you do it. Simply because everyone in New Jersey knows where Broad Street is, it doesn't mean that everyone who sees a Broad Street address on your website will know that you're in New Jersey. The searcher may be entirely new to the area or just passing through, which may be the reason why someone may be searching for your business in the first place.

So, if you're a New Jersey advertising firm, don't expect people to look around to find that information on your site. Say it clearly near the top of the page and do it in text form, that way it is unmistakable to the search engines as well as to the searchers. Don't assume anything! It's important to make this information so clear that it can't possibly be misunderstood.

Your Page Title

This is the most important ranking factor for SEM. And if that isn't enough of a reason, then think about it from the human point of view.

Google displays the page title as the headline in the listing that appears for your pages in the SERPs. If someone is for searching for "search engine marketing new jersey" and the headline they see in the search results says "THE SEM experts in NJ," it'll grab their attention much better than a headline that says "Search Marketers".

Google will also bold the words that were in a search query in the title when it appears on the page. So, for example, if a searcher in Central NJ asks for "co-op advertising" and your page title says "The Co-Op Advertising Professionals in Central NJ", then your title will look like this to the searcher: "The Co-Op Advertising Professionals in Central NJ".

Your Meta Tags

Along with your page title, these are also displayed in the SERPs. Meta tags are like the ad copy that entices people to click on your listings and go to your website.

Much like the page title, if your meta tags have the terms used in the search query then Google will bold these words on the SERPs. If the tags don't contain the keyword phrase that was used in the query, then Google will pull a snippet off the page that contains that phrase.

It's important to use your best keyword terms in your meta tags because, even though they may not help your pages to rank, they will likely encourage searchers to click through to your site.

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BullsEye Marketing, LLC. is a privately held marketing company located in Scotch Plains, NJ. We've been around for 25 years and we specialize in both online and traditional marketing. Visit us and see more of our work at www.bullseyenj.com.