Localized Search
I came across two articles in May discussing localized search, so I thought this would be the perfect topic for my article this month. The following five tips summarize both articles. Tip #1: Make sure that your address is not only on every page of your Web site, but make sure other geographical references are used within the content of your site. Tip #2: Sign up for Google Local Business Center which will display your business at the top of the search results (next to a Google Map) when someone searches locally. Tip #3: Do the same for Yahoo! Local and MSN Live Local. Chances are that you may already be listed, and you didn’t even know it. Either way, take the time to review your listing and make sure the categories and any other information are accurate. Tip #4: Submit your business and/or purchase advertising on the following geo sites: Yellowpages.com, Verizon Superpages and Citysearch.com. I don’t know how many people in Allen County use these sites to do local searches, but knowing that Google looks for "high quality inbound links" when they rank their natural search results, you’ll want to make sure that you have at least the free listing. Tip #5: Develop a pay-per-click campaign targeting your geographical area. The major search engines all have programs that can display text style ads along side search results when someone within your geographical audience searches for your services (with or without including the city or state within the search).

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