Improve your local search results in 3 steps

With the increasing number of tech savvy customers, local internet searches are also increasing.  People are using the internet to search for nearby places to eat, needed services, and good places to shop.  If your business and website are not optimized for local searches, you may be losing business.  Here are three steps that will help drive traffic your way.

The easiest place to start is to get listed in local search directories.  All of the hard work of finding and identifying the most useful directories has been done for you.  There is a helpful and simple tool called getlisted.org.  Simply enter your business name and your zip code and it walks you through the process of listing your business on all of the pertinent directories.  You will also find lots of useful information to help you improve your local search results.



The next step is to make sure your website has the right information for the right audience in the right place.  This will take some work on your part.  You will need to do some research to identify your target audience and what specific information they are looking for.  Once you have determined your audience and the correct information, you will need to organize and present it in a way that customers can easily find what they are looking for.  Potential customers will be more likely to use your business if content is organized in an easily usable format.   As an added bonus, search engines also like quality content.

The final step is to make your website mobile friendly.  Mobile devices are changing the landscape of local searches.  More people are using smart phones and other mobile devices to search the internet while out in the community.  That number is expected to increase in the coming years.  This creates urgency to have a website that will display properly on mobile devices.  This is a point where you have the opportunity to gain business or lose business depending on whether or not you have a quality mobile website.
Taking action in these three steps will help you improve your online visibility and help drive traffic to your business and website.  The internet is competitive and at times overwhelming, but with some diligence and hard work you can find success and establish a local web presence.