Many new online businesses are focused on the attraction of as many people as possible, regardless of their physical location. With the internet helping to fuel worldwide commerce like never before, this is a smart strategy for many businesses who were previously confined to a particular geographic area. Some businesses can only provide their products and services within a specific area for various reasons, but the internet can still be a wonderful place for these companies to do business. In the following article, we will outline several tips that small, localized businesses can use to expand their local search clout and reach audiences in their communities that they may not otherwise find.

Utilize Location in Content

Many websites fail to adequately mention their physical location and incorporate those elements into their content. Local search engine optimization is valuable, but you must make your specific location relevant in order to take advantage of these benefits. Many successful localized businesses on the web are sure to include their location in blog titles and occasionally through each piece of content that they publish, which makes pinging for SEO much more efficient. These keywords will be picked up by major search engines and used to draw a correlation between your business, the industry in question and your location.

Advertise via Search

While advertising will not directly build any long-term SEO benefit, you can use this approach to reach out to potential, local customers who otherwise might not see your services or products due to stiff competition within select search queries. All major search engines offer some form of advertising program that can be utilized to micro-target consumers and make the necessary impressions in order to drive traffic to your website. Even better: most online advertising solutions are extremely cheap when compared to traditional marketing methods. Search engine marketing can be absolutely vital to fledgling online start-ups who need some exposure while optimizing their websites for long-term success.

Implement Localized Gadgets

There are hundreds of add-ons that feature local information about various events, services, products and developments – many of these can help boost your local search results by further associating your website with a certain geographic area. Many websites opt to use Google Maps as a way to provide directions or show the business’ physical location, while others obtain local RSS feeds that display upcoming events and news. There are many different localized modules and widgets that webmasters can integrate into their websites in order to boost local prominence in search results, and the majority of them are free to use.

Social Media Activity

Virtually everyone uses some form of social media these days, with a vast majority of them connected to popular platforms like Facebook. One reason why social media is important to local search is its future in regards to pinging for SEO: many people will often search for relevant interests via Facebook or other platforms, where they may discover local businesses that are associated with those terms. Users of social media can then use your profile to discover your website and more about your business.