How to increase sales and leads by being local

Whether your business is large or small Google Local can help you reach an increasing number of people who are choosing to search locally. According to Google 60% of search traffic is related to local searches which is a considerable amount of traffic.

So how can your business capture local search traffic and what can you do if your business operates nationally or internationally?

Here are a few strategies to improve your web site optimisation for local search:

Google Local Business Centre
Visit the Google Local Business Centre and list or update listings of your business in your locations of operation. If you run a national business with only one office list your business location and if required register a GPO box in other major centres and list “virtual” locations.

Sponsor your Google Local listing
Using Google Adwords you can sponsor your business listing allowing your branding to appear in the Google Local search results and on Google Maps. This sponsorship ensures you appear for sponsored keywords such as “Indian banks” and has the benefit of brand recognition by displaying your logo. Many businesses have found success by sponsoring Google Local listings - in particular businesses in the accommodation sector.

Optimise Content for Local Search
It may seem obvious, but many businesses do not provide sufficient content on their web sites or optimisation to appear for local searches. Take a branch locator on banking web sites for example, the way most of these services are developed means Google cannot crawl the information which renders it useless in terms of being found in a local search query. Provide content on all locations of business, write about areas you service and structure your URLs in such a way that encourage local search results. For example www.website.com/Products/Chennai/MobileStores. You will be amazed by the results!

List in Local Business Directories
Quality local business directories such as Hot Frog can help your business qualify for local search queries, list separate locations or areas of operation in the directory for best results. The secondary effect of these listings is improving your web site’s popularity with Google.

Target local search queries on Google Adwords
You may have never considered it but Google Adwords provides the opportunity to target location based keywords and advertising. For example you could advertise for the keyword “banks” in India or target more specific keywords in India such as “Chennai Home Loans”. With a well optimised campaign you can achieve a strong return of investment from Google Adwords targeting local search.

Write an online press release when launching in a new location
When you offer a product or service to a new area let the world know with an online press release. Some sites such as PR Wire allow you to submit press releases for a small fee to a number or large media agencies and have your press release published online. There are two effects of this technique, improved optimisation in search engines and the awareness from any publicity received.

Track your results
Don’t forget to track your results! If you are working on a marketing strategy for local search you want to know if the execution was successful right? Use Google Analytics or another popular analytics tool to track the campaign. Don’t forget to setup campaign goals and work out conversion rates!

If you need help with your local search marketing strategy Adroit Inc can assist you in planning and executing the right marketing campaign.