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Location based SEO

What is location based SEO?

Location based SEO, also known as geo-targeting, is all about optimising your content to appear for your target location. Google is getting awesome at creating location-based search results.

You are sat in your office and feel peckish go ahead search “sandwich shops” – Go ahead do it i will wait here.

SEO Local search

Google knows to display me local results.

Using a desktop to search should return sandwich shops in your area.
Whereas a mobile search will show sandwich in the local vicinity (aslong as you have location services on).

Google believes in its great wisdom theirs a difference between desktop and mobile search.

Searching on your desktop you are more likely to be researching whereas those using mobile search you are famished and want your sandwich right now.

Why should i change my seo tactic?

“Google estimates that 73% of online activity has to do with local searches”

Searching with intent?

Firstly the reason i love location based searching is intent.

Someone searching locally have a higher intent on making an immediate purchase, we are all shrewd enough now to now if we are willing to wait we will research the best price and sit waiting peering out the window looking for the delivery person.

Tips on location based SEO

1). Target location-specific keywords

The most powerful way to get around keyword competition is by targeting location-based keywords.
This is a strategy that almost any company can simply to execute.
Think about keywords that take into account location, such as:
Postcode.
Town/City.
Your area in general.

Let’s say we have just built a really cool site for Freds sandwich bar and we want to take it even further and maximize his local traffic.

Firstly because we did such a good job on Freds content creation we can easily target the most relevant keywords.

“Sandwiches Kettering”, “Kettering sandwich shop”, “sandwich and salads Kettering”  not forgetting to include variations of these for my regional “Northampton”.

2). Make use of Google My Business (GMB)

Google My Business (GMB) is a great free tool for businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps.

Getting you Google My Business sorted is simple:

Sign up dont forget its free.
Make sure you have completed the details accurately.
Verify your location (at the time of right this (google may send you a postcard with a verification code).
Specify your town/city in your GMB landing page title.
Select the category relevant to your business/service/product offering.

Side note although google is currently the dark lord of universe they are not the only directory you can ad your business to, adding your business to credible services will help, making sure your are in crunchbase is a key step for any business.

3). Use a targeted Top Level Domain (TLD)

Some say this is not relevant anymore but im oldschool and i will always try and get the co.uk for UK businesses, this can be hard due to parked domains and many businesses sharing the same name but dont break into a huge sweat if you cant get the domain you want its not the end of the world.

Can you optimise your website’s SEO for multiple locations?

Hell Yeh! If you are reading this with interest i’m guessing you have at least some knowledge of the dark art of google and how it truly hates duplicated content, duplication of content is a big fat no-no.

Tell me how its done?

In order to rank for different locations, you must create unique and relevant content for your target areas. For each different location.

One way this is possible is to create location based landing pages, which provides an overview of services you provide in that area with links off to relevant subpages.

Your slug needs to include your location.

Let’s take Fred as an example again.

We did a great job for Fred the first time round his first shop has been so successful thanks to us he now has set up on the other side of town, WOW Fred is the sandwich king of Kettering.

Firstly its time to repeat the steps we did first time around during the build and we generate snazzy and relevant content based on location.
Dont forget some one searching with local intent is much more likely to part with cash, so making sure you have all the correct parts in place on your site, call to actions, contact details and all that jazz means you have every opportunity to make that sale, Keerrrching

In conclusion

Location based SEO is super simple to do and should not be over looked, the key points are, content is king read my ramblings about this here and optimizing your online presence to increase local traffic who have intent to buy.