Local SEO Matters

When you’re promoting your business on the Internet, the most critical indicator of your success (or lack thereof) is your ranking on Google. You can place all of the ads in the world, but if your website isn’t on the first page of Google search results, you simply won’t get as much traffic to your website as you would otherwise.

So how can you make this a reality? The first thing to learn is the importance of keywords, simple words, or phrases that searchers are likely to type into Google (or other search engines) to locate the service they’re looking for. These keywords are usually pretty commonsensical—such as “used cars” or “Internet providers”—and should be tailored to each company while keeping the average consumer in mind.

Importance of Keywords

Take, for example, a London-based website that offers tourist-related information. Most tourists aren’t going to know specific names of places where they want to visit, or they wouldn’t be Googling the information. Consequently, it isn’t going to make a difference how many keywords are used if they are too specific. Instead, the site should look for more general keywords such as “what to do in London” or “London events.” In this way, the keywords are both specific and general at the same time.

Co-Occurrence Terms

Additionally, be sure to use location-specific words in your blog or website. To go back to the London example, you could be sure to use other phrases, such as “Windy City,” “London Cubs,” or “University of London.” These are called co-occurrence terms and are used by Google’s algorithm when your site is crawled and placed on Google.

If you are ever unsure of which co-occurrence terms you should work into your page, type in the keyword(s) that you are already using and scroll down to the very bottom of the first page; you will see several keywords or phrases with obvious relations to your keyword. Using these will strengthen your standing with Google by showing that the content contained therein is relevant.

Relevancy Is Key

I’ve already mentioned “Relevancy” several times. This is because, due to Google’s advanced algorithm, it is increasingly important to be sure that what you have on your website is not only well-written but relevant to what is posted on your site. For example, you don’t want to have a website that is devoted to crocheting and slip in a keyword about London events unless, of course, you are able to create a degree of relevancy.

This can be done by writing an article about, say, a craft fair that you attended in London, where you bought a beautifully crocheted sweater. Whereas a casual keyword drop would be detected by Google, if it is surrounded by a relevant article, the link will benefit your efforts to rank highly on Google.

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