Do you own or otherwise manage a local business? If so, you probably know the importance of maintaining a high local search ranking. When a prospective customer in your city/area searches for your business, you want them to find your listing in Google. While you can always pay for a sponsored listing via Google AdWords, there are ways to optimize your business’s listing organically.
Name, Address, Phone Number
One of the most influential local search optimization (LSO) ranking signals is NAP — name, address and phone number. Whether it’s your website, social media networking profiles, web directories, etc., you should include your business’s NAP. Both human visitors and search engines will see this information, making it an invaluable tool in encouraging higher local search rankings for your business.
Consistency
While including your business’s NAP is important for LSO, you must also use a consistent format. If you list your business’s address as “123 Rover Street Suite 10,” for instance, don’t list it elsewhere as being “123 Rover St. #10.” Although it seems harmless enough, it may confuse search engines as their automatic algorithms try to determine where exactly your business is located. Stick with a single format for your NAP across all mediums, ensuring it’s the same. If needed, go back and update your NAP so it’s consistent with your other properties.
Google My Business
If you haven’t done so already, create a Google My Business listing for, well, your business. This is one of the most influential LSO ranking signals for Google, so don’t overlook GMB. Creating a listing is completely free and should only take a couple minutes. Once complete, your business will be listed in Google Search, Google Maps and other related properties. According to Moz, GMB is the single most influential LSO ranking signal, attesting to its importance.
Embed Google Maps
A lesser-known tactic to improve your business’s local search ranking involves embedding Google Maps on your website. Simply take a Google Maps view of your business and embed it directly on your website. Assuming your choose the correct address, this “tells” search engines where your business is located, which should prove useful in encouraging higher local search rankings. Check out this article for step-by-step instructions on how to embed Google Maps on your website.
Internet Yellow Pages
You should also include your business in as many Internet Yellow Pages (IYP) as possible. IYPs are essentially web directories designed for local businesses. This includes Angie’s List, TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc. Search engines crawl these directories on a regular basis, using the information provided here to calculate where and how to rank local businesses in their respective search indexes.
