Free local SEO guide

[Edwin]

I've just released a comprehensive free guide to local SEO aimed at companies that do business on a local level. For more information, please see Search Engine Optimisation for Local Businesses

I'd love your feedback...

 

[denchomsky]

A generous guide Edwin with some very useful tips and good advice.

I do think that this document should maybe be coupled with a 'How to spot whether you website has been coded properly' document.

I know I am always banging on about well structured html documents, not using tables for layout, proper use of heading tags......e.t.c, but this is what google reads, the html document, and unfortunately a lot of people completely overlook the quality of the code and are more concerned with what the stock photo in the header looks like or how many adsense ads they can squeeze on a page.

It is unfortunately quite often small local businesses that fall foul of badly structured html, and out of date coding techniques as the owner will more often than not know nothing about website code.

 

[joned]

Hi Edwin

Good summary (I do local SEO as part of my "day job"). A couple of suggestions

- I'd say put the business name and address on EVERY page of your site. In fact I often put it twice, header and footer. Make sure you use a consistent address format (spelling and punctuation) everywhere - on your site and in directories. There's some evidence that, for local search, Google counts mentions of your business name and address on other sites in a similar way to incoming links

- Spend some time on your listing in the Google Local business centre. Add your business to as many categories as you sensibly can. Post videos, photos. See where your main competitors are getting customer-reviews (listed in Google Local) and get some reviews in the same places

Hope that's useful

Cheers, Jon