Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in your city can be a daunting, overwhelming task. How can you compete with million and millions of other websites on the internet that do exactly the same thing you do? If you are a local business, I have good news for you. This includes professionals (accountants, doctors, lawyers, dentists, and agents), services (mechanics, bakeries, schools, designers, and contractors), retail locations (clothing stores, electronics, malls, and bookstores), restaurants, clubs and any other business that needs local clients and customers. You don’t need to compete with the countless websites on the internet, you only need to compete with the other local businesses in your industry. How do you do this successfully?
1. Get your website indexed.
Is your site listed on Google? Type your website into the Google Search Box and see if your website comes up in the search listings. If not, this would be a good first step. To do this, all you need to do is submit your website to Google to be indexed. Another way to get your site listed is to have links to your websites on other websites so that when Google bots search through those sites, they will find and index your site as well.
2. Target keyword phrases that your local clientele would type into Google to find you.
Let’s say you are a local bakery in Cerritos (a city within the Los Angeles metro area). When you type in the word “bakery” into Google, you end up with 140,000,000 websites! If you type in, “bakery in Cerritos,” you only end up with 725,000 websites. It’s still daunting, but much less so than 140 million. This would be the beginning of a targeted SEO Los Angeles internet marketing strategy.
3. Use social media in your internet marketing campaign.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube have become internet marketing powerhouses that even major corporations can’t ignore. Utilize these amazing sites to advertise your business not only to your friends, but the friends of your friends and everyone else in your city. Combining social media and other internet marketing with SEO to create a complete and synergistic internet marketing strategy is called basket SEO.
4. Have other websites link back to your website.
Part of how relevant your website is for a keyword phrase is what your website says about itself. This can include the title, description and content of your website. The other part is what other websites say about you. For example, it would be helpful to have websites geared toward your city or in a related industry saying that your website is about being a bakery in Cerritos. This part may require the help of a professional SEO in Los Angeles to carry this out effectively, properly and safely. Google has a strict policy on how this can be done and they don’t like people trying to cheat the system.
5. Have patience.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is your business. With 725,000 other websites competing for that 1st page of Google, it will take time to get there. With the right strategy, guidance and work, you will get there faster. Dreams come true.
