ORLANDO, FLORIDA - Deciding which SEO strategies will provide the biggest bang for the buck can be a difficult decision for business owners, especially when every dollar counts and they need a big return on their investment.
One tool used in search engine optimization is geotargeting, which delivers specific content to visitors based on their geographical location. Many SEO techniques are appropriate for all types of businesses, but geotargeting is not something all businesses benefit from.
"Geotargeting has been practiced only by businesses that are local only or broader than cities and states in scope but still need to provide services and products in different regional or local-based markets," explained Saeed Khosravi, the operational manager for Sinai Marketing.
Which Businesses Need Geotargeting?
Dumping resources into geotargeting and local search is only a smart online marketing approach if there is a good reason to do it. According to top SEO expert Ali Husayni, there are only three categories of businesses that should be focusing on local search:
1. Companies targeting customers within a local or specific geographical area.
2. National businesses with local branches that want to establish a local presence online.
3. Businesses that need to target local and national customers.
"It's a waste of time and money to focus locally for an international or national client," said Husayni, who is the CEO of Sinai Marketing. "Those types of clients benefit more from targeting national keywords to improve search engine placement."
How Businesses Can Work On Building A Local Presence
1. Give Google information about the target area if the website has a generic top-level domain.
Providing these details helps the search engine determine how the site appears in search results for geographic queries. Some examples of generic top-level domains are .com, .net and .org, but Google provides a complete list in this article on their support forum. Google's Webmaster Tools is where the geographic target can be set. After selecting the site in the Webmaster dashboard, click Settings under Site Configuration. Select the geographic target section and identify the location settings you need.
Pick Unlisted to make sure the website is not associated with any country or region. The search engine uses the data provided as one signal among many to determine how to display websites in geographical searches. Other signals include IP address, on-page location information, links to the page and relevant data from Google+ Local.
2. Keep up with business listings on Google+ Local, Yahoo! Local and Bing Local.
Fill out listings completely and search engine optimize them with relevant keywords. Basic listings can usually be set up for free, but there are enhanced features like larger photos, longer descriptions and the ability to include promotions and coupons if businesses are willing to upgrade for a nominal fee.
"This is true for every business wanting to improve search engine ranking — not just local search," said Husayni. "The company's information on the top three directories should also be accurate and complete."
Recent research revealed that a staggering 49 percent of the small businesses owners surveyed reported that they have never updated their online listings. Companies that do not have up-to-date information online are missing out on new customers.
Husayni said that one thing to keep in mind is that businesses operating in a service area, as opposed to a single location, do not need and should not create a listing for every city they service. Create one listing for the central office or location and designate service areas, which Google explained in a step–by-step tutorial.
3. Use social media to promote the business and drive traffic back to the website.
Getting involved with social media is probably something most business owners have heard over and over again, but it is a very important tool in the local search toolbox.
"When used correctly, social media can be an extremely helpful for businesses trying to crack the top 10 on Google search results," said Husayni. "More platforms are adding geotargeting capabilities, too, making it easier for businesses to incorporate this technique."
Last September, Twitter enhanced geotargeting features for Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts. For businesses to use promoted content, they do have pay for it, but it now allows the businesses to deliver Promoted Tweets tailored to regional audiences.
"Retailers can use Promoted Tweets to promote distinct offers to users in Manchester and London, or a US statewide political campaign could focus its Promoted Accounts campaigns precisely where a candidate is running for office," explained Twitter in their press release announcing the changes on Sept. 12.
Facebook also offers geotargeting techniques. At the beginning of 2012, the National Public Radio Digital Services wrote about an experiment they did with geotargeting to drive traffic to KPLU, a local station based in Seattle. They used Facebook's geotargeting option to post location-relevant stories only on the news feed of readers in that area and linked to KPLU's website. The website had record-setting traffic and much higher audience engagement, such as the number of likes, shares and comments on a Facebook post.
"We found that the geotargeted posts were six-times more successful than posts that were shared to the global NPR Facebook following," wrote Eric Athas and Teresa Gorman in a follow up to the experiment.
Google+ also gives businesses control over who sees the published content with its Circles function. Preset options may include Customers or Followers, but businesses can add new Circles and separate followers however they like — by preferences, likeliness to influence others, location or even history of engagement.
Unlike other social media sites, content from Google+ pages is indexed, meaning it shows up in search results and can help businesses get a higher SEO ranking. So even if a business does not have much of an audience to target with content on social media platforms, a Google+ page can increase their visibility in search results. Husayni said that a Google+ page should be informative and appealing with complete information about the business, including a correct address and phone number, a link to their website, photos and videos.
A small SEO firm, Alex Webmaster, analyzed 100 listings from Google+ Local to find out what factors affected the rankings, positively and negatively. Their data showed that the three factors with the highest positive correlation had a verified page with the keyword in the title, a landing page with high authority and general keywords in the description. For instance, the research results suggested that instead of having "plastic surgeon" in the category, a better practice would be "medical clinic."
The lure of big rewards from using geotargeting techniques in a local search campaign can be tempting, but Husayni warned businesses that targeting multiple locations on one site could potentially get in the way of a search engine's perception of the business' physical location.
"The more you build links or optimize for one specific set of keywords, the less your site is relevant for a different set of specific keywords," he said. "However, with a site that already ranks well for international keywords, targeting a few location-specific keywords, if done properly, won't cause the site to lose ranking for the international keywords."
The best way to know if a business would benefit from targeting specific areas with a local search campaign is to consult with an SEO professional. An analysis of the site and situation may reveal that investing in different SEO strategies would be more beneficial.
To learn more about Sinai Marketing which is one of the best consultant SEO companies and to Call the company's toll free phone support service at 1-877-932-6559 or call internationally at +1-303-932-6559 with any questions or to schedule a free consultation.
Article Source: Can Geotargeting Improve Search Engine Placement For Businesses?