Adding important information about your business in local business listings can help your tech-savvy customers find your business. According to research, 25% of online queries include the name of a city or state, which means customers are using the World Wide Web while looking for local businesses instead of relying on printed business directories. This is a good thing for businesses with local operations as well as for businesses who want to improve their reach in the local market.

Google is the biggest search engine, and so its algorithms are important to understand if you want to gain more advantage with your local business listing optimization. Among the most recent updates of Google that should be taken into consideration is the fact that listings for Google Places are putting more emphasis on the title, keywords, and website description. But even if you don’t have a website, you can still rank higher on Google Places as this local business listing optimization is entirely independent of your ranking on the Google search engine results.

The introduction of advertising on Google Places initiated the better competition in the area of local business listing optimization. Below are some of the effective strategies for optimizing your business in local listings.

Conventional Search Engine Optimization

Conventional search engine optimization (SEO) includes several basic elements used to achieve a high ranking in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). This includes creating webpage titles, H-tags, meta tags, the structure of the URL, Alt text in pictures, etc.

Keyword research is often used in conventional SEO. Many small business owners usually think they know the most effective keywords to use. This strategy could decrease the number of potential customers. With proper keyword research, you can increase your chance of getting a better rank on Google, and it begins with searching for the best keywords to use. Keyword research is an integral part of SEO as using the wrong keywords will only waste your time and effort because you are aiming to rank high in areas that you should not.

Meta Tags

Local business listing optimization through meta tags can help your online marketing campaigns. Meta Data is an effective way of providing information about your website to search engines. Metadata includes meta description, title, and H tags. Despite the updates in the algorithms, meta tags are still essential in SEO so it still makes sense to use this strategy for your local digital marketing.

It is also important to include your address and contact number on your website. Google and other search engines are now trying to collect data from websites to provide information to online users. To help your business become more visible through local business listing optimization, you need to add your business name, contact number, and email address to the website.

Local Citation

Another strategy to optimize your local business is to add your website to local citation pages. Google also reviews the information provided by blogs, article sites, and online directories. You must add your website to local citation sites to build more credibility. Citation certifies the existence of the business in that particular locality.