This is a Guest Post by Craig Kilgore. Craig is an SEO with Mainstreethost. Craig has been practicing SEO for roughly 5 years with Mainstreethost. You can follow him on Twitter or contact him via email at ckilgore@mainstreethost.com. 

When someone is looking for a new restaurant in their town, they turn to search engines. If you recently launched a website or are finally considering SEO for your site, read on for some beginner local SEO tips. With advancements in search engines, smart phones and the way people search, many businesses are revisiting their local SEO strategies and you should too. Below are just 3 of the many tips you should follow while building your local presences on the web.


Tip #1: Make sure your business address and contact information are readable by search engines – this may seem very beginner but it is often overlooked. If search engines cannot spider your contact information, they probably won’t index it (where it counts at least). Similar to the rest of your website’s content, make sure your business contact information is in text format and when possible, on every page of your website.

Tip #2: When submitting to business directories, consistency counts – another beginner tactic, but it is one that can be easily overlooked. When you are submitting business information to directories, be consistent with your info. Example – if you spell out your street name as “Commerce Drive” on one directory, follow that same format on the rest of them. Don’t use “Commerce Drive” on one directory and use “Commerce Dr.” on another one. You will also want to check to make sure your business information is listed that way on your website as well.

Tip #3: Find industry related business directories – submitting your website and business information to business directories such as Google, Yelp and Citysearch is local search 101. The next step is to find business directories, websites, and other web presences that are related to your industry and services. Local citations play a huge part in ranking locally so get your business information included on the more industry related, local business directories and stay ahead of your competitors.

In my experience as an SEO, local search marketing strategies are often overlooked. A lot of time is spent reaching for the more “popular”, competitive keywords. Please note, I am not advising you to lower your standards when it comes to selecting keywords for your website, just keep in mind that there is a ton of untapped potential lying within localized keywords. Similar to targeting long-tailed key phrases, localized keyword strategies can help capture more qualified visitors and help build your brand locally.

In conclusion, don’t overlook local SEO. When launching a new website or revisiting your SEO strategies, follow the 3 tips above and you will be on your way to increasing your local presence on search engines, mobile phones and applications and local business directories and more!