If you’re a small business trying to navigate through the complex world of search engine optimization (SEO) to enhance your company website and social media activity, you may have heard about Google’s experiments with Local SERPs. (A SERP is search engine results page, or the listing of web pages returned by a search engine, such as Google, in response to an individual’s keyword search query.)

Localized search results have become increasingly EXPECTED by internet users over the past few years. Google spokespeople claim that the experiments aim to help people find businesses that are close by. If the outcome means integrating local search results into traditional organic results, then creating great listings, optimizing them with keywords and adding photos, videos, reviews and offers are going to become even more important for small business owners.

How do businesses take advantage?

1. Do Not Ignore Meta Tags – Small businesses often skip developing strong meta tags on their company websites. Meta Descriptions and Keywords are important, even for a small business, and it WILL hurt you to leave them out. Implementing basic SEO tactics on your company website may just make the difference between someone clicking on your listing or someone else’s.
2. Claim Your Business – Remember that Google is driving people to information about your business on websites other than your company site. Major review sites, such as Yelp, attract users to business profiles containing customer reviews of products and services. When consumers review a business on a site such as Yelp, those reviews are pulled into local search results. Take advantage of the features available to you through Yelp for Business Owners.
3. Address Online Reviews – Even though you may not like seeing negative reviews about your business on sites like Yelp, it is important to acknowledge them. As a business owner, if you’re leaving negative reviews out there on the table, remember that they may be the only thing a potential customer sees when they do a search for your type of business. Make time to respond and manage reviews. Using tools like Google Alerts can help you track what is being said about your business online.
4. Fill out your Google Place Page – Regardless of how you feel about Google Place pages, it is important that you fill out your business page as completely as you can. It’s inevitable that Google will increase the importance of Place Pages, so make sure that the correct information exists for your business.

Click here for a list of the basic information that you should include in your Google Place Page business listing.

It’s important to make sure your business listing is complete and accurate. Adding optional information like images and videos will help your listing stand out. Don’t forget to include the URL for your company website. And don’t be afraid to choose specific categories instead of broad ones. It is more important to choose categories that describe your business accurately.

If you have questions about local search or ways to improve your company website please do not hesitate to contact Barcelona Creative. You can call me, Juli Barcelona at 708-448-8077 or email me at juli@barcelonacreative.com