Maybe you’re a vet in Austin, Texas. Or a carpenter in Tallahassee, Florida. If you own a small (or large!) locally located business, then you need to not just rank high, but rank locally. It doesn’t really matter if someone in a whole different state can see your website – how can you rank highest for the people around you? How do you make sure that you have high local search rankings?

First of all, get a Google map. Claim your listing and then embed that map into your site. Maps are often a lot easier to get ranked then your website itself. If someone searches ‘austin texas vet’, your Google place could come up, even if your website doesn’t. On Google places, make sure your business sounds interesting and compelling. Well rounded-out places are more likely to show up than something that reads like it was created by a robot – and it might have been. Explain your business thoroughly – both for Google, and for your customers.

Second, keep your keywords local. For national search rankings you use general terms, so for local search rankings you use local terms. Instead of having a keyword like ‘carpenter’, have a keyword like ‘Tallahassee, Florida carpenter’. You don’t really need to rank for ‘carpenter’. All you need is for people in your area to find you. It’s also a good idea to mix around. Have tallahasseeflordiacarpenter.com, floridatallahasseecarpenter.com, tallahasseecarpenter.com – anything that you think people in your area would want to search. Cover all the bases. Use SEO (search engine optimization) – but local SEO .

Don’t downplay the value of local review sites. Submit your site and your business to a local review so that you can get ranked where you want to get ranked using SEO you can control. Create a business profile – on more than one site. It’s basically free advertising. Ask people who have hired you before, people in the area, to review you, to like your website, and to comment on your Google Place. All of this helps with search engine optimization and gets your site number 1 on local search rankings.

Guest post on local sites. Ride off of their success and link to your site from another local site. All of this helps Google recognize you. ‘Hey, this guy’s local. Get him off national, put him on local search rankings’ etc. Allow other local sites to guest post on yours, as well. This can help in several ways, one of them being you have a better relationship with the blogger for future gust posts.

Build natural links in the right places. Spend time building quality links that are from local websites, review sites, places, and social media pages. You can also comment on local websites – naturally! – with a link back to your site. This will be time well spent, trust me! All these SEO, or search engine optimization, steps will ensure that you have high local search rankings.

About the Author:

Jose Gil Tecson - SEO Consultant helping people to grow their business, maximize their growth and increase their online visibility.

For more information go to http://www.joseobar.com/