Search Engine Optimisation

For SEO professionals, trying to optimise a site for local search traffic presents a whole different set of challenges than normal keyword-based SEO. Using the proper tools, local SEO isn’t really harder – it’s just different – and can require a slight learning curve for a professional that is new to regional work. Let’s look at some of the different things that can be done to market websites specifically to local traffic.

First off, let’s cover the keyword aspect of regional SEO. Using the name of the region (or names of individual towns within the region such as Chesterfield, Dronfield, etc) as keywords is by far the most important step. Some of your traffic will come from people specifically searching for local results – for instance, some people will specifically search for “restaurant chesterfield” or “solicitor chesterfield.” Optimising a site for the keyword that is the name of your region is important. If you have a larger region – say Derbyshire, you may want to optimise for the names of all the major towns and cities in that area.

Luckily for the SEO industry, Google automatically factors location in to search results. While a search for something like “Cameron” probably won’t be different from one side of the UK to the other, the search term “doctor” will usually show local doctors’ offices, to try to make it more relevant. A search for something that is both national and regional, like “Marks and Spencer,” will probably yield mostly the same results, but will be accompanied by a map showing local Marks and Spencer’s locations. This means that even if a person doesn’t explicitly search for a location, a person in your region searching for your search term should still get your site over a similar site that is geographically limited to a different area.

Speaking of maps, Google Maps optimisation is something which you should consider. Through a service called Google Places, you can list your local business in Google Maps, so that it will be more likely to show up in search results that are specifically geographically targeted. For a flat fee, you can have your business promoted. While that’s not particularly the best advertising deal ever, it is worth considering, as it basically gets your business (or other local organisation) promoted within a setting that is specifically geographically targeted. Also, if you are going to be running an online ad campaign, some services, like Google AdWords, allow you to target ads only at people in specific areas. This is one of the best ways to obtain targeted traffic, although it can be expensive. This may be OK for a business, but not as much for any other type of regional organisation.

Chesterfield SEO is a process which requires using a special set of tools, but it can be very effective when done properly. Most of the examples in this article are Google-centric, however other search engines have similar region-specific tools.