The Internet is no longer used for the sole purpose of getting information or buying online products. It is now also being used for finding local products and services for businesses online. Hence while optimising for search engines, one should realise and remember the importance of geo-targeting. Geographic location is one of the important aspects to keep in mind while planning the SEO strategy for your business.

Let us theoretically assume that an individual owns a business in Sunnyvale , California. He wants to market his business to clients living in Sunnyvale area and to help him achieve this he needs a public relations firm. Since this is a mid-sized business in the Sunnyvale area, the businessman prefers to do business with a public relation firm located in Sunnyvale.

The first step to finding a public relations firm would be to search on a major search engine like Google. A Google search for public relation companies would yield a list of thousands of public relation companies and to find one in Sunnyvale from these would be like hunting for a needle in a haystack. It is vital to remember that Internet users are knowledgeable on how online searches need to be conducted and the number of users who search using geographic locations is increasing. Hence the businessman would search the net using the key phrase ” Sunnyvale public relations firm”, as this would give him the listings of local public relation firms with whom he could then conduct business.

This concept, of geographic locations, despite being sensible and simple is not included by very many websites as part of their internet strategy. The idea here is to increase your search engine rankings by developing a search engine optimization plan which takes into consideration geo-targeting. This would be of immense help to your marketing strategy as when a potential consumer is searching for services or product in a local market your listing would be among the top ones.

To get your website listed on search engines such as Google there are two methods available. The first organic search optimization is the most popular. It is also known as natural search optimization and is a continuing process which allows a website to get free listings within most of the major search engines. By using this method you are not subjecting yourself to ongoing marketing costs.

The following steps need to be included in your SEO which uses a geo-targeted strategy and which will help target consumers within your locality.

• All your web pages should have the company address in full on the top.
• Throughout your website copy list areas where you do business.
• Your Meta and title tags should have the geographic location.
• When linking to your website from other sites, the link text should include your city.
• Major search engines should be registered with for local search.

Pay Per Clicks (PPC) is the second way to get listed on search engines like Google. In PPC advertising you have to pay every time your advertisement is clicked on in the search engine. These advertisements are known as Google Adwords and are located on the right side of the search page.

This is how Pay Per Clips (PPC) works

• Load your account after registering and providing credit card number to a PPC system.
• Create advertisements which have a title, body text and link to your webpage.
• It is important to associate the significant keywords with each advertisement.
• Each keyword needs to be bid on as the higher you bid, the higher is the listing.

It is possible for local businesses to specify the geographic locations in which they want their advertisement to appear. Thus only consumers in their locality will see the advertisement. Use of geo-targeting is especially important if one is using the PPC campaign as this will cut down on wasteful expenditure.

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