The Single Most Important Factor of Local Search Optimization

The Internet is global, but many small businesses are focusing their efforts on local search optimization.

The Single Most Important Factor of Local Search Optimization

Many small businesses are now focusing their efforts on local search optimization rather than regular SEO. They know that they have a much better chance to come up on local search results as opposed to national ones. In this blog we'll talk about the single most important factor of local search optimization.

Name, Address and Phone

It's surprisingly simple. The main thing Google looks for your is your NAP (Name, Address, Phone). The most effective thing you can to do optimize your local search is to make sure your NAP is accurate and consistent. 

So, why is this even a problem? Business owners are always surprised to come across inaccurate listings for their own business. When Google looks for your NAP, it doesn't just stop at your website. You need to make sure that all the places your business is listed have accurate information. 

According to a recent Forbes article, this means hunting your NAP down online and finding sites that have false info: 

"If you notice your NAP is missing or inaccurate on any major platforms, you’ll need to start hunting down the culprits, and either claiming your profile on their site or writing a message to the webmaster to have your information changed. You can start with the major players like Yelp, UrbanSpoon, TripAdvisor, and Angie’s List, but finding some of the smaller sites may be problematic."

Start by making sure that your website and social media NAPs are exactly the same. Then you can move onto the other sites mentioned in the Forbes article.

Hundreds of Local Search Sites

The bad news is that there are potentially hundreds of sites out there and it's not feasible to check them all. The good news is that Google prioritizes the most important sites, so you really only need to worry about the big ones. After you make sure your NAP is accurate and consistent on all sites, keep an eye out for your local search rankings. Correcting inaccurate information should make a positive impact. To talk more about local search optimization, feel free to contact us.

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