Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website

Advantage: An Achievable Goal

If you’re not selling your product online, then the

best use of your site is probably to help people find your physical location. Your SEO

campaign begins with a simple goal: you want to be found when your company name

is entered in the search engines. You’ll focus your SEO campaign on variations of

your business name and location. You’re likely to get the results you are hoping

for because you won’t run up against too much competition for such tightly targeted

keywords.

Advantage: Local Search

And speaking of location, welcome to one of the hottest

areas of SEO today: local search. It picks up where the local Yellow Pages left off in

the last century. See Figure 2.1 for an example.

Figure 2.1

A local search on Ask

We love local search. Who wants to waste time slogging through nationwide search

results when you’re looking for the sandwich shop around the corner? If you’re a

mechanic in Glendale, California, you can put yourself directly in front of someone

searching for “mechanic Glendale CA.” Talk about a targeted audience! But there are

a couple of things to keep in mind: First, people using local search are probably more

search savvy than your average Web user. That’s because local search is still relatively

new, and it takes a while for the rank and file to adopt new search technology. Second,

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