Local search engine optimization means taking the time to localize your SEO efforts. Create free listings for your law firm on Google Maps Local Business Center and Yahoo!Local listing as well. If people do a local search for your services, you’ll show up. Submitting to local Google search results, MSN local, Yahoo local, and targeting your law firm to all nearby locations will capture new clients in those areas. There are many free local directories available to submit your website to.
First, register with the search engine you’re submitting to:
Google: www.google.com/Accounts
Yahoo: www.yahoo.com and set up a “My Yahoo” account
MSN/Live: www.webmaster.live.com
You’ll be prompted to fill in information fields and then you’ll have the option to create local listings:
Google: www.google.com/local/add
Yahoo: listings.local.yahoo.com/account
MSN/Live: llc.local.live.com
You’ll then have a local account that friends and clients can review. The more positive reviews you have, the better your rankings will be.
You can also receive local traffic if you optimize your web pages. Include the name of your city and nearby locations in the meta tags, descriptions, and headings, and search engines will crawl this content.
People are searching for law firms and services on the internet, and you need to make sure they’re able to find you. You can do this by including your street address, zip code, phone number on every page of your website. A physical address within an <address> tag on your contact page, home page, and as many other pages of your site as possible creates trust and better website rank.
Local Directories:
Local Yellow Pages:
You can also set your location in Webmaster Tools, a Google application: www.google.com/webmasters/tools
Local optimization is a great way to introduce local customers to your business. If they cant find you in local listings, they may never discover your law firm.
Is your website SEO friendly? Here’s our Checklist for Making Lawyer Websites Popular With Search Engines.
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