Using SEO for Bay Area Businesses Can Help Your Website Be Found Locally

If you want people who are local to your business to be able to find it easily online, then you need to pay attention to using SEO for your Bay Area business. You want your business to stand out and to show up as close to the top of the listings as possible. Fewer people than ever today are using print phone books, even for local area businesses; most people turn to search engines.
In order to improve your chances of being found by the people in your area, there are some things to keep in mind.
Keywords need to be specific to your location. People who are looking for a local business are more likely to use the name of the town in which they are looking, rather than a general search, in order to narrow the results to useful links. Because of this, make sure that your city, county, or other location keywords are included in your site wherever possible. If someone living in Bay Area is looking for tire repair, for instance, they will probably type in “tire repair Bay Area.” If you are careful to use SEO keywords specifically to indicate your location, it will help you to be found by local potential customers.
When optimizing for Google, make use of Google Places. Google has businesses listed in its database even if they do not have a web presence. Find your location there and claim it by navigating to http://www.google.com/submityourcontent/#location and using the link to Google Place. If Google does not already have a listing for your business, you can add it there. If you are adding it, be sure to offer as much information as possible to make your business accessible. Include your physical address, hours of operation, a photo of your building from the road, and use SEO keywords here, as well, when pointing it to your business website.
Another tool that can help make your site easier to find is Yelp. A customer review site, it has businesses from many major cities around the nation. A business account is free, so it makes sense to create an account including all your pertinent business information. It will let you know when anyone reviews your business so you can interact with reviewers, whether positive or negative.
No discussion of ranking would be complete without mentioning Facebook, which has become ubiquitous in the internet world. Using Bay Area SEO keywords on your Facebook page will enhance your ranking on Google and other search engines. It is important to keep your Facebook page updated, too, as a stagnant page will lose interest of both individuals and search engines.
While there is no way to guarantee a top spot in Google’s results, an effective strategy for SEO in Bay Area can be useful. If you need help creating one, Bay Area Online Marketing can help.