When providing SEO/SEM services for clients (or doing it for yourself), do you target, or at least pay attention to the growing number of local search presences? If so, is this something you consider worthwhile and if not, would you ever consider doing so…?
This point of discussion was brought up on the WebProWorld by a poster who is doing so for a number of clients and was wondering whether or not this approach was worth the effort. While researching the topic, I thought I would broaden the discussion to include the search engine marketing aspect of local targeting.
As many of you may already realize, Yahoo offers the ability to either target ads geographically or have ads appear in Yahoo’s local search engine. Google AdWords gives users the ability to select which country, region, and language their ads will appear in (currently, Google only features top sponsored ad listings on their local search).
With all these abilities and avenues available for locally targeted promotion, is it actually worth the effort? A response by WPW resident greeneagle may help simplify things:
Always include local geographical terms in all Titles, metas and text for locally endeavored clients!
If you don’t, it’s no “venial” sin! – It’s a “cardinal” oversight!
One thing to consider is that the local search phenomenon is still an evolving creature. This, however, does not mean it should be neglected. As the web in general moves more towards user personalization, one can expect the local search industry to continue to grow. These thoughts are echoed by incrediblehelp, another WPW regular, who says:
As the future of the search algo gets more and more personalized, you have to think local info like this will come more into play.
When you consider the fact that embracing these local opportunities is not a great deal of added work, it would almost be foolish not to consider them when conducting an SEO/SEM campaign.
Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest search news.
