Getting your business to rank well in local San Diego search results should be a key component to your company’s web development plan. Ranking higher than other competitors in local search results on review engines and iyp portals (internet yellow pages) like Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, and Yelp gives your company the opportunity to directly connect with potential clients who are looking for your company’s products or services in the San Diego area. David Mihm recently conducted a survey to see what factors are considered the most and least important to local search rankings. So what do we consider to be the most important factors to having your company rank well in the San Diego area?
1. First off, be sure to visit all major review engines and iyp portals – like Google Maps, Yahoo! Local, Yelp, Yellowpages, Bing Local Search, Insiderpages, and Superpages – to see if your business is already listed there. If it is, be sure to claim the listing. If it is not, request to add your listing to each of these sites individually. Claiming or adding your business listing on these websites allows you to add information about your company including products and services offered, contact information, url links to your company’s website, and other details a potential client may want to know.
2. During this process, be sure to select the right categories for your business. Each website will request that you select the category/categories that best represents the products or services your company provides. Fewer clients will find your company if you fill out all details about your doggie daycare company and categorize it under “Professional Services” instead of “Pets” on Yelp’s site.
3. Once you have claimed your business listing and categorized it appropriately, your rankings can also improve based on the number of reviews from clients and the positive ratings from them. Potential clients are far more likely to pick up the phone and call or buy from a company that has a number of favorable reviews.
4. It also helps if your company’s address is listed in the city or area code where most of your customers come from. Review engines and iyp portals have become very city specific, and so you will reach a larger audience if your physical address is listed as a doggie daycare company in San Diego rather than Fallbrook. Having San Diego and the products/services you offer listed in your company’s website title tags can also help boost your local search rankings during the web development process.
— Stephanie
4241 Jutland Dr., Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92117