With all apologies to Kevin Costner, “If you build it, they will come” is NOT the way websites work.
As a Bradenton-based web designer for Bradenton businesses, I want people in Bradenton to see the sites I build—to visit them, interact with them, and enjoy them. That’s the best part!
So when it comes to online marketing, brand-building, and reputation management, first you build a beautiful website. Then you build an arsenal of online road signs to direct people to that site. Those “online road signs” are search-engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is a way of connecting your target audience, especially in your business’s area. It includes content on your own sites, like your website and social media sites, as well as content in other places online, like local business directories and even other people’s websites (citations).
Local SEO is important for companies of any size, in any area; Bradenton small businesses need Bradenton SEO.
What is SEO?
SEO is part of what we call “organic marketing.” That is: no tricks, nothing artificial. It just happens naturally.
For instance, my boutique online marketing company, Deckard & Company, needs to connect with people who are looking for my services. So I use industry-specific phrases like “WordPress website design,” “social media management,” and “SEO strategies.”
When people search for these services, wherever these people are located, my website will be in the mix.
What is Bradenton SEO?
Local SEO on your website content includes keywords that pertain to your business’s services combined with keywords specific to the area in which you operate.
Because my small business is located in Bradenton, Florida, I specifically want other Bradenton small businesses to know about me. Throughout my company website (deckardandcompany.com), you’ll see phrases like “Gulf coast of Florida,” “Ellenton, Florida,” “City of Bradenton,” “southwest Florida,” and “Bradenton-based digital marketing agency.”
When people in southwest Florida search for my services, these Bradenton-area SEO keywords will help my website appear at the top of their search results.
How do Bradenton business directories and local citations benefit your Bradenton SEO?
As with the other aspects of SEO, local business directories and online citations are helpful just at face value. In other words, when people see your business information in a Bradenton directory, or if they read about your business on someone else’s website, then voila: They’ve found your business!
But these kinds of online appearances help in the greater scheme of SEO, too. The more your company’s name appears online, the more Google will sit up and take notice.
Moreover, Google really likes it when your company’s name appears on busy, widely used websites. Local directories have everything that Google loves:
- They attract lots of visitors on a daily and even hourly business.
- They generate new content on a regular basis (proving they remain “active”).
- Bradenton business directories attract a high concentration of users from a specific geographic area—ie southwest Florida.
When your business appears on these directories, it’s not just validation for customers. It’s a seal of approval from Google.
Is your company’s Bradenton directory information properly representing your company?
And this is why local directory management is so important. Google will use its immense power to direct all of these users to your company’s local directory information.
Here’s the kicker, though: All of that information needs to be accurate. If your company’s directory information is incorrect and/or out-of-date, then bam: You’re losing the SEO game.
Bad local directory information is like a GPS that tells you to turn left when you need to turn right. Your customers will wind up even farther away from your company. They think you’re not paying attention. That’s a real turnoff.
Professional online directory management keeps your business’s Bradenton directory information up-to-date, so you’re making the most of this SEO power.
How do you know your SEO is working?
Well that part’s easy! Just act like a customer!
If you’ve already established a Bradenton small business, then I know you’re already a capable local businessperson. You know your customers. So what do your customers search for?
Just open up Google.com and type in something someone might look for that your company does. What kind of results do you get? What kinds of results do your friends and family get when they do the same thing?
If you don’t like what you see, or even if you just have questions about your Bradenton company’s Google results, then it’s time to give us a call.
If you build the beautiful Bradenton website, AND you build the beautiful Bradenton SEO, THEN they will come to your Bradenton business.
