As an SEO expert in the Metropolitan Boston area, I handle many local businesses’ SEO work and I often had to answer the following question: “Why are you not targeting Boston, the largest city in Massachusetts?” In fact, I had many clients that want to be found all over the state in a short period of time. “Our business is in the suburbs, how do we show up for searches in Boston?”
This brings up the point of why SEO needs to start locally for a local business, as many business owners tend to neglect their own backyard also known as their own town. In many cases, local businesses don’t even have a great presence in their own town and according to Google’s algorithms, search results are based on relevance and importance. It is no longer a secret that in order to increase your presence, it is to have great and original content on your website. However, location is a very important ranking factor as well. If you are not showing up in your own city, it is basically impossible and unrealistic for your business to show up well in the town next door or towns that are not even close to your business.
That’s why I advise my clients to be optimized for their own town first and then, once you have a great presence in your town, you can move on to increase your presence in the surrounding towns. After that, other towns and cities are out there for you to grab a hold of. With the right strategy and target areas, your business information will be found across the web. However, this will take some time to be effective. Remember, a watched pot never boils.