If you haven’t heard of it, Local Search Engine Optimization or LSSO is a new industry that is beginning to influence the SEO industry. But, is it a sustainable industry or a passing fad?

Local Search Engine Optimization involves optimizing a website to rank higher on search engines such as Google and Bing. Google wants the best available content at the top of search results pages.

Local Search Engine Optimization: Traditional SEO Featured During Core Business Education at a panel

Some find it challenging to build successful businesses this way. Some find that hiring a team of engineers to do this work is too much money. But, a good Local Search Engine Optimization (LSSO) strategy is low cost and tight group to be effective. If successful, Local Search Engine Optimization can increase your revenues by 20-30 percent and it can often increase your traffic to your site.

When you build your website, you are creating an invisible guide book for the visitor. When you get to the final part of your guide book and start the search, you are placing a small text link that tells the visitor exactly where to enter your page to get the information they are looking for.

How is Google different? Google extracts intent. Google asks the visitor to click on this link in order to get the answer to their question. Their intent is not to read your website; they want to get to the information they are looking for. A visitor to your website is in the same boat as a Google search. They want to find the information they need; the information may be related to the business they want to visit.

In some cases, a simple request for a local address may get you the place name. In other cases, your local address can result in your regional website name. In other cases, a local search result may not be the best site possible, but it is the most local to your consumers.

Yet, with LSSO, it is usually better to create these site names in-house, because it is easier to link to them than a Google-created landing page.

LSSO works by search engine algorithms (usually called network keywords). Sometimes a site simply gets labeled as a “Concentrated Shoe”. This is a site that gets indexed much faster and rankings rise as a result. Sometimes however, a site may get labeled as “Used Shirt”. This is because Google thinks that the consumer may be looking for used clothes and they may be confused about which website they should call to purchase something.

While the notion that “text links” do not exist in business or in search engines is most misleading, based on the recent trend to use images in search results, it is also correct. For example, when I do a search for cars, I prefer the visual image of the car versus the text link. The closer and simpler the human connection, the more satisfied they will be with the results.

Over the past year or so, LSSO has skyrocketed in popularity and most businesses have developed their own SMoOA strategies. However, is LSSO a sustainable approach to being found and engaging visitors? In some cases, Yes, but in other cases, Not in my back yard.

Today, SMoOA seems like a very simple practice, but the reality is that it is one of the most complex aspects of being successful in business.

Share This Post! If you enjoyed this article we’d really appreciate a quick share. Every share makes a big difference and helps us focus on what we do the best: The news!