Over the years, SEO has changed dramatically. Not long ago, SEO was all about reaching online buyers on a national or international scale. Thanks to advances in Internet technology, SEO is now often done on a local basis. However, local SEO must be done differently than national and international SEO; here are a few core principles of local SEO and how it differs from traditional SEO.

• Quality Links over Quantity of Links

Increasingly, the sheer number of links pointing to website is mattering less and less. This is especially pronounced in local SEO. Local website do not need to have hundreds or thousands of links, and sites that do often raise flags in search engine algorithms. Instead of focusing on building dozens of links, focus on building two or three great links from authoritative sources.

• Keep Links Relevant

Some are beginning to wonder if links from location-neutral websites may actually hurt local SEO. While this point is debatable, there is little doubt that links from websites that do not deal with the target area provide little help in terms of local SEO. Focus on finding ways to build links from local websites when performing local SEO.

• Focus on Social Media

  In recent years, social media has become a cornerstone of successful SEO. Determining exactly how SEO works into ranking algorithms, however, has been especially difficult. Despite this, those who succeed on social media networks tend to see their results improve significantly, and the local information contained within social media makes it an especially valuable target. In addition, the importance of social media for SEO will likely increase in coming years.

• Remember Mapping Platforms


Part of the reason that local SEO is so important is due to the fact that people now use their smartphones to find businesses. Forgetting to include your website on mapping platforms will make much of the work go to waste. Always ensure that your business is located on these platforms, and ensure that all information listed is correct; remember that there are more platforms than just Google Maps.

• Be Careful with Flash

Search engine ranking algorithms cannot read text contained in Flash elements. Further, most smartphones cannot read Flash content either. Website design is a core component of SEO, and a website that does not contain the phone number and address of a location in plain text will not be ranked as highly as one that does.

SEO has long been an important component of succeeding in business, and the increasing importance of local SEO is making it relevant to people who could safely ignore it in the past. Fortunately, local rankings are not too difficult to improve, and some consistency and study can lead to great results.