Learn about the best current techniques and strategies to help small businesses rank better locally with SEO.

On May 22, Google launched Penguin 2.0. This algorithmic update emphasizes focus on punishing sites that use link spam to benefit their SEO strategies. Fewer websites benefiting from these spam links is beneficial to those looking to improve their small business SEO.

Penguin 2.0 has been found to help local businesses in a number of ways. Perhaps the most important is that Google has been integrating local results more and more into their searches. For example, if you type in “Pizza” to Google, the first results will be the names and addresses of pizza places near you.

Small business can use this exciting new update to their advantage. Here are a few SEO strategies that can help your local SEO in the post Penguin 2.0 Google.

Google+Local Reviews

First of all, if you do not have a Google+ Local site, make one! The number of Google+ Local sites displayed in search results has dramatically increased recently. After you make your site, ask your customers to leave you a positive review on Google+. Positive reviews show Google that your site and business is relevant and respected. Search engines are now taking into account what customers have to say about you! To get more reviews, you can consider posting a link to your Google+ page onto your main website and encouraging customers to visit and leave feedback.

Citations

Google takes into account every time your company’s information (business name, address, phone number) appears in websites that are related to your demographic and location. A good SEO strategy would be to get your businesses information on relevant sites as much as possible. Make sure that your information is on sites like the Yellow Pages and MapQuest, and verify that all of your information is up to date.

Guest Blogs

Guest blogging is a popular and effective link building technique that can improve your small business SEO. This technique can make your brand available to a different and wider audience. It allows contextual links back to your website that can boost your local SEO. If your business and the blogger are in close proximity geographically, you can benefit even more.

Mobile Site

Every year a larger percentage of people make local searches on their mobile device. Mobile searches are based more on location than traditional desktop searches. This is understandable when you consider that someone on their lunch break might Google the nearest sandwich shop. This makes having a mobile site paramount! If your site is not compatible with their mobile device, or it is hard to read, you may be losing a customer. A mobile site will open up a new and growing demographic to you and keep you relevant.