We’ve discussed in-depth why going local with your website is quite likely to have an impact that’s very measurable — in many cases, even on the same scale used to measure "going global." Local is good stuff because it’s a very focused niche in and of itself, especially when applied as an overlay to your existing niche or specialty.

With this in mind, there are a few local websites and resources that often go overlooked. So let’s re-hash and take a look at some of these.

The Search Engines’ Local Sites:

Each of the major search engines maintains its own local "portal." All you have to do to participate is submit your site. It’s both free and easy to do.

• Google Local – See the recent blog post featuring step-by-step directions for participating here. If you do just one local submission, definitely make it this one for sure.
• Yahoo! Local – Same goes, we have a simple guide to get listed on Yahoo! Local. Again, it’s easy and free.
• Bing Local – Rounding out the big 3 of search, submitting to Bing’s local platform is worth the time.

Going Local Locally:

It pays to start right within your very own community when looking for Local online opportunities to take advantage of.

• Your Local Chamber of Commerce – Are you a member? If so, make sure you’re taking full advantage of the web listings and benefits your local Chamber of Commerce offers to its members. This can be remarkably advantageous when it comes to attracting direct local traffic and building link popularity.
• Local Service Clubs and Organizations – Again, if your business or organization participates in any of these kind of groups, chances are, there’s a free link opportunity there just waiting for you to claim it. After all, many organizations maintain a member’s directory on their websites… all you’ve got to do is add your URL to the existing contact information there.
• Newspapers and Other Local News Sites – A couple of good ways to benefit exist here. First of all, you could do the Press Release submission thing when you have news to share to promote your website and business locally. Also, it’s not unusual for these kinds of news organizations to maintain some kind of community portal on their websites — if they do, make sure your website is somehow listed with these. This can be a valuable resource.
• Local Government and Education Websites – It’s up to you to figure out how this idea might work out for you, but it’s long been known that obtaining a couple of backlinks from a .gov or .edu site can be extremely effective in helping to build your link popularity.

Again, while most of these opportunities usually go completely overlooked, they do actually have some value — especially when it comes to increasing the ever-important link popularity. The thing is, sometimes it’s easiest to get listed on relevant local sites than it is anywhere else. Be sure to try this strategy when you have a chance.

Until Next Time.
George Chaney
President/CEO
SEO King, Inc.