When it comes to your website, you know you have to appeal to consumers, but that’s not the only audience you need to worry about.
Have you ever thought about how search engines, such as Google, rank your business’s website and help it appear in relevant searches?
Just like you’re trying to appease consumers when they’re searching for a business like yours, you need to do the same for search engines.
However, what these two audiences are searching for are a little different. So, what can you do to satisfy both at the same time? Consider utilizing a locally optimized website, sometimes referred to as a microsite (we call them RevSites here at RevLocal)!
In this blog, we’re going to break down what a locally optimized website is, the different functions of a locally optimized site and why your website should serve two audiences.
What Is a Locally Optimized Website?
Separate from your main website, a locally optimized website is a marketing tool to help drive sales. Overall, these sites have focused content around a specific topic, targets a distinct audience or promotes sales or coupons for your business.
You should think of a locally optimized website as an extension of your business’s website. Locally optimized sites are NOT created to compete against your business’s website, but rather enhance it and amplify your marketing efforts.
Managing a locally optimized site is also easier compared to making updates to your regular website. Changes to your website can sometimes be a lengthy process if you have to go through your webmaster to make updates.
If you utilize a locally optimized website for your business, your marketing team or agency can easily go in and update the content or swap the promotion quickly.
Locally Optimized Website Functions
As mentioned earlier in the blog, there are always two audiences we are trying to satisfy during the process. One is the search engines and two is the consumer.
While your website is great for consumers searching directly for your business, locally optimized sites appear when someone is searching for products or services you offer (which can be a larger audience).
For example, if I was a consumer searching for a car repair shop, but I didn’t have any specific business in mind, I would go to Google and type in “car repair near me” or “car repair shop.”
As a business owner, you would want to appear in the search results for these terms if they were relevant to your business. A locally optimized website can help you do that!
You can appear in the local results by having locally focused content and being SEO friendly.
At RevLocal, our RevSites are built with several functions and features to help you appear when consumers are searching for you! Here are some of the features that are included in RevSites:
- Integrates with your website and boosts its relevance
- Mobile-friendly with a fast, responsive design to fit any device
- Customizable to your business’s fonts, colors, services, etc.
- Callouts drive consumer interaction with your site
- Focused content speeds up the consumer decision process
- Easily adaptable to your marketing strategy
- Adjusts to fit Google’s algorithm so you can show in relevant searches
- Feature reviews to build trust with potential customers
It’s important to note that Google sees our microsites as a full-functioning website built for searches with local intent. As most websites aren’t locally focused, having a website will help reach consumers in your local area.
Why You Need to Serve Two Audiences
In the grand scheme of things, what consumers are looking for and what search engines want to see can vary. While there are some factors that overlap, they are ultimately two audiences to satisfy.
In our need-it-now world, consumers want to be able to find a product or service that fits their needs. They expect a quick load time of your website as well as easy navigation. How a website looks visually can also impact if a consumer chooses your business or a competitor.
While load time is important to search engines, they also look at the content on the page to help with current SEO trends and updates. One thing to avoid on locally optimized websites is keyword stuffing (this can actually hurt your ranking if you use keywords that aren’t relevant to your business).
Overall, websitess give the search engines what they are specifically looking for in current ranking factors.
Here's what our Website Service Design Specialist Joey Hammers had to say when it comes to Websites:
The fact that our website services focus on user experience and search engine best practices is what makes it such a special tool. One common mistake we see is that people are just focusing on the look of their sites and they aren't thinking about what the different search engines, especially Google, require. We have worked really hard to strike that balance that really helps our clients see results in their local search presence and making sure their customers are happy.
Final Thoughts
Satisfying consumers and search engines is easy when you pair your website with a locally optimized site.
It's important to remember that our website services are used to enhance your business's online presence and are seen as an extension of your actual website.
If you’d like to learn more about what our website services can offer your business, make sure to check out our other resources: