Local SEO Tips Useful for Australian Business

In today’s world of internet business, an Australian business needs to have a strong local presence to make their website more visible to their targeted local customers or clients for them to increase their online sales. In order to achieve this, effective local Australia SEO strategies are needed to implement to help their website rank higher in local search results for location specific search terms. So what are these important Search Engine Optimisation Australia tips?
There are lot of ways to help you effectively optimize your sites for local search and here are some of them which are recommended by most Search Engine Optimisation Experts.

Leverage Google’s Webmaster Tools Geographic Targeting

By using Webmaster tools, website owners can now easily tell Google which country it wishes to target. Because you are enabled to choose the location you want to target and with Google integrating local businesses into their search results for many queries, there would be a significant improvement of your search engine rankings within Google country specific search results.

Do take note that Webmaster Tools Geographic Targeting can only be used for sites with a geographically neutral top-level domain, such as .com, .org, or.net. However, if you don’t want your site associated with any location like in country-specific domains, such as .au or .ca, which are already associated with a country or region (.au for Australia and .ca for Canada), then you can select Unlisted.

Make Sure to Select a Country Specific Domain Name

Because Google will largely rely on the site’s country domain in cases where there is no information entered in Webmaster Tools, specify or use a country specific domain extension. You would in all likelihood rank more effectively within local search results as Google will likely use this as another key indicator or metric in its ranking algorithm.

Studies show that Australian searchers much prefer to use .com.au rather than .com when searching locally for information, products or services online. Moreover, studies also revealed that by using a more trusted domain within a specific geographic market, your site's click through rates from the search results can be improved, thus potentially increasing onsite conversion rate.

Make Sure that Your Website is Hosted within the Country You are Targeting

One factor that Google considers when ranking your site for local search results is the website IP address. That's why it's a good SEO Strategy to host your website in the country you're targeting because it helps Google to recognize your website as a local business.

Build up Geographically-Targeted Inbound Links

Make sure to generate and develop your site’s inbound links from websites within the country you are targeting. Google uses inbound links to your site as votes of confidence when it comes to its search engine algorithm. So, if you are targeting a specific country like Australia, then make sure that your site's backlinks should naturally come from within this region. Try also to focus more on getting backlinks from sites that have the local domain extension and/or are hosted in the country you are targeting. Submit your site to local Australian business directories as this is also an easy way to develop such links while bringing potential customers to your website.

Make Use of Local Keyword Phrases Within the Body of Your Website Content

Make sure to add localized variations within your content like SEO Australia rather than SEO only. In this way, you are providing Google with as much targeted content on local search terms within your on-page SEO efforts that may result to an increase in your keyword relevancy, helping you achieve better rankings.

Make Use of a Local Business Address Within Your Site’s Footer
Make sure to include your full local business address within your web pages. In this way, you can target the local search engine you are hoping to rank highly within. An effective place to put your company business address is in the footer section of your website as this will make sure that every page on your site includes local search terms.

Claim and Create Your Own Google Places Account

With Google giving places listings a large percentage of their SERPs when applicable local terms are searched for, claiming Google Places account has become an important SEO move. If you’re targeting a particular state, city or town local search terms, then it is important to claim your Google places listing as this will allow you to make your site visible and be found on the main Google search results within the places listings and also within Google Maps search results.