How to Leverage Local SEO

Where there are only a few indoor soccer and sports facilities in a local area, many community members may already know about your business. However, most won't know about the specific programs and services that differentiate your facility from the rest. That’s why Local Business SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is extremely important.

The fundamental concept is that when people conduct a search, they will tend to click what they see first. Therefore, if your website isn’t near the top of the first page of results, your target customers simply won't notice you. On the other hand, if you have a visible presence on the page, you have a much better chance of capturing their attention--and their business.

The general approach to local SEO should be:

1. Create a list of all keywords and phrases used by prospective customers to help them find your website. (Think about every feature, benefit, service, product, amenity, etc., that people may search for.)
2. Generate quality content on your website to target these keywords and prospects. As more and more web pages and blog posts get published, traffic will increase.
3. Target local and neighboring areas with your keywords and content. (If people think your facility is the best, they will drive the extra distance.)
4. Don’t forget that at the local level, low search volume is normal, compared to national websites. This is why ranking well for as many local keywords as possible is a good thing.
5. Keep up on standard SEO practices. (Inbound links to your website from relevant businesses and sites with relevant industry topics are of great help and increase your site's rankings.  That includes USIndoor links.)

Google “Freshness Update" - How it will affect your SEO

Google says some 35% of search results will be affected by new "Freshness" criteria, which it introduced in November. This update prioritizes recent and timely results, and it will positively impact businesses whose online content stays current and interesting. While this may seem like a disadvantage to many indoor sports facilities, whose content is relatively static, it can also be a boon for those with dynamic schedulers, homepage feature stories and active social media.

Eric Willin, Vice President of Marketing for EZFacility.com, a facility website and software administration provider and long-time USIndoor member, is in charge of SEO for EZFacility.com.  He consults regularly with website customers.  He states, "An effective way for USIndoor member facilities to generate "fresh" content for their website is to create a blog and update it on a frequent basis. Short, informative updates about their facility, services and relevant industry news can keep content fresh in the eyes of the search engines."