I recently had a bit of an adventure when trying to find a local SEO company. All I wanted was ideally a company based around Swindon in Wiltshire, with a good track record and someone helpful at the end of the phone, it actually proved to be quite a difficult task. I would just like to add that it wasn’t for this website as you have probably realised due to it’s current search engine ranks, so how did I find a good Wiltshire seo company who I am happy to work with?

First things first, I went on to good old Google and did a search for “seo companies in wiltshire”, it suggested a couple of companies who looked good but also several directories and review type websites, but then it dawned on me I was searching for the word “companies”, none of the businesses I was looking for would probably use that keyword as they are a company, singular not plural, although perhaps they should! So I changed my search accordingly and used the singular of the search term, right enough, some of the same ones came up again (a good sign I was thinking) along with a few new ones.

Next I started to contact some of them, it soon became apparent that many were not actually that local to me, in fact whilst most were genuine UK seo companies there were a few which were not from the UK at all, they had applied optimisation techniques to certain pages to make them appear in the listings for other areas, quite clever but I wanted someone truly local, so started to check their contact pages.

I also started checking what type of services were on offer, was it just basic seo, or did they mention keyword research and the importance of on and off page factors, such as links, title tags and alt tags? I also had a quick look at their blogs to make sure they were kept up to date.  I wasn’t looking for someone who updated it every day, but at least once a month was a good sign. On some the grammar was awful, which made me click back and look at another, on some the posting was so basic that it seemed too simple for a professional company, I was looking for one which had elements of the seo process discussed which I hadn’t considered or at least couldn’t do myself  (apologies if this is starting to sound like the goldilocks story), so in the end I narrowed it down to a couple.

Both of them were appearing in what I now understand to be Google local listings aka Google places, but also organically on the natural results.  Note I did not even pay any attention to the paid listings at the top and side of the page, these are pay per click, so anyone can appear there, regardless if they are in the UK, let alone in Wiltshire.

Eventually I settled on a company and they have already come up with some sound advice and seem to be creeping my site up the search engine ranks, not as fast as I would like, but then again I’m rather impatient (what do you mean, I’m not number 1 after a month! lol) but joking aside, they do seem to be doing a great job already, I will post again here about it and let you know who they are as time progresses.

There are a number of ways you can optimise a website for local search, particularly now the Google Local Listings have become so prominent on the first page of results.

The traditional way of approaching SEO on a local level, is to follow standard procedures, but making sure anyone who links to your website uses the town name. You can also add your company to regional directories, so If you are based in Wiltshire, you find any directories focussed on the Wiltshire area or specifically to any towns in the county, such as Swindon, Calne, Devizes and Marlborough and make sure you are listed in those. There are also certain aspects on the pages which can help, such as using a place name in the title tag, and having your company address on the pages.

The other option these days is to have a Google local listing, these are very easy to add, although you may need to optimise it a little. In essence following the rules and guidelines set out is the best approach, as breaking any of these could mean that your listing does not appear as high as it could do otherwise. These listings can be a very good way to jump straight in on the first page of Googles search results, without having to spend a lot of money with SEO Companies or a PPC expert.

Just a quick note today, but I just discovered that this url was previously owned by the Cory Band. They are from South Wales and have been around since 1884.

Bearing this in mind, I felt it only fair to link through to their online shop, seeing as this site is all about online shopping now and they have one of their own, so you can find it here they sell recordings and general merchandise which includes pens, badges, mouse mats and t shirts. Although their music can be bought on line from many outlets such as play.com and amazon too.

They played at the queens jubilee concert and have played all around the world including a gig at the Albert Hall. They are the winners of numerous competitions too including the British Open Championships, European Champions, and even won the World Music Contest twice, so whilst I must admit that brass band music isn’t really my thing, I felt it appropriate to give them a mention.

There seems to be absolutely no limit to the products and services you can buy on-line these days, from an egg cup to a house and from training to cleaners, the options are almost limitless, in fact I will make a bold statement and say if it can be sold over the internet, someone somewhere is doing so.

But where are all these internet based shops appearing from? OK, so the likes of Argos or M&S and other large retail chains, it’s expected, they already had large websites to complement the bricks and mortar business, so would logically have hundreds of thousands of pounds to spend capitalising on this new market. But what about all the smaller niche shops which are out there selling software, crafts and football kits etc?

Most of these smaller niche e-commerce sites are either small companies or private people who want their share of the on-line sales; and it’s actually quite a simple and inexpensive process to get yourself an e-commerce site set up. The first thing you will need is a domain name or URL, this is the name you see appearing in the top of the browser, or what you type in if you go to a site (e.g. www.etc etc) these can be bought as cheaply as 99p, however for a good tld such as .co.uk or .com you will have to spend a little more, but still under £10!

Next you need a host, find a well established one who are in the UK, or whichever country you are based in, then have a look at your fantastico control panel, in there you will probably see one click installs for several e-commerce packages, install one and learn how to use it. Trial and error will play a part, but all your questions on functionality can be answered by a quick Google search, or failing that join a relevant forum.

Now you need something to sell. I can’t help you decide what that would be, but try to stick to something you know, it will make building the site and writing product descriptions much quicker. There are lots of companies out there who will take orders from you and process them, shipping direct to your customer, so there is no need to hold stock.

A word of caution though, there are several companies out there who specialise in ripping people off providing a combined all in one service, which sounds too good to be true, it is! They will provide the domain, hosting, shopping cart, and products for you, the problem is that you will find yourself subscribed to a service which thousands of other people are all signed up to, and the products are all the same and not even very cheap.

OK so assuming you avoided the pitfall above, you should have everything set up and ready to start selling for around £100,  Ah, you have no visitors to the site, that’s where SEO comes in and that’s where things can become a bit pricey, but I’ll talk more about that next time.