Local Search Tactic #2 – The Zip Cloud

Whenever I am searching for something local, I will usually include my zip code in the search.  This is because I want to find the location of the product or service closest to me, for convenience.  As a local business, I would want the zip codes that my local business covers on my website, so that my website shows up in search rankings for all of the zip codes I cover.  But, after checking out competing websites I found that zip codes other than their business address were not covered.  Adding a “Zip Cloud” to your site will help you rank higher for local searches.

In order to get the zip codes in you can add them to your keywords, or you could have a page or column with a list of zip codes, but something I have found that works better is actually having them within the content of my website.  On most blogs they have a tag cloud, with keywords that they want to optimize for and they are usually grouped together in a “cloud” of words.  I applied this technique to the local business website in a paragraph at the bottom of the content on each of the landing pages.  This lists the cities and zip codes in content form and is shaded to a lighter color so that it is not prominent on the page.  I made some of the words bigger and some bold.

Example:

34216 Anna Maria 34201 Bradenton 34202 34203 34204 34205 34206 Lakewood Ranch 34207 34208 34228 Myakka City 34251 Oneco 34264 Palmetto 34220 34221 Parrish 34219 Sarasota 34260 34270 Terra Ceia 34250 34209 34210 34211 34212 34280 3428 Bradenton Beach 34217 Cortez 34215 Ellenton 34218 Holmes Beach 34218 Longboat Key

In tests I found that when I would search for my keywords with a specific zip code, the local website would rank first, because having the specific zip code in the content makes it the most relevant.  This is a great way to make sure your website is optimized for all of your coverage areas and you can easily dominate some of the more obscure searches.

You can also use some of the zip codes or towns to create links to other pages on your site. This utilizes good anchor text to create a link to your most important pages.  This will help with your on-page optimization and internal linking structure, which helps your search engine optimization overall.

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