Monday, April 22, 2013

5 Ways to Use Census Data to get better Local SEO

When SEO goes local, there are a few new rules that savvy webmasters need to follow. The good news is that census data is readily obtainable and can offer a lot of information to customize and tweak SEO. Along with big data that's available for a reasonable fee (or free), it's significant to use the information that's offered to maximize search engine results. Here are 5 easy ways to put census data to work.

local seo tips


1. Pinpoint Neighborhoods

It's not sufficient to know the trends of a certain city. Even if a business owner has been a native of the town for decades, that doesn't mean he knows every nuance of every street. Depending on what the business is targeting (a certain age, gender, ethnic background, etc.), census data can pinpoint exactly where the most complementary communities are living.

2. Provide for Business Intelligence

Business intelligence (BI) is made up of theories, methods, processes, and architectures that turn data into information that can really be used by a business. BI systems are obtainable as software, or a business owner can contract a BI expert to work directly for the company. BI experts can use census data to generate customized SEO tactics and improve rankings.

3. Go Micro-Local

Great things really do come in small packages, including SEO. The definition of "local SEO" is pretty subjective, and there's always the choice of going micro-local with census data. Forget localizing SEO for a certain city; census data allows a business to micro-localize things down to a zip code, neighborhood or even street.

4. Know Who's Looking

If a business tracks IP addresses (as all should), census data allows the business owner to know a lot more than where the person logged in from. The data reveals that the person also likely falls into a number of other categories, each of which can be used to better offer relevant services, products or information.

5. Constantly Updated Information

The great thing about the US census is that it's updated every few years. There's no relying on outdated information and hoping that the data is applicable. For the most part, census data is collected at the exact right time and chances are slim that information will change drastically between the census years. Business owners have peace of mind knowing their localized SEO information is current.

The best thing about census information is that it's free. It's the largest (free) big data accessible to all. Why not use it to make best use of the bottom line?

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