SEO by location is a strategy that focuses on optimizing a website for local searches. In this article, we will discuss SEO by location in Erie County, New York, United States.

Erie County is located in western New York and has a population of over 920,000 people. The county seat is Buffalo, which is the second-largest city in the state. Erie County has a diverse economy with industries such as healthcare, education, manufacturing, and tourism.

SEO by location can be beneficial for businesses that operate locally or have a physical presence in Erie County. By optimizing their website for local searches, businesses can increase their visibility to potential customers who are searching for products or services within their area.

Keyword Research

The first step in any SEO strategy is keyword research. Keyword research involves identifying the keywords and phrases that potential customers are using to search for products or services related to your business.

For example, if you own a restaurant in Buffalo, some relevant keywords might include "Buffalo restaurants," "best restaurants near me," "Italian food Buffalo," etc.

To conduct keyword research specific to Erie County, you can use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ahrefs Keywords Explorer. These tools allow you to enter your target keywords and see how many people are searching for them each month.

Once you have identified your target keywords and phrases, you can begin incorporating them into your website's content.

On-Page Optimization

On-page optimization refers to the changes made directly on your website's pages to improve its ranking on SERPs. Here are some key elements of on-page optimization:

Title Tags: Title tags appear at the top of each page's HTML code and provide information about what that page contains. Including relevant keywords within title tags can help improve its ranking on SERPs.
Meta Descriptions: Meta descriptions provide more detailed information about what users can expect from clicking through to your site from SERPs.
Header Tags: Header tags (H1-H6) break up content into sections and make it easier for users to read through long-form content.
Content Optimization: Optimizing content includes incorporating relevant keywords throughout text while maintaining readability.
Image Optimization: Image optimization includes adding alt text descriptions with relevant keywords so search engines understand what images represent.

Local Business Listings

Local business listings refer to online directories where businesses list their name address phone number (NAP), hours of operation reviews photos etc., This helps customers find local businesses when they're searching online directories like Yelp Google My Business Bing Places Facebook Pages etc.,

Google My Business Listing
Google My Business listing allows businesses with physical locations show up prominently when someone searches locally related queries like “restaurants near me” “coffee shops open now” “plumbers buffalo ny”. It’s free tool provided by Google which allows business owners manage how they appear across all google properties including maps search results knowledge panel etc.,

To create GMB listing follow these steps:
1) Go To https://www.google.com/business/
2) Click Manage Now
3) Sign In With Your Gmail Account
4) Enter Your Business Name And Address
5) Choose Your Category
6) Verify Your Listing

Citations & Backlinks

Citations refer mentions of NAP data across webpages even if there isn’t link back pointing towards business’ site whereas backlinks refer links pointing towards business’ site from other websites . Both citations & backlinks play important role improving visibility & rankings especially when it comes local seo .

Here’s how citations & backlinks work:
When google crawls webpages it looks out mentions NAP data across various sites . If there’re multiple consistent mentions NAP data then google considers this as signal trustworthiness legitimacy thus improving rankings .
Backlinks work similarly but instead looking out mentions NAP data ,google looks out links pointing towards site . If there’re multiple high quality authoritative sites linking towards then google considers this as signal authority relevance thus improving rankings .

Here’s how get started building citations & backlinks :
1 ) Create profiles various online directories including yelp , yellow pages , angie’s list , tripadvisor etc.,
2 ) Reach out bloggers journalists influencers asking them mention link towards site .
3 ) Participate community events sponsorships charities events getting mentioned linked various event websites .

Conclusion

In conclusion SEO by location plays an important role helping small medium sized enterprises gain visibility attract new customers especially those operating locally . By conducting thorough keyword research implementing best practices On-Page Optimization creating managing Local Listings building Citations Backlinks one could significantly improve chances appearing top SERP results thereby increasing traffic leads sales revenue growth overall success enterprise