For small businesses looking to create an effective online marketing plan, understanding the importance of local search optimization — and being able to optimize your website for local search engine results lists — is absolutely essential. Although there are many details that factor into local search optimization and local search rankings, here are just a few of the most important changes you can make in order to optimize your website for local SEO.

• Basic company information placement: Local search optimization is, first and foremost, about making sure that your company’s information (name, address, phone number, operating hours, etc.) is listed on any relevant local search results page — i.e., search engine users see your business’s information before any other organic pages, and they don’t even have to click on your website in order to access your basic info. The best way to make sure that Google will pick up your information is to place it on every webpage in the same location.

• Having a mobile-friendly website: Search engine users are using mobile devices (like smartphones and tablets) more so than ever before, and the increasing prevalence of mobile device searches has definitely affected the world of local SEO. After the number of local searches on mobile devices quadrupled during 2012, it’s now estimated that at least 50% of all local searches are conducted on mobile devices. Local search optimization definitely depends on making sure that your entire website is mobile-optimized in order to attract search engine users to your site and convince them to stay.

• Make sure to include your city and state in every part of your website: Everything from title tags, to headlines, to actual written and multi-media content — it should all include the city and state in which your business is located. It’s important to make sure that your company name and location are in the top five anchor text phrases on your website (especially your homepage), but it’s also important to include these details in pages that aren’t permanent (such as blog posts) in order to show Google that your business is still active and relevant. If you’re also using small business SEO services in your overall marketing plan, it’s fairly easy to incorporate local search SEO details right into the content on a regular basis.

Still feel confused about how to get the best local search optimization strategy for your business’s website? Fear not! Many small business SEO services know exactly what details on your website will create the best local search results — and the best part about using a search marketing company for local search SEO optimization is that you can focus on your business and let the search engine experts handle the rest.