For example, if I type in the one word of “spa” within Google, I now get local listings of all the spas located in my area.  See below.

Google will show you local listings relevant to the search you just performed based upon your IP address.

Why this is so great for local businesses is because now, it appears that regardless of what keyword you place in the search box, you’re likely to get local listings instead of depending upon the user making a reference to their location.

Just consider the possibilities for local businesses here for a moment.  Previously if I wanted to locate a spa in my location of Des Moines, IA, I would have had to tell Google that I was looking for a spa in my city.  So I’d submit a query such as “spa des moines, ia”.

Now, all someone has to do is enter in a generic term (which is near to impossible to rank well for on a quick basis) and if your local business has set up a listing with Google and you’ve included keywords relevant to that listing, then your business would show up regardless of whether or not you specified a location.

If you have not yet set up a local listing for your business, I highly suggest that you do so by visiting Google Local and specifying your local business details.  It’s completely free but you do need a Google account in order to do so.

On the flip side of these new listings showing up, you might wonder where the rest of the listings are heading.

The good news is, that even with the local listings showing up for more competitive terms, there are still the typical 10 web page listings on the initial page.  The local listings (and any news listings or videos), are only placed within the actual search results as an “addition” not as a “replacement to” the current listings.

That being said, it’s interesting to note that even though some local listings might be more relevant to me as someone who is searching for a spa, I receive a couple of web page listings first and then receive my local listings.  However, the map for the local listings certainly draws the eye which may tend to make someone overlook a single blue link on the page.

The moral of the story is that if you do have a local business and you want to get it appearing in search results for those within your location, get that listing up on Google Local as soon as possible.

While this sounds like a simple process, it’s actually a culmination of lots of little things that you do right in order to get your website optimized.  The bottom line of website optimization is nothing more than getting your site listed within the first pages of a SERP or Search Engine Results Page.

Regardless of what industry you’re in, chances are you’re up against hundreds of thousands if not millions of competitors and at first glance it can seem rather daunting when you’re trying to compete against these other websites.

However, there are some fairly easy processes that you can follow in order to get your web pages properly optimized.  While this is only a fraction of what you can learn in the Bonehead SEO Course, it will help your web pages get moving in the right direction.

Here are just a few tips to help you along the way:

Keywords

By far, the most important first step you need to take is to use those keywords and phrases that people are searching on right now within a search engine.  While you might be tempted to just “guess” at what people are searching on in your industry, don’t.  You want the actual phrases that lots of people are using to find your product or service.

One way to go about this is to use a service such as Wordtracker.  Wordtracker offers a free version as well as a full-fledged paid version (with a 7-day-free-trial).  While you will get more results as well as more details on the keywords you’re researching with the paid version, the free version works just fine if you’re on a tight budget.

Simply visit Wordtracker and enter in a word or phrase that describes the kind of business that you’re in.  What Wordtracker will return to you is a list of those phrases that people are using right now online that include your topic.

It’s these phrases that you want to focus on within your website.

The Title

Once you’ve decided upon a phrase that you’ll be targeting on a web page, you’ll next want to use that phrase in your page’s title.  The title of the page is an extremely important factor in how search engines rank that web page.

If for instance you were targeting the keyword phrase of “website optimization” then you’d want to use “website optimization” in your title tag.

The Heading

Next, you’ll want to use this same phrase in a heading on your web page.  The heading will be one of the first things that a site visitor (and the search engines) will see so you want to be sure it’s contained within a header tag at the top of the page.  Again, use the keywords you chose for the web page within the header.

The Body Text

As you might imagine, the body text of the web page should incorporate the keyword phrase you have chosen for that page.  Use the phrase where necessary but whatever you do, do not “keyword stuff” your web page.

Keyword stuffing means that you use the same phrase you’re optimizing that page for multiple amounts of times.  This often makes the content sound unnatural and the search engines will pick up the fact that you are attempting to trick them by using your keyword multiple times throughout the text.

Instead, just write naturally and incorporate words and phrases related to but not identical to the main keyword phrase you’re working with.

In our example of the keyword phrase “website optimization”, I might use related words such as “website seo”, “seo”, “search engine optimization”, “ranking”, and “conversion.”

Just remember that when you do start optimizing your web pages that you make use of your main keyword phrase you’ve chosen in the appropriate spots on your web page and have also included related words and phrases throughout the content.

This will help get your web pages moving in the right direction.