4.01 Your local community online

As the use of the internet has become more universal then the size of the geographical area viable as an online community has shrunk. In the early years the community was worldwide – though mostly American. As more users came online and more businesses got web sites the internet began to divide into national communities. We are approaching the point where, with half the UK population and three quarters of UK businesses online, communities become viable at county and town levels.

Local search
The major search engines are starting to recognise this development and investigating local search as a service. Mirroring the development of the Internet this is so far mainly for US locations but it is already starting to happen in the UK. Smaller local search engine projects are starting up in the hope of capturing some of the major search engines market share.

Optimising for local search
Once there is a search engine offering results for your area then it is clearly to your advantage to be listed. If you have optimised your site for the major search engines then you will probably be listed without any further action. You should be sure to include as many local keywords as possible. Placenames, local attractions, anything that defines the area you serve.

Research
Some time spent researching possible keywords for your local area could bring other benefits as well. Search for the names of the places that your clients come from in the major search engines. This will harvest a list of local web sites. Look through your local press and local directories. This will gather more. Put a notice up in your waiting room asking if any of your clients have web sites or want to recommend a local site.

Making your site a focus
You will probably find quite a few sites for local businesses, attractions, government, charities and people. If you provide a link from your site to all of these that you feel could be useful to your clients – not just as animal owners but as local residents – then you can also look to them to provide links to your site.
Some of the sites you find will probably be poorly optimised and not as easy to find as your site. If you include a generous block of descriptive text with the link you provide to other local sites then your page may well rank more highly than theirs. A local resident looking for, say, the local council offices, may well find the helpful link you provide on your site before they find the one the council provides. They may not need your services at the moment – but next week...

Soliciting links
The advice about soliciting links in section 2.06 still applies. Put links to the sites which you feel are useful for your visitors. With a link already online, send a personal e-mail to the webmaster of each site requesting a return link. Coming from local sites that are, presumably, working on attracting local visitors, incoming links to your site are highly likely to provide you with paying clients.

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