Is Your Regional Site, Blog, or Feed Tagged With Location Metadata?

For regional businesses, being found online and discoverable in a geographical context is paramount. Incorporating location metadata into your website, blog, or RSS feed can significantly enhance your business’s online presence, making it easier for local customers to find you. This practice is not just beneficial; it’s essential for staying competitive in a local market.

Search engines prioritize relevance in their search results. By including precise location metadata (address, latitude, and longitude) on your site, you improve your business’s local search engine optimization (SEO). This means that when potential customers search for products or services in your area, your business is more likely to appear in their search results.

Location metadata can also enhance the user experience. For instance, when users are provided with geographical information, they can easily determine how close your business is to their location, how to get there, and whether your offerings are relevant to their local needs.

Instructions for Including Location Metadata

Including location metadata involves adding specific HTML or schema markup to your website’s code. This can be done on your homepage, contact page, or any other relevant section of your site. Below are instructions and an example code for properly tagging your website:

HTML Meta Tags for Basic Location Information

For a basic implementation, you can use HTML meta tags to include your business’s physical address and geographic coordinates. Although not directly used by search engines for ranking purposes, these tags can help articulate the location details of your business for other applications and services.

<meta name="geo.region" content="US-CA" />
<meta name="geo.placename" content="San Francisco" />
<meta name="geo.position" content="37.7749;-122.4194" />
<meta name="ICBM" content="37.7749, -122.4194" />

Schema Location Markup for Enhanced Visibility

Incorporating schema markup (using the Schema.org vocabulary) is recommended for a more SEO-friendly approach. Major search engines recognize this type of markup and can significantly improve your site’s visibility in local search results.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "http://schema.org",
  "@type": "LocalBusiness",
  "name": "Your Business Name",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "1234 Business Street",
    "addressLocality": "San Francisco",
    "addressRegion": "CA",
    "postalCode":"94101",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": "37.7749",
    "longitude": "-122.4194"
  },
  "telephone": "+11234567890"
}
</script>

If you’re running WordPress, the Rank Math plugin has this built-in, and the pro version even allows for multi-location businesses!

Location Data In RSS Feeds

For RSS feeds, incorporating geo-specific tags can help in distributing location-based content. Although RSS feeds don’t directly support GeoRSS without some customization, you can include location information within your content or descriptions to improve local relevance.

<item>
  <title>Your Article or Product Name</title>
  <link>http://www.yourwebsite.com/your-page.html</link>
  <description>Your description here, including any relevant location information.</description>
  <geo:lat>37.7749</geo:lat>
  <geo:long>-122.4194</geo:long>
</item>

For regional businesses aiming to thrive in a digital-first world, neglecting location metadata is no longer an option. By strategically incorporating geographical details into your online presence, you can significantly improve your visibility, enhance user experience, and ensure your business stands out in local searches. Implementing these changes might require technical knowledge, but the potential benefits of increased traffic and customer engagement are well worth the effort.

Don’t know your latitude and longitude? Google Developers has a Geocoding API that you can use to look it up:

Find Your Latitude and Longitude