Are you looking to join Pioneer’s Buy Local program? Not only are there amazing benefits for joining the program financially, like increased customers, and customers getting extra Rewards! points, but there’s an extra benefit, and it’s for your business’ marketing!

By joining the Buy Local Program, your website is also getting a small boost by being listed on our directory. Here’s how it works.
 

Search Engine Optimization and Your Website
 

If you own a business with an online presence, you’ve probably heard of SEO, also known as Search Engine Optimization. The basic premise of SEO is that people use a search engine, primarily Google, to look something up. They could be asking a question, researching how much a new phone costs, or videos of cats playing. 

You, a business with a website, want to show up on relevant searches, and Google wants to connect their users with good answers to their questions. So, if you own a restaurant in Mountain Home, you want to appear in Google’s answers when someone searches “Restaurants in Mountain Home.” Google wants it, you want it, and the user wants it. What everybody doesn’t want is a restaurant from Denver Colorado, or a clothing store in town.

So, it’s up to Google and you to “communicate” with each other on what searches your website should and shouldn’t show up for. Now, you don’t email Google or hop on a call, you let Google know what your website is through Search Engine Optimization, or SEO.
 

How Does Google Pick Who Goes On What Searches?
 

This is a very complicated question that nobody except those who work for Google really know. But we do know some key factors. First off, Google has a bot that goes over your website regularly, probably around once a month or so. This bot analyzes your website’s purpose and how well it fulfills your purpose. If you sell ground beef and your business doesn’t have anything about selling ground beef, you won’t show up in searches. But if you have product pages, shipping policies, info about where the beef comes from, you will be more likely to show up in relevant searches.

Another massive influence on what websites show up on the first page of a Google search is weblinks. Specifically, links from other websites that go to your website. Think of these as a little badge of trust from one site to another. 

For example, Jim’s Hot Dog Shack’s website has a link on his website that goes to Johnny Dentist’s website in a blog post about how after Jim got a cavity, Johnny fixed him up with a good filling and worked around the big hot dog lunch rush. Google sees that link and basically goes, “Well, if Jim likes Johnny’s Dentist website enough to give him a link, it must be a good website/business.” Then, it gives Johnny Dentist’s website a little boost in their records, and it becomes more likely for his website to rank higher on relevant search terms.
 

How Does Buy Local Help My Website?
 

When you sign up for Buy Local, you are added to our online directory of Buy Local businesses. Not only does this help people find your business, it also includes a link. Just like the above example, by getting a link from our website to yours, we are giving you a little boost in Google’s eyes. It helps your website rank a little better on relevant search terms.

Now, we hope that when you sign up for Buy Local, you'll want to advertise it on your website for people to see they can earn extra Rewards! points by shopping with you. When you do that, be sure to link to our website, specifically the Buy Local page. That way, they can get the full details of the Buy Local program, but also we get a link to our website from you, getting that little boost.

Then, as Pioneer gets more links pointing to it, Google views Pioneer as an authority in our local communities, and gives the links from Pioneer to local business websites better rankings too. By supporting each other with links, we can build up our local community businesses and in turn, rank better on Google!