In a Hurry? Here’s a quick set of instructions.

Step 1: Build Your Site (if you haven’t already)

• You need your own domain name. Sorry, MySpace is not search engine friendly.
  Yes: www.myfabwebsite.com
  No: www.metacities/users/myfabwebsite.com
• Avoid splash pages, and a homepage mostly comprised of flash and javascript.
• Use simple text-based navigation. Images are OK, but not ideal.
• There should be room for a heading and at least 500 characters (ideally more) of text on your homepage.

Step 2: Choose Target Keyphrases

• Your main target keyphrase should be your town/city’s name, followed by the phrase “guitar lessons.”
  Example: “Chicago guitar lessons”
• Your secondary target keyphrase should use the word “teacher” instead of “lessons.”
  Example: “Chicago guitar teacher”

Step 3: Tweak Your Site

• Change your title tag to “(business name) | (main target keyphrse)”
  Example: “Heartwood Guitar Instruction | Seattle Guitar Lessons”
• Add a snappy meta description
  Example: <meta name="description" content="Jenny Hendrix offers the finest guitar lessons in Chicago.">
• Add an <h1> heading near the top of your website that includes your primary target keyphrase.
  Example: <h1>Looking for Seattle guitar lessons?</h1>
• Add your primary and secondary target keyphrases to the body text in your homepage. Make it look natural–you can change the word order if you have to.

Step 4: Sign up with Google Local Business

• Be thorough. When filling out the “Categories” form, include all categories relevant to guitar teaching.

Step 5: Build Inbound Links

• Aquire inbound links any way you can. When you have influence over the anchor text, use your main or secondary target keyphrase.