Does your small business need local SEO to help bring awareness to the community? Click here for 5 ways to harness the power of local SEO.
Keeping your business at the top of the search engine results page takes hard-work and effort. Through search engine optimization, it is possible for you to beat the other sites that also rank for the same keywords to the coveted top spot.
But if you run a small local business, you may not have the time, money, or resources to compete against the global giants to get your site toward the number one position.
So, what can you do to drive your local business’ SEO? Thankfully local SEO can help.
In this article, we’ll look at the crucial factors of local SEO and how you can leverage them to really make an impact on your business.
Use Relevant Keywords to Improve Your Local Ranking
As with all forms of search engine optimization, keywords are important. The right keyword selection can make a significant difference in where your website sits in the rankings.
A keyword is a phrase that people will use when making any search. When looking at local businesses, it is essential that you need to remember to include geographically relevant keywords. This means including the name of your town or city in the keywords.
As well as trying to include the name of your town or city within your keywords, you should also consider the other phrases that users will be most likely to use. Keep these keywords jargon-free and avoid industry-specific phrases that customers may be unaware of.
Try and put yourself in the mindset of your customers. Think about the phrases that they’ll be using if they were trying to find a business like yours online.
Having a keyword strategy in place will allow you to ensure you’re covering all of the essential keywords within your content and on all of your pages.
For assistance with your keywords, use the services of local SEO solutions such as SEO Florida.
Use Google My Business
You may not know this, but Google and Bing both give you a free page on their search engine with which to promote your business within your local area.
By claiming both your Google My Business and your Bing Places for Business pages, you’ll be able to improve the chances of your site showing up when someone searches for a local business that fits your description.
Not only will having a Google My Business profile improve your ranking chances, but it will also help put you on the map, literally. Your business will feature on Google maps, meaning you’ll jump to the top of the search engine results page and show up in the local-3 pack section.
In addition to this, you’ll see improved local rankings from all devices.
Claiming your Google my Business and Bing Places for Business pages is quite simple. Youll just need to fill in a straightforward form and provide your physical address details.
Make sure you provide as much information as possible, including your branding and photos of your business, employees, and your products. List all of your opening hours and let Google and Bing know about what type of payments you accept. The more information you provide, the better.
Use Online Business Directories
In addition to using Google My Business and Bing Places for Business, you should also register your business with online directories such as Yelp, Foursquare, and Trip Advisor.
Not only are directories a great way of getting backlinks to your site, but they also enhance your reputation in the eyes of the search engines.
In addition to this, your listing on their site will also rank toward the top of the search results- which is always a plus.
Make sure that your company’s NAP (name, address, and phone number) are all correct on all of these listings. Inaccurate results could harm your rankings as algorithms will spot the difference and won’t know which is correct.
Push for Five-Star Reviews
On many of these listings sites and on Google My Business, visitors will have the option to leave a review. Reviews are great for social proofing. They provide visitors with something tangible and tell them whether they should visit or not.
Try and encourage people who have used your business to leave a positive review. Providing great customer service is the only sure-fire way of ensuring visitors leave content enough to leave you a five-star review.
Create Content That Is Localized
If you want to appear in the organic search result for your local area, then you should focus on creating content that references your town or city.
Try writing about the local area as much as possible. You may want to include some of the following ideas:
- Talk about local promotions in your city
- Connect with local charities and talk about events that you’re involved in or support
- Create blog posts that focus on local events and activities in your city
If your business has branches in different towns and cities, think about creating a page for each location and include the name, address, phone number, and opening hours for each.
Not only is this helpful to your customers, but it will also improve your local SEO.
Get Help With Your Local SEO
By implementing a keyword strategy that includes the name of your city, making sure that you claim your Google My Business listing, and leveraging the many other different business directories out there, you’ll start to see improvements in your local SEO.
If you run a small business, you may not have the time to manage your SEO. Find a local SEO company to help you out. A professional local SEO marketing specialist will have your rankings up in no time.
For more great articles, make sure and check out the rest of the site.
