A Brief Guide to Local SEO
mystic • August 20, 2018
Search Engine Optimization from 30,000 Feet
Small businesses rely on local traffic, and four out of five people use online search tools to find local business options. Without local SEO, you could be losing out on 80% of possible customers. Update Your Website
There are lots of ways you can improve your local SEO with changes to your website. Below are simple, fast updates that you, or your webmaster, can make to optimize your local search ranking.
- Internal linking will help with your ranking, as it develops a clear website hierarchy and information architecture for search engines to navigate.
- Are your meta tags optimized? Every page on your site should have the proper local-based keywords in the URL, header, title, description and in the content body as well.
- For businesses that have multiple physical locations, you should have a unique page for each one to maximize your location-based information. Just make sure they are all unique so you don't create duplicate content. Each page should have its own Google Map embedded too. Don't use photos or images to show your location info either. Keep it easily crawlable as text and HTML.
- Your business itself should only be part of your website content package. Add pages that are focused on local events and attractions, to create a helpful resource for neighbors as well as build more SEO ranking.
- Responsive formatting that works well for mobile devices is a must. Nine out of ten phone users do their local searching on the phone.
Use Directories Can Boost Your Exposure Directories are an important way to build inbound links, particularly if you get sites with high levels of authority to link to you. Find all the local directories that are appropriate for your business (trade associations, Chamber of Commerce, business listings), and get your website added. Offer to write guest posts for other blogs, and definitely be engaged in social media. The .edu domain is very desirable to have links from, so try to offer something educational related to your industry that would encourage linking from schools. Google My Business Having a Google My Business page is vital to make the most of local searching. Google use this information for standard searches, adds you to Google Maps, and it improves your ranking as well. Create a profile, verify your business, make some posts and respond to any reviews you get. Take Advantage of Tools Getting a little lost? There are several excellent tools out there to help with local SEO optimizing. Below are few that are easy to use and are inexpensive. Whitespark - this is a citation finder tool, to help you locate and manage online mentions of your name, address and phone number. Having consistent citations is important for ranking, and Whitespark helps you keep up with errors and analyzes places you should be listed. Buzzstream - Earn more backlinks, connect with influencers and develop outreach campaigns with Buzzstream. Ahref - Ahref lets you analyze and monitor incoming links, do keyword research and offers insight into the authority levels of sites that link to you. Screaming Frog - Use this tool to crawl your website and check for broken links, CSS problems, missing meta tags and other SEO concerns. Moz Local - Get your business verified on Facebook and Google, and Moz Local will work with other data aggregators to improve your business exposure. Would you like additional assistance? We LOVE to Help! Please feel welcome to contact us to start a conversation.
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