According to Social Media Today, 46% of Google searches are related to local information. This means that if your business isn’t properly optimized for local searches, you could be missing out on a huge chunk of potential customers. So if you want your small local business to stay relevant, SEO is crucial.
In this article, we’ll be giving you a few SEO tips and tricks that will help your local business get noticed and get customers. Starting from content to web design, these are simple solutions you can implement right after reading this article!
First things first, local SEO is a bit different from general SEO. Good local SEO boosts visibility for small local businesses, especially those with physical locations. You can use these practices to showcase your products and services to local customers who are searching for them. That being said, let’s see what you can do to improve your local SEO practices!
This is the first and most important step you should take if you want to properly rank in local search results. Google My Business is the modern-day version of the Yellow Pages, so it’s crucial you create a listing for your business ASAP. The process is not hard at all – Google even provides you with a step-by-step guide, along with a completion meter that you’ll have to make sure is at 100%.
Once this is done, you can then use the Google Posts feature. In this section, you’ll be able to create small posts for the people to see that you’re actively managing your account. You can even share these on any social media you have, for extra exposure and credibility.
You’ve got to make it easy for both people and search engines to find you. You can do that by setting up a NAP (name, address, phone) that will then be included as a crawlable HTML snippet in the code of your website.
A common mistake that people make is to include this information within an image. Don’t do that. Search engines can’t crawl images as they do HTML text. So make sure you add this information in the header or footer of your website. this is best Local SEO Tips for Small Businesses.
Reviews are crucial for a local business. And in case you didn’t know, they’re a ranking factor Google takes into consideration when deciding which place you take on the results page. And if you can get your customers to leave a shiny review after an excellent service, this will help you even more than any other trick on this list.
Besides helping you rank higher, good ratings will also push for more real estate on the results page. And when your local business is all high and mighty above all the other competitors, customers will come flooding through your doors.
Local SEO is based on local keywords. This might seem pretty obvious but we still recommend you do a local keyword research for your brand, including long-tail ones. For example, if you own a bakery in Boston, you’ll want to compare search volumes for different versions of local keywords such as “bakery Boston” or “Boston bakery”.
You can also optimize your content for local searches. If your business is situated near a local landmark or hotspot, mention that in your copy. Things like “baked goodies by the Freedom Trail” or “a few steps away from the Freedom Trail” will work wonders for your local ranking.
We’ve briefly mentioned the content above but we’ll expand on it in this section. If your content marketing strategy is focused on non-local content, it’s time you rethink it. Sure, it could result in higher search volumes and traffic but if you’re local, this won’t help much. While a customer might enjoy your content, they won’t buy from you if you’re miles away.
So create content related to local topics and searches. We’ll use the bakery example again – you can write posts on how to find the best bakery in your area or how your business only used fresh and local ingredients. This will allow you to naturally incorporate the keywords and rank higher in search results.
According to Statista, 54.8% of the global web traffic is generated by mobile devices. Optimizing your website for mobile isn’t only good for SEO but for your business credibility and image in general. We mentioned how 54.8% of traffic is mobile and well, 30% of it is location-related. This is a huge chunk of customers you can attract just by properly optimizing your website for mobile.
If your website doesn’t look and act well on mobile, your visitors will simply leave to find a better website. This will increase your bounce rate, which will result in a poorer search result position for your business.
This is more related to content but it makes a huge difference if done right. Every blog post you write is a new page added and indexed to your website. And this creates a fresh new opportunity for you to rank and get found in the search engine results. Every time you add content to your website, you will have to make sure it’s properly optimized for search engines.
You can do this by using high-volume keywords in the page’s URL, title, header, or meta description and tags. Google’s Keyword Planner is a great tool you can use to determine which words you should use.
While SEO practices change from day to day, these tips are evergreen. No matter how many times the Google algorithm switches, making these changes to your online business practice can make a huge difference in traffic and revenue.
However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t constantly stay informed – if you want to up your local SEO game and be one step ahead of the competition, you should always be learning and adapting.
To rank higher in local SEO, ensure your business information is accurate and consistent across online directories. Optimize your Google My Business listing with relevant keywords, photos, and reviews. Encourage customer reviews and engagement, and create locally targeted content on your website. Lastly, earn backlinks from reputable local websites to boost your local authority.
For small businesses, focus on optimizing Google My Business with accurate information, including address, phone number, and business hours. Target local keywords in website content and meta tags, and ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Encourage customer reviews and engagement, and list your business in local directories and review sites for greater visibility.
The best strategy for local SEO involves optimizing Google My Business, ensuring accurate business information, and targeting local keywords. Create locally relevant content on your website and focus on acquiring backlinks from local sources. Encourage customer reviews and engagement to enhance credibility and visibility in local search results.
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