When it comes to aiding small businesses, local SEO services can be a powerful tool. Roughly four out of five consumers are shown to use search engines to find local information. This means if you do not have a local SEO strategy, your business could be losing out on around 80% of potential customers. If you want your business to stay relevant, having a local SEO checklist is essential. We’ve already looked at how to boost your return on investment in local SEO, so let us take a look at additional local SEO tips.
After getting through this guide you should have:
- A solid understanding of how to help your business reach potential customers that use local search.
- How to better utilize and manage your local SEO strategy
Local SEO Explained
First, we need to answer the following: what is local SEO? Local SEO is used to assist businesses in promoting their products and services to local customers. In gathering information for local searches, search engines use information like local content, social media profile pages, links, and citations. All of these are used to provide the user with results that are most relevant to them and their immediate area.
Local SEO Tips
Google My Business
Google My Business is a tool created to help businesses meet Google’s needs, because Google is more comfortable sharing information when it is able to support and verify that information. Once Google is able to confirm that your business is authentic, they may even give your business a very coveted sidebar space in Google’s local search results.
To be sure you are optimized for Google My Business, it is important that you create and verify your very own Google My Business page, use Google Posts in your account, have customers share reviews online, and respond quickly (or even automatically) to reviews and specify your location. For example, “Thank you for your feedback on the (product/service) in (city, state). We very much appreciate and value your feedback and are looking forward to working with you in the future. Thank you from all of us at the (full company name) team.”
Improve Your Internal Linking Structure
Yes, it is true that external links that point to your site are ideal. With that being said, it’s important to note that adjusting your internal linking structure is sure to boost your SEO rankings.
Internal linking matters because it does the following:
- Supports website navigation
- Aids in information architecture and web hierarchy
- Distributes page ranking power and page authority among pages
Optimize Everything
When we talk about content, it is important to note that each and every new blog post represents a newly indexed page for your site, a new page that allows for the targeting of a geographic search phrase, and, lastly, a new chance to get found in the SERPs (search engine results page).
Whenever you write content, you should optimize the content for any and all search engines. You can do this by using high-volume keywords in the URL, title, header, meta description, and body of the post itself. If you are struggling to think of geo-targeted content, think about expounding on customer case studies and success stories.
Create Location Pages For Your Website
If you’re operating a retail chain that has multiple locations, it can be very helpful to create individual location pages for each site. Location pages give your reader your name, address, phone number, store hours, unique store descriptions, parking/transit information, promotions, and - best of all - testimonials from happy customers.
However, you should know that it’s important to not duplicate content across different location pages. If your business only has one location, create a locally descriptive ‘About Us’ page. You’ll also benefit from adding a Google Map to your website on respective location pages.
Create Local Content
When you’re devising a local SEO checklist, you can not understate the importance of creating content for users, not search engines. Sure, writing about more general topics will often guarantee a larger crowd. But, sometimes, it is better to focus on local or industry-specific news that will entice a local audience.
You will be able to draw potential consumers to your site if you become the local authority for your industry. Consider promoting local industry gatherings, news, employees, and other content that educates. Your blog should consist of top-of-the-funnel ideas that go beyond just what your business sells or provides.
Consider a local security company. If you’re trying to attract businesses that are new to the city, you can create a helpful list of resources that will help these businesses get acclimated. A calendar of city-wide events or a map of local service providers could provide value to these businesses and also have highly relevant on-page local signals.
Mobile-Friendly Website
Mobile search and local search go together like peanut butter and jelly. Often, people will use your site on their mobile smartphones to look up reviews, find directions to locations, and search for contact information. You can make all of this less of a headache by optimizing your site for mobile users.
Make Your Information Consistent Online
Local SEO services can only benefit you if you are making it easy for both people and search engines to find you. Make sure your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are the same everywhere. Consider including this info as crawlable HTML text on your site. Avoid including the NAP info within an image - images can’t be crawled from search engines. Often, the header or footer of the site can serve as a great location for NAP information.
Conclusion
Local SEO can be a powerful tool for your business, but only if it is properly utilized. If you are interested in learning more about local SEO, creating a local SEO strategy, or any other tech-related asset to your business (like trends in custom web application development), call KitelyTech on (800) 274 2908 to learn more. KitelyTech has spent many years assisting entrepreneurs and helping them use tech to bolster their businesses.
