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Local SEO Strategy For Small Business

Local SEO Strategy

Unfortunately for businesses without the objective of optimizing their local SEO strategy, the competition has outpaced and outranked them. Local businesses convey their customer satisfaction through their online presence. This satisfaction then reinforces higher rankings in the search engine results pages (SERPS). In recent years, local SEO landscape has been rapidly changing at a higher pace because of how profitable and successful good Local SEO can propel a business’ bottom line. Local SEO services is an on-time, effective and affordable way to grow your brand.

The good news is that it’s never too late to do better online. Even modest improvements can make a favorable impact. The following provides a number of fundamental, evergreen steps every business owners should take to improve their online presence to optimize their search results.

1. Optimize Your Google My Business Listing for Better Ranking

Every business needs a Google Business Profile account. You need to verify ownership of the business so that Google knows it’s you. Once you have your account verified, take some time to provide accurate and up-to-date information.

Be sure to Include your logo, hours of operation, acceptable payment methods, the product or service you sell, and images of your business, products, services. Be especially careful to assure that the right categories and sub-categories of your business are listed.

Encourage your customers or clients to provide a business review online. Be sure to respond sincerely to all reviews published on your Google Business Profile regardless of whether its favorable or not. Never post a hostile response if you don’t like the review as that will reflect more badly on you. Maintain a professional tone at all times. If there is a bad review, offer to address the issue.

Be sure to use the Google Business Profile to post offers, announcements, updates, etc. An active Google Business Profile gets more rankings and attention from prospects.

2. Local Strategic SEO: Rank Higher By Getting Regular Reviews From Satisfied Customers

Get regular reviews from satisfied customers. When you provide a service where your client was satisfied, ask them for their review. Reviews are a ranking factor and help optimize your Google Business Profile. Ask for reviews in person after the close of a sale, or send a post-purchase email or text asking customers to write a review.As stated earlier, respond to existing reviews in a professional manner and try to incorporate some of your essential keywords in your response.

Replying to every single review shows prospective clients that you are an engaged business owner and care about the services that your business offers.

3. Optimize for Voice Search For Local Search Engine Rank

Voice search will grow rapidly in the coming years, and it will be driven by the proliferation of mobile devices. You’ll want to adjust the SEO of your content to fit the more conversational tone of someone speaking to a device. In order to do so, keep in mind the following:

Strategize Marketing Content That Answers Questions and Is Useful

Content that answers questions is very effective. This type of content ranks well for search engines and users alike. People turn to Google when they have a questions, so providing content that answers those questions gets lots of attention particularly if you have a niche service. Provide your content in FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions), Google Business Profile, videos, blog pieces and social media. Be sure to repurpose your content among all your channels.

Offer Content That Is Relevant and Local To The Important Problems Your Prospective Customers Are Experiencing

Content that is relevant to your profession establishes you as an expert in your field. As the increase in local businesses search increases small business exposure online, it’s becoming more and more important for small businesses to have a powerful presence on search engines. One of the ways to do that is to provide useful content that addresses common problems your prospects typically experience.

Helpful, knowledgeable content shows your expertise and providing information generously is a great way to establish yourself as a local authority that can effectively address these issues.

4. Smart Local SEO Strategy: Optimize Your Website for Mobile

To be successful with local SEO, you need a responsive website that loads quickly. Google moved to a mobile-first platform and now ranks websites that are responsive and fast. The user-experience (UX) is paramount which means fast-loading websites that can be easily viewed on any device. Websites that don’t meet these requirements are watching their rankings slide.

Follow these tips to optimize your website to assure that it looks and works properly across all platforms:

5. Search Engine Optimization Strategy For Your Local Keywords for Better Ranking

Local SEO is based on local keywords. You need to optimize your website and content for the most relevant local keywords that are used by your prospects in your location when they search for your type of business. There are numerous ways to do keyword search. One free option is with Google’s Keyword Planner tool which lets you filter keyword searches based on location. If you have a Gmail account, you can log into the Keyword Planner. Set your location and enter your “seed keyword” to find the relevant search terms that prospects use in your area.

Gather as many keywords as you can find and download these search terms. Use your keywords when organizing your website content, writing your blog posts and social media posts.

After you publish online, monitor and analyze the traffic that comes to your website using Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These analytical tools will show what keywords are driving traffic to your site and in what volume.

When you know what keywords are bringing your website attention, you want to double-down on your webpages to further capture relevant traffic. There are many ways that people enter search terms and you’ll want to use as many of those terms as possible to capture as much relevant traffic as you can.

6. Create Location Pages on Your Website For Proximity Signals

Location pages on websites are very important. Proximity is a ranking factor and has become more important in Google search results based on recent algorithm changes known as the “Vicinity Update”. Google search will show a user web results based on the searcher’s location. So, it is very important to optimize each business location that you have.

Assure that each of your location pages provides essential location information such as: Hours of operation, name, address, phone number, specific description for location, testimonials, contact information and promotions. Be sure to include your Google map on each page. Provide general directions is also a good idea. Also note any unique landmarks and link to them…..those are good for proximity signals.

Avoid duplicating content across your location pages. Write fresh and unique content for each location page for better optimization.

7. Take Advantage of Online Business Directories For Local Search

Local business directories are highly beneficial for sending links to your website. They improve your website’s visibility and help boost your Local SEO. General directories like Yelp, Foursquare, MapQuest, and Yellow Pages are useful but even better are location-specific and profession-specific citations.

For every business listing, make sure that your listing includes up-to-date and accurate business information such as your business name, address, and phone number. Be sure to add a backlink to your business website and a compelling description of your company and the services that you provide.

8. Get High-Quality Backlinks As Part of Your Backlinks Strategy

It used to be that small businesses would get lots and lots of spammy backlinks and that helped their websites rank. Those days are long gone. Now, spammy links hurt your website and may get your website penalized.

What works now, and has always worked, is quality links. Getting a local, relevant backlink is the holy grail and a major boost for local ranking. Quality link signals can come from a variety of sources but the best come from schools, news sources, volunteer and civics’ organizations, top-rated local businesses, and government institutions.

How do you get these backlinks? Create high-quality content that gets noticed through your digital promotion via social media, guest blogging, engaging with local influencers, and monitoring your rankings. We’ve also had good results with press releases. The press releases last 3-6 months but do offer a good boost.

Additionally, reach out and make local connections with other local businesses. Offer to cross-link. What is especially effective is allied types of businesses, such as real estate agents cross-linking with mortgage brokers or property inspectors.

If you join your local Chamber of Commerce, be sure to get a backlink when you prepare your business profile.

9. Prepare Webpages for Every Service You Offer

Clearly specifying your company’s service offerings on separate, dedicated website pages is a good Local SEO practice. It’s good to avoid consolidating all your services on one website page. Each page should be a minimum of 750 words.

By creating specific website pages for each of your services, you make it easier for Google to crawl your website and you make it easier for customers to navigate your website and services that your offer. Specific service pages also increase sales and improve customer loyalty.

Make sure you use as many of the keywords as possible that cover a particular service. Use your H1, H2, and H3 tags for better organization as part of your on-page SEO strategy.

Copy the service pages information into your Google Business Profile. Making the information consistent on both your website and Profile creates brand consistency.

10. Optimize Your Business Contact Page

Make sure your Name-Address-Phone (NAP) is clear on your contact page. NAP is super important and you must assure that it is correct on your website, Google Business Profile, social media and business citations.

Include a form that is well-laid out and looks good on mobile so that it’s easy to reach you. It’s also advantageous to add a chat bot that can answer frequently asked questions and steer prospects to a scheduling page.

Make your phone number clickable on mobile devices. About 76% of local searches result in a phone call, so making your phone number clickable is important for local SEO because Google uses mobile-first indexing.

11. Display Favorable Testimonials On Your Website

Display testimonials prominently on your website. If you have several sources of good reviews, clearly indicate the source and link to it. Favorable reviews are highly beneficial for ranking purposes and repurposing those reviews is highly advantageous to show prospective clients that you have an excellent reputation.

It is important to choose testimonials that are relevant to your audience and the essential message that you want to convey. Sometimes one word is sufficient if it’s really powerful and the reviewer is well known. Other times, a longer review can have a bigger impact. Whatever review you use, make sure it authentic and credible.

12. Add Structured Data to Each Web Page As Part of Your Local SEO Strategy

Structured Data, or schema, is a search engine optimization tool that makes it easier for search engines to understand what your website is about. Schema markup can be added to local businesses website pages. After adding schema markup, you can test it with Google’s structured data testing tool .

Adding structured data can help improve your local SEO strategy by showcasing relevant information on your website. Add schema to your titles to help search engines understand what your content is about.

A good strategy is to run a Local SEO audit, and then add schema to your website pages. You’ll want to identify key performing pages, homepage and contact pages to identify your business as a local business.

13. Claim Other Business & Social Profiles to Improve Local SEO Strategies

Google local search is not the only game in town. Be sure to also claim your Bing, Yahoo, Apple and social profiles to improve local SEO. Assure your information is identical on each platform for consistency which is key to maximizing your SEO boost.

Make it your mission to get your business listed on as many digital assets as possible. Consider it your digital realty empire. The more digital assets you have pointing back to your website, the better.

14. Creating Great Local Content Is Fundamental to Local Search Strategy SEO

Blogging is essential to Local SEO. Depending on your type of business, you want to blog 1-2 times per month. Be sure to include niche and location-specific information wherever possible.

Local content is particularly important since it can be tailored to the needs of your customer base and region. To be found in the search engine results, it helps local businesses to strategically include references to their location as a way of showcasing their local position and community connection.

Understand your audience to effectively prepare your content. Many content creators come up with an avatar of their typical client to help focus their efforts on content creation that is relevant, useful and interesting to their target market. Working with an avatar of your typical client is a solid market strategy to help you better target your presentation to your target market.

15. Create An Omnipresence Digital Marketing Plan For Highly Effective Search Marketing

Gone are the days where you could pick a keyword and slap some content on a web page and rank the next day. The web has become far more complicated and massive. Google is now more selective in indexing and ranking web pages.

Local SEO marketing now requires a broad-based approach that involves digital marketing for organic local search, map marketing, Google Business Profile, social media marketing, video marketing, etc.

Successful search engine results requires digital omnipresence on as many platforms as possible. Interlinking these platforms so they operate synergystically is the best strategic SEO search approach. It takes time, effort and consistency but the effort is well worth it to create consistent leadflow through digital channels.

16. Use Video Marketing for Digital PR

Create a Youtube and/or TikTok channel to promote your business, events, blog posts, accomplishments, etc. Create videos and then add them back into your website and Google Profile for better synergy between platforms.

You are the face of your company and can create connection with prospects even before you actually meet. Video marketing helps evolve the essential Know-Like-Trust progression most customers go through before paying for services. If you are on the shy side, you can narrate over images or have your blog posts converted to video.

Without a doubt, video marketing is a fundamental aspect of digital marketing for most small businesses. Creating content that can be repurposed is advantageous for Local SEO, business promotions and sales.

The Number 1 Ranking Factor To Guide Your Local SEO Towards Successful Search Results

Search results that reveal your business in high rankings, above the fold, are the essential focus and reward of good local search optimization. Higher rankings means more business, sales, profits and reputation. Following a smart, comprehensive digital marketing strategy that creates many effective digital marketing assets won’t happen over nite. Yet, a consistent, regular approach can and will compound into meaningful revenue and business growth. This is by far the most important ranking factor: A business’ commitment to the process for steady growth.

This is a marathon rather than a sprint.

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