As a small business owner, you need local SEO to attract local customers. Here are 5 strategies that work.
Looking to improve your search engine ranking and bring in new customers to your business?
Did you know that local SEO is a necessity for small businesses that are doing digital marketing in 2018?
Read on to learn the 5 best local SEO strategies for your small business and how to implement them!
1. Blogging
Starting a blog on your company website is a great way to achieve a better search ranking through traffic and backlinks.
Plan to release blog content 1-2 times per week. Your blog articles should be focused on your products or services or on local content, like news and events.
Always aim to include keywords that are relevant to your local audience.
With this in mind, even if you're not blogging specifically about your business, you'll be building up your brand at a local level.
2. Optimize Your Website
Double checking to ensure that your website is optimized for local search results is a great place to start when considering your SEO strategy.
Look at your meta title and description tags and be sure to include your city and state.
You should also include your city in your H1 headings on web pages. You want to have your website show your location as often as possible.
For logos and images on your website, use file names and alt tags that include your city and local keywords, respectively.
If your business has multiple locations, it's wise to set up separate websites so that you can rank appropriately for each city.
3. Optimize Your Local Listings
Keeping your business name, address, and phone number consistent across local listings and citations is important for SEO.
You should also include consistent short and long descriptions of your business, as well as photos, categories, and keywords. This will help you rank on Google Maps.
A few local listings to start with include Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, Foursquare, TripAdvisor, Apple Maps, and Superpages.
4. Positive Reviews
Encourage your customers to leave positive reviews whenever you can.
Glowing reviews will make your business stand out, encourage new customers, and help your ranking.
Also, plan a strategy to respond to all reviews as fast as possible.
5. Include an Advertising Budget
If you already have a marketing budget, setting aside $200 per month for PPC advertising is another way to increase your local results.
With Google AdWords, you can target specific locations and keywords in your area to attract new customers.
Because SEO is a long-term strategy, boosting your visibility at the beginning with some paid advertising is a great way to get a jump on the competition.
Ready To Level Up Your Local SEO?
By implementing these 5 strategies, you'll be well on your way to a solid local SEO campaign that improves the ranking of your small business!
What SEO strategies have you tried? What's worked and what hasn't?
Not sure where to start or need help with the technical aspects of local SEO? Contact us and we'll be happy to answer your questions!