A good SEO marketing strategy is necessary for any type of business striving to be at the top of search engines. A local SEO is crucial for physical stores to attract customers.
Local SEO efforts are essential for dominating local search and getting ahead of regional competition. Local SEO provides visibility to the local customers or potential buyers who are looking for your services. There are many positives to having an online presence for a business. Maintaining a website is not sufficient to attract customers. Businesses must use marketing tools to drive traffic to their sites.
If you are spending a lot of time and money on local SEO but not getting the desired results, it may be time to make changes. Here are some SEO tips from experts that will put your local business on the map.
Conducting a website technical audit is fast and effortless. An initial audit is valuable in analyzing the overall health of a website as well as planning for necessary improvements. The audit can detect issues that could result in poor user experience and lead to customer loss. A technical audit consists of a review of the web content, meta elements, broken links, site speed, crawling, indexation, map review, website loading, and mobile responsiveness. Fixing any discovered issues will improve customer experience.
Before focusing on local SEO, begin by building a Google My Business (GMB) profile. Adding your business to Google My Business is one of the most important steps you can take to raise the profile of your local business. Google My Business elevates your businessesβ visibility over your competitors. Google Business listings help customers find your business easily. Setting up a GMB profile is not complicated as long as all of the necessary information is provided. Here are some tips to guide you in creating a Google Business Page:
It is also important to insert your location in all sections of your site, not just on a specific page. Strategically place the location information in important elements of the site including the headings, the body content, the title tag, the meta tag, and the footer. When possible, it is also a good practice to include it in the URL.
Every business is unique and markets its own products and services. Choosing the right keywords is one of the main components of a successful local SEO strategy. Performing in-depth keyword research is very important. To help find the right keywords, there are available tools online such as Ahrefs and Semrush that will provide multiple keywords relevant to your business. You may also be able to determine how your competitors rank for these keywords. If these SEO tools are overly expensive, you can consider using Google Keyword Planner for free.
By performing keyword analysis, you can obtain the keyword phrases that are most often searched and potentially compete for these terms. This will improve your appearance in search results as well as your overall SEO strategy.
Online reviews are valuable for improving brand awareness and trustworthiness. When local customers are searching for services, they will often look for reviews of your business. Having positive reviews will attract more customers and establish trust. It is good practice to include online reviews as a part of your SEO strategy. Ask customers to provide their honest feedback about you to assist potential buyers learn about your services.
It is a common practice for SEO to include general geo-location content. While it is helpful to target a wider customer audience to drive more traffic, it is not always necessary. Prioritizing local content maximizes SEO efforts and produces more effective leads. You can also consider using content that focuses on events in yourspecialty or locality. Incorporating local keywords into more generalized topics related to your services is also an advantage.
Optimizing your site for SEO must also incorporate mobile search since this is a critical element of an SEO campaign, especially for local businesses. According to Googleβs statistical data, one third of mobile searches are geo-located which means potential customers are searching for your service in your area using their mobile devices. If your site is not optimized for mobile devices, you are losing potential customers.
Another feature that has become more popular is voice search. Research suggests that 50% of local customers use voice search because it is easier and faster than typing what they arelooking for. Optimize your site for voice search to reach out to these customers.
In addition to the Google My Business page, you may also want to consider other available business directories on the internet. Local directories include Yellowpages, Angie's list, Bing places, BBB directory, City Search, Hotfrog, Yelp, Merchant Circle, Tupalo, Superpages, Manta, and many more. Aside from the list above, identify local directories that are focused on your region. This will improve your search rankings and guarantee new leads.
Backlinks refer to links on one website pointing to another website. Established backlinks improve rankings while non-stellar links mightresult in a penalty. It is important for local businesses to thoroughly evaluate the backlinks they are receiving. With the help of Semrush or Ahrefs, you can identify the source of your links. If there are a number of harmful links, it is recommended to remove or disavow them in the search console. To obtain good backlinks, create high-quality, link-worthy content which bloggers and other creators can use and link back to your site.
In today's marketing world, an online presence is extremely important. Local SEO is not complicated and greatly improves your business while keeping you ahead of your competitors. Local businesses should implement effective SEO strategies.
Maintaining a strong ranking may be challenging if you are not familiar with the SEO process. Internet marketing experts like DoctorsInternet offer professional SEO services which will manage your overall SEO efforts. We can help you to achieve better rankings in your local search and attract more potential customers. We know how important local business is, so contact us for a free consultation.