Local SEO: 5 SEO Tips For Local Businesses
A good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy helps catapult a website to the top of search engine results. It can also help boost a company’s visibility and brand. No wonder many companies are already successfully using SEO to their advantage.
The fact is — websites without top rankings on Google are rarely or never clicked on. This means losing potential customers who are already actively searching for a product or service.
SEO is by far not only something for the big global players in business. Local businesses can greatly benefit as well, even more now in times of a global pandemic when local businesses are hit the hardest. Not to mention that most potential buyers use search engines to find local information all the time.
- 50% of people who searched for something local on their smartphone visit the location/store/etc. within the following 24 hours.
- 51% of people search for local information on the go
- 30% prefer to buy locally (rather than online) if they know that the relevant offer is available in their vicinity
So with the following five tips, see how you can easily and effectively score online and get yourself on page 1 of the results list.
1. Make sure your business is truly listed as a local business
Before you start improving your search engine marketing, you need to know what your status quo is. For example, if you are an online service provider that works in a specific location, then you don’t exactly qualify as a local business. It’s a different story if you run a local business.
A few other factors come into play, though:
To be classified as a local business, you need to have a physical address where people can reach you and call on you. A post office box or landline phone number is not sufficient for this purpose. It must already be a street and house number. Whether there’s a doorbell on your door doesn’t matter, though.
2. Make sure your information is consistent
Nothing is worse than confused customers. That’s why it’s imperative that you keep all information the same, up to date and accurate across all platforms you’re listed on, including your own homepage. In this way, you will accommodate your customers and at the same time ensure a better recognition rate in the search engines.
3. Use your entries
Actively use all of your listings on third-party sites. These should be directories that draw attention to relevant businesses or services in your industry. In effect, use your consistent information to do sustained advertising on your own behalf.
Good sites to peddle your information on are:
- Google Places for Business
- Bing Places for Business
- Yelp
- Foursquare
4. Incorporate keywords into social media
Look closely when it comes to keywords. These really should be the words that are used when people search for you, on the one hand, and describe exactly what you offer your customers, on the other.
Once you’ve solved this qualitative puzzle, all you have to do is use those exact words consistently as well when you post on social media. In any case, this will positively influence your ranking.
5. Invest in Content
Tips 1 to 3 will help you improve your presence. However, you must also constantly fill this presence with life, otherwise your business on the net will resemble a shell without content. And who is looking for something like that! The magic word is therefore — content. Continuously provide content, posts and contributions on various platforms/blogs/profiles etc. to keep the flow going. Your customers will thank you for it. Especially the new ones.
Once you start working on an Internet presence, don’t slack off here either. Take to heart advice that comes from big platforms like Google, Facebook and co. and also look around on blog from experts. It counts not only to exist, but also to deliver content. Not just any content, but one that is worth reading and will be found. Also make sure that your local business is listed on Google and can be found.
