SEO has changed the game for many companies. Optimizing techniques enable companies to increase the quality and quantity of traffic to their site. When organizations rank higher in search engine results, they have an increased likelihood of being one of the first options consumers see in their search results.
SEO enables firms to do this without breaking the bank, giving them greater reach and excellent return on investment.
For many businesses, though, the global reach of search engines appears at odds with their own missions. You don’t need people from Alaska landing on your website when you run a store in Florida.
So how do you boost your presence in the area you serve? Or, if you are a company that serves multiple areas, how do you home in on each one?
Here we offer some tips and tricks for improving your local SEO so that you can get the customers near you and be their first choice when they seek products or services nearby.
1. Establish Location Pages
While everything on this list is critical to a great local SEO strategy, the best SEO agency will tell you that this first step is essential for your business. It works particularly well if you serve different areas in a particular region.
Location pages describe the services or products you offer in an area, with information specific to that location. That information can range from store hours and the physical address to testimonials from customers and specific service descriptions.
Content that speaks to your services in the area — such as testimonials and specific service descriptions — demonstrates your authority and quality. In turn, you prove that you have a commitment to serving your local community.
Being ‘local’ garners loyalty from customers who may prefer to shop locally. It lets them feel that they are part of a community and that you will understand their concerns.
Where possible, avoid duplicating content across your different location pages.
2. Create Local Content
While general content will attract a broad audience, casting too wide a net means you might not catch anything at all. Instead, with local SEO, you want to focus on creating high-quality, local content.
Local content means you are likely to attract a local audience, too. Plus, visitors to your website are likely to be strongly interested in your content because it is pertinent to their day-to-day lives.
The content you create can take any form. It could be a series of blogs on a hot local issue. You could create some unique, high-quality resources that could benefit other local businesses. The latter establishes your firm as an authority in the business community and shows that you are more than just a business.
3. Optimize for Google My Business
One of the best ways to enhance your rankings is to have a presence on Google Maps. That way, when people search for “____ near me,” your business pops up in local search results.
To optimize your business, you first need to create a Google My Business Account and upload all the required information, including:
- Business name
- Address
- Opening hours
- Contact information
You can also use your account to encourage customers to leave reviews and testimonials. The interactions optimize your Google indexing and improve your company’s local reputation.
4. Identify Local Keywords
Keywords are central to any SEO strategy, and that is just as true for local SEO.
Using Google’s Keyword Planner, you can filter searches based on where you are. This research enables you to optimize for local keywords in the content you produce and across your website.
By doing this, your website will rank highly when local residents search relevant and related keywords. It improves your chances of gaining organic traffic.
The Bottom Line
The tips here are a taster of the many tactics you can employ. Offline strategies such as hosting events, networking, and partnerships work, too. You will be well on your way if you follow our great local SEO tricks.
