Tips to Improve Your Local SEO

According to GE Capital Findings, more than 81% of shoppers research online before visiting a store. Therefore, if your website is doing well, you will attract more clients to your business. How do you improve your business local SEO to tap this potential?

Do you want to give your competitors a run for their money? Are you wondering the techniques they are using to rank high on Google results? We will take you through the best local SEO practices if you want to take your business to a new level.

How to Boost Local SEO for Your Business (20 Proven Tips)

1. Citations

There are many local directories you can sign up for. This will get your business a higher rank on Google search results and increase its visibility to potential clients. The most popular directories include Yelp, Super Pages, City Search, DexKnows, Yellow Pages, MapQuest, Thumbtack, and Yellow Book.

You should have consistent details across all these platforms to gain more visibility. Include consistent business name, address, and phone number (NAP) in all the directories. You can also include images of your business, so clients can have an idea about the services you offer.

2. Naming Your Business

Your business name is the first point of interaction with potential clients on a search result page. Make sure it reflects your brand’s identity so you can attract more customers to sign up for your services or buy your product. For example, if you sell luxury goods, use keywords such as “luxury” and “exclusive” in your business name.

You can include the name of the business location if you are targeting a specific area. For example, if you are supplying products in Phoenix, Arizona, use the word “Phoenix” or “Arizona” in combination with your business name.

3. Google My Business

4. Post on Google My Business Regularly

It is essential to update your Google My Business profile regularly. If there are no updates, it will make the platform look inactive and put you at a higher risk of being outranked by other businesses. You can post announcements or business events on this page, which potential clients might find helpful before visiting your website.

You should also keep track of your GMB page rank and identify areas where you need to improve. For example, if your profile is not optimized for mobile devices or doesn’t include proper descriptions of your business services/products, it will hurt the number of views you get from Google searches.

You might also want to consider posting updates about new products or services you are offering to increase your website’s ranking on Google results.

5. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Devices (Responsive Design)

You should optimize your site so it can be readable and navigable from a mobile device. Most customers prefer using their smartphones to search the internet rather than using desktop computers or laptops. If you want more potential clients to visit your website, make sure to create a mobile version.

6. Creating Local Landing Pages

You should consider creating landing pages that include your business name and address along with the services it offers in specific areas. For example, if you are selling products only in the Phoenix area, create separate landing pages mentioning the products and services you offer in Phoenix.

You can improve your local SEO by including the name of your business location on landing pages with a relevant keyword. Also, have a call to action that encourages potential clients to purchase your products or services.

7. Keywords Research for Local SEO Optimization

It is essential to optimize keywords if you want to improve local rankings on search engines. Try to include more than one keyword in the title of your webpage and blog posts, so you get more clients from specific areas.

Take time to conduct thorough research on relevant keywords before including them. You can utilize free tools like Google Keyword Planner to find keywords.

When optimizing keywords, avoid using long-tail words as they are very specific and won’t help improve local SEO rankings. Instead, use short phrases like “Phoenix hair salons” or “best dentist in Phoenix”.

8. Connect with Local Businesses

Connecting with local businesses allows you to improve your online presence. You can interact with other businesses in the same industry or those that offer complementary products. This will help entice more clients as they see your business listed among others when doing a Google search for relevant keywords.

You can join local business groups, participate in events, and meet with other owners to improve the SEO rankings of your website or blog posts.

9. Focus on Local Backlinks

Backlinks are links pointing to your website from other websites. They improve SEO rankings by showing search engines that your site is authoritative and provides valuable information.

When building backlinks for local SEO optimization, you should focus on authority sites with high domain scores (DA). This will improve local rankings and the overall performance of your website.

Building backlinks isn’t an easy task, and it requires time, dedication, and patience. You can hire a team of professionals who are experienced in creating high-quality backlinks using white hat methods.

10. Write Quality Content

When writing content for your website, be original. Ensure your content is informative and helpful for the reader to come back when searching for related keywords on search engines.

You can improve local SEO rankings by using citations from well-known publications in your industry to improve your site’s credibility.

You can consider hiring an experienced content writer for quality website information or blog posts. If you don’t have enough time, hire a team of writers with different backgrounds, so you get more creative ideas.

11. Write Relevant Local News Stories

Some topics may gain interest among the residents of a location. For example, if you are a local business in New York City and there is an event scheduled to happen at the United Nations Headquarters, you can write about it on your blog or website.

This will help improve your site’s SEO rankings as people from different locations looking for information regarding this event may find their way to your page.

12. Leverage on Social Media to Improve Local SEO

Social media platforms are free and can be used by anyone. Posting quality social media updates about your business, products, or services will attract the attention of potential clients who live nearby. This is another way you can improve local rankings in search engines.

Post relevant news stories that may interest your audience and interact with them.

The most common social media platforms today are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram. Ensure that you have a business account on each platform to connect with potential clients from different locations.

13. Encourage Customers to Give Genuine Reviews

Positive reviews improve your local SEO rankings by showing search engines that you offer high-quality services or products. Ensure the review is genuine to avoid penalties.

You can request clients to leave a positive review on Google My Business, Facebook Local page, or Yelp after receiving their orders. You can also ask clients to share their experiences on social media networks.

14. Promote Your Local Business Offline

You don’t have to rely on online marketing strategies only. You can boost your local SEO rankings by promoting your products and services offline.

Hosting events at a popular place or venue to reach more people in that area can be a good idea. This is a good way of promoting your business, whether it’s a restaurant, beauty salon, or e-commerce site.

15. Respond to Customers Online

Good customer support services are crucial for any business.

To improve local rankings, you need to respond to customers quickly and provide timely assistance. When people see that your business cares about their needs or complaints, they will be more willing to leave positive reviews. You will also attract more prospective customers.

16. Optimize Meta Description, Tag & Title

When optimizing your website’s meta description, tag and title, be specific on location. This will attract more people to click on your site when they search for related keywords.

Make sure the content is relevant to what you offer. Targeting multiple cities or regions will split your rankings. To improve local SEO performance, optimize your meta description and title by adding service or product location.

17. Optimize Images with Geo-tags

Geo-tags are essential for local SEO optimization. When customers see your business images on SERPs, they can click if the image matches what you offer in that area.

Ensure all images have geo-tags with accurate location information to make it easier for people to find you. Don’t forget to optimize images for local SEO performance.

18. Add Location Pages

Your website needs to have location pages with complete business information, to improve local SEO rankings.

When people search for related keywords on Google, they might see an area map in SERPs. There’s a high chance they will click if their query matches what you offer.

You can create pages for your service locations even if you don’t have a physical premise in the area. This approach helps you to target all the relevant keywords in the region.

19. Optimize for Voice Search

Voice search is becoming more popular with time. This form of digital marketing requires optimization for local SEO performance.

When optimizing your website, include keywords that people might use when asking questions in voice search mode to get the top results on SERPs. You need to optimize both mobile and desktop versions.

20. Local SEO Audit

You should have objectives for the SEO efforts you employ. After that, evaluate the performance of your techniques and identify areas of improvement.

How well are your keywords placed in the local area? Are there new improvements you can add to attract more customers and boost rankings?

You need to monitor and update your website for better results constantly. You can hire a professional site audit services or do it yourself. There are free tools available to give you an overview of what needs optimization. Some of these tools include Moz Local, Brightlocal, Whitespark.

Takeaway

With organic traffic being the primary source of leads for most businesses, it’s essential to use local SEO strategies. These easy-to-implement techniques will help you boost rankings and improve your online presence locally or within a particular region. By following these tips, you’re ready to take on the competition in your industry.