If you’re a local business without an online store or a chamber of commerce without a visitors bureau, chances are you don’t care about traffic much past your general area, at least not enough to pay for it. If you’re sponsoring ads on social media you can target your audience pretty precisely but how do you improve your local reach and organic results?
Local SEO is becoming more competitive because small businesses are starting to realize the importance of it and how, originally, it was easier to rank. If you don’t start paying attention to it soon, you’ll be disappointed that the opportunity escaped you.
Improving Local Search Results
Here are a few suggestions to help you start seeing results in search:
- Use keywords that include your location such as “Holland MI plumber.” If your area has a nickname or a shortened version of your city name, do a little keyword research on this as well such as “Big Apple plumber” or “Philly plumber.”
- Claim company profiles on sites like Manta, Google My Business, and any industry sites. Fill out all of the information so that your listing is complete.
- Write local content. Create content that appeals to local people and speaks to your area. You know those funny social media post articles “You know you’re from ____ if…”? While you don’t have to be a comedian about it, appealing to locals by creating content that’s important to them will help the search engines recognize your local value.
- Fill out your business social media profiles with all pertinent business information.
- Have someone else help you with the listing. Getlisted can do it for you.
- Beef up your Yelp and other listings such as Yellow Pages and Bing. Work to get more reviews.
- Focus on getting top listings through places like TripAdvisor or other travel sites. When you get “Best of” designations, people notice.
- Be consistent in all of your business listings. Your information should be the same across all of them. If you have multiple locations, use your primary location as the first location listed in all of your business listings. This information should match your website and social media profiles as well. The search engines are looking for consistency.
Improving your local SEO isn’t hard but it does take dedication and a plan. Start working these ideas today before all of your competitors are firmly entrenched in the top spots. It’s a whole lot harder to move the dial when they’re actively working at it too.
