If you have a brick-and-mortar store along with a website, you can’t keep local SEO out of your marketing game plan.
Your customers are looking for nearby services and nailing the local SEO game will help you tap them before your competitors do.
However, you need to ace certain aspects of local SEO to be visible in the local searches. Since the process can be complicated, you will need a step-by-step strategy to stay on top of your local SEO game.
So, what are the roadblocks you can encounter and how to get around them? Find out everything in this article.
Work on Your Website’s Homepage
This is important for both users and search engines like Google. Talking about optimizing for Google, ensure that you have placed your main keyword on the page’s title, meta, and in the content. That way, search engines can determine what your business is about and what keywords to rank your website for.
If you think optimizing or designing a fully functional website is out of bounds for you, consider hiring a professional web design company.
Tweak the Meta Details
There’s been plenty of discussion regarding whether or not meta descriptions are still relevant. In addition to being a ranking aspect, they are undoubtedly crucial in creating the first impression of your website on a user.
Note that if you’re optimizing your site for the local market, your title tags must include the city’s name that you’d like search engines to rank your pages for. Make sure your page’s title tags also include the product or service you offer.
This would clearly inform search engines about what you do and where people can find you.
Have a Dedicated Page for Each Service, Product, or Geolocation
Do not try to implement too many schemas to your live web pages. It’s neither beneficial to overall SEO nor fruitful for local SEO.
To apply schemas for various products/services, you need to create a separate page for them. This is a good SEO practice because it helps create a precise sitemap for search engines and makes your website more visible for the particular service.
Imagine this – if you only had an “About Us” page and no other pages connecting to it, would you ever rank for social media, local SEO, services, or any query regarding “About Us?”
We doubt it.
Likewise, if you cover several locations, set up a page for every location. How can you expect your Charlton location to appear in search results if it doesn’t have a separate page?
So, stop letting the important pages share schemas and work on setting up individual schemas. Yes, it does sound like a bunch of extra work, but at the end of the day, it is good for your website’s performance.
Set Up Your Google My Business Page
Several new business owners find setting up the Google My Business page tricky. However, it is not as difficult as some people think.
That said, claiming your company’s listing and filling in the correct information is vital to your local SEO ranking, particularly to show up in the Google Local Pack and SERP results.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t spot your industry. There are more than 2000 categories; some aren’t so common. So, try to determine which one is most appropriate for your business. Make sure to use primary keywords and LSI keywords whenever you can when putting up your website details. This accounts for around 20% of your chances of appearing in the local search results.
Don’t forget to claim your GMBs for multiple locations if your business serves in different areas. It is a wrong assumption that having one GMB will take care of all the locations. However, one login credential will work for all GMBs, so you don’t have to remember several passwords.
Check for NAP Citations
Take a good look at your brand’s name, address & phone number (NAP details). Next, observe how your NAP details are mentioned on the various GMBs and make sure the same NAP is mentioned in exact order on your website. You can choose any website location for the NAP details, though several business owners like to use the footer for this purpose. A sidebar won’t be a bad option, provided it appears on all the web pages, including the home page.
If you own multiple locations, follow the steps above, make a separate webpage for every location and then apply the NAP applicable to that area on that page. If you think this sounds overwhelming, consider seeking professionals for SEO in Greenville, SC.
List Your Business on Local Directories
Local directories and citations can be a fantastic way to improve your website’s local SEO.
The most important thing is to ensure that each listing is exactly the same. Therefore, you should mirror your business’s exact format and layout on your GMB page and ensure that you list your company exactly the same way in local directories.
Moz Local provides a quick and free check of your current listing in the major directories. Other services such as Yext and WhiteSpark offer more options if you’ve got bigger pockets.
Establish Social Media Signals
If you do not have an official Facebook company page, now is the time to get one. The presence of social media highlights your location, which further improves local SEO.
Note that you do not have to spend hours daily on the Facebook page. However, 1-2 posts daily to engage the followers and link your GMB on your Facebook page is a good place to start.
Also, do not limit your social media activities to Facebook. We’d suggest utilizing Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and other platforms to spread your brand message across multiple platforms.
Final Word
Many people confuse normal SEO with local SEO. Worse, they think optimizing the website for traditional SEO will do the job for local SEO as well. This is an incorrect notion.
Search engines like Google are always striving to offer easy and customized experiences to users. Local SEO is an effective way to offer services to users nearby. Google has a different algorithm and criteria for that, so your local SEO optimization will be different from the usual SEO.
Make sure you follow the above-mentioned local SEO best practices to tap the local market and scale your business.
| Click Here For More News and Blog |
