How to Crush Local SEO

A Local Focus on Your SEO Can Pay Dividends for Your Company

If you’re a brick and mortar business trying to gain a foothold on the internet, then you’ve probably heard of Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. What you may not have heard of is Local SEO. Simply put, Local SEO is the process of optimizing your site to maximize it’s exposure in Search Engine Rankings in a specific geographic location. With local SEO, it’s really important to rank high, after all, the top three sites get displayed on the Google map at the top of search rankings. Sites who rank high enough to be displayed on the map experience much higher site traffic. And more traffic leads to more leads, which leads to more business. So it’s essential that you reach the top three. But, how are you supposed to do that?
Now this may all sound well and good to you, but when you search for Local SEO and start reading about it, you get light headed and need to lie down. I understand. There is a lot out there about Local SEO and it’s hard enough to run your business without having to worry about learning the ins and outs of Google algorithms. Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Check out our list on how to crush local SEO.

Steps to Help You Crush Your Local SEO

Make sure your On-Page SEO is setup correctly – On-Page SEO refers to the SEO that is built into the structure of your website. It means making sure each page has an H-1 heading that includes your keyword, your meta titles and other meta data are setup correctly, your content is properly structured with the proper keywords and all images have alt tags. Most importantly you need to be sure to install Schema, which is a programming language that makes sure your site communicates accurately with Social Media sites. Keep an eye out as we plan on doing a deep dive into On-Page SEO and what you can do to set up your website for success.
Claim all Online Profiles – If you search for your company, chances are you’ll find a variety of business profiles that have been automatically generated, such as Google Business Profile, Trip Advisor, Yelp, and Facebook Business, among others. It’s very important to find and claim as many of those sites as you can.
Create Localized Content – Make sure you make content that is relevant to your area. Use location names in sub-header tags and in the content. Just don’t keyword spam, that will earn you a big penalty from Google. Speaking of content…
Blog, Blog, Blog – A lot of things may change on the internet, but the one thing that stays the same is the saying “Content is King”. Simply put, set up a blog and post regularly. Each blog should be focused around a different keyword. Bonus Tip – Create videos for each blog and post them to Youtube and Social Media. Then embed them in the blog where the written content appears. Google absolutely loves that.
Reviews Are Important – This is another topic that probably needs it’s own blog post. The most important thing on the internet for businesses is building trust. One of the best ways to build trust is to have a ton of five star reviews on Google and other sites. If you have claimed your Google Business Profile (see step number two…) then you should be able to generate a link that you can send to your existing clients. When clicked this link will open a form allowing them to give you a review on Google. What you cannot do is post a bunch of reviews yourself, particularly from your home IP address. That is a good way to get blacklisted on Google, and you don’t want that.
Your Citations Must Be Identical – We mentioned claiming your business profiles in step two, now you need to go through all of them and make sure your Name, Email, Phone Number, and Address are identical. This will help establish authority in Google’s eyes. More authority means higher rankings for you. If it seems daunting to find them all and make sure the information is correct, no worries. Google “Citation Builder”. There are a variety of services who will do it for you. For a fee, of course.

Being Patient and Persistent Will Pay Off

If you follow the steps above you will be well on your way to building a strong Local SEO presence for your business. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Keep your eye on this space, as we will be releasing more posts about SEO in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, be sure to contact me. I reply to every email and would be more than happy to help answer any questions you may have! Till next time…