Big businesses that operate at the national or even international level will have the funds for their search engine optimization or SEO. It will be difficult for small businesses to compete with them in the rankings, as they would probably topped the general keywords of the industry that they are in. However, the former must also not pass on optimizing their site for search engine ranking. Without an online presence, it could cost a loss of sales.
If you are one of these small businesses, the best thing that you can do is to focus on local SEO. It will give you chance to get your name out there at the local level. While big companies are focused on reaching their national market, you can focus on attracting the customers around your area. Almost half of searches made in Google are on local information. If your company doesn’t have a local SEO in hand, you could miss out on these searches. The best SEO agencies can help you be on top of the local search engine result pages, thus having a bigger chance of being seen and known.
Below are 12 ways on how to improve your local SEO in 2021.
- Create a Google My Business profile. Google My Business is a tool that you can use for optimizing your local SEO. It’s one of the places that Google looks at when determining your ranking. Make sure that you create a thorough profile. Share photos and content too. When customers search for your business in the local area, your Google My Business profile will show up, and that could entice them to check out your store.
- Claim your profile on various business directories. Aside from Google My Business, there are other business directories online that consumers use to find local businesses in their area. Moreover, search engines also go through these business directories and include them in the result. If you do not have your profile on these sites, you miss the opportunity of being found.
- Be active on social media. Social media is a popular platform for connecting with clients. The more engagement and mentions that you have, the higher the chances of your name being on the top result when locals search for your business on the web.
- Update contact details on various sites. It’s not enough that you create your profile on different sites, but make sure that the details are correct. If you created profiles in the past, go through them and update them. When a local search is made concerning your details, the search engine might get confused if your information is not the same. It could end up not showing these sites if the details differ.
- Create quality content local to your area. Consumers who are local to your area will be interested in content that has to do with their location. Take advantage of this by creating content that involves local events, programs, shows, and news. It will spark their attention, and this will generate higher organic traffic to your site.
- Take part in local community projects or events. Writing about local events is one thing, and participating in them is even better. Join various programs or events in your local community that could cause more exposure to your business. Share about them online to get more hits. Other companies and people may also write about this, and they could mention your company if you are a participant. If there are hashtags used on these events, include them on your posts too so they will be included in the result when people search for those hashtags.
- Use local keywords. Clients looking for service on the local level may use different keywords than those looking for businesses that are not location-specific. The keywords that you use for your SEO must be fitted to the ones that local searchers would use. For example, a customer looking for an air conditioner repair service in Cooperstown may search the keywords “air conditioner repair service in Cooperstown” rather than just the terms “air conditioner repair”. The best SEO agencies will help find the most effective local keywords to use.
- Ensure your site is responsive. Site responsiveness means that the site displays properly on all devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, regardless of the screen size. If your website is not optimized for mobile use, it may not display properly. Users will leave the site, so you lose the chance of turning them into actual clients. Statistics show that 61% of searches made on Google are through mobile devices.
- Create individual pages for each location. If you have different branches in various locations, create a page for each on your site to maximize SEO. Having a generic page for all locations would not be beneficial. If you have a dedicated page for each, Google will look up every page, and each of them will have a place on the rankings, which help in the overall SEO of your site.
- Get inbound links from authority sites. Inbound links that are coming from authority sites are one of the factors that Google considers when determining your ranking on the search result. It will build the credibility and authority of your site. The best way to get quality links to your site is by creating superior content that would want respected sites to link to you. Submitting guest blog posts and partnering with influencers are also other ways to get more quality inbound links.
- Encourage local customers to write a review for your company. Reviews from local consumers will also help improve your SEO. The more people talk about you, the higher your ranking will be. However, you don’t want just any reviews, but you want positive ones because bad feedback can hurt your brand, which may push clients away from using your company.
- Consider voice search in your SEO strategy. There is a fast increase in the number of people using voice search when they wish to find something online. Your local SEO must consider this. Consumers may use longer keywords when using voice search, so make sure that you optimize your content with that. For example, clients may use “where to find air conditioner repair service providers in New York” instead of the shorter keywords that they usually type in.
Create an online presence for your local business, and generate more organic traffic to your site by improving your local SEO. The best SEO agencies are the experts in this area. They can help achieve the result that you are after.