A Local SEO Company With A Proven Track Record Can Rank You Higher And Get You More Clients

So you have a website, but is it performing and driving traffic and creating conversions?

It seems like only a few years ago, the humble Yellow Pages and telephone directory was your customers’ first port of call when they were looking for goods or services in their local area. In 2018 and beyond, they are starting their searches on the Internet.

Whether your customers are searching using a local qualifier – “bike rentals Miami” for example – or by allowing Google to use their location when searching; your business needs to appear for these terms.

By implementing a local SEO strategy, you can tap into this lucrative audience, and boost your sales considerably. Here, we share with you 5 easy wins for local SEO and how your business can reach out to customers in your local area:

1. Local Qualifier Keywords
The first step in any SEO campaign, not just a local one, is to decide on the best keywords to target.
These are the words and phrases your customers will be entering into the search engines when looking for your products or services.

You can do this by:

Analyzing your competitors’; what are they optimizing their websites for?
What would you type in if you were looking for your service?
Using Google’s Keyword Tool to see the words prospects are using
The first easy win for local SEO though, is to include a regional qualifier.

For example, Niche Market Media customers might search for us using the term “business website design hilton head”.

Not only does this make for a less competitive keyword – and one that is therefore easier to rank for – but it also helps people in your local area find your website. Use the Keyword Tool to ensure there are enough regional monthly searches for this term, before you start optimizing your site.

2. Onsite SEO
Once you have identified your keywords, the next step in your local SEO campaign is your onsite optimization. It is the following elements that search engines such as Google use to determine what your website should rank for.

It is important to remember though, recent changes to Google algorithms mean that simply ‘stuffing’ your keywords into your pages and meta data will result in penalties. You should then, ensure that your onsite SEO is as natural as possible.

So how can you make the most of our second local SEO easy win?

Title and H1 Tags – These tells the search engines what your web page is about. You should try and include one of your local qualifier terms in here.
Meta Description – Sometimes known as ‘rich snippets’ this appears in the SERPs and tells search engines and human readers what your page is about. Be as descriptive as possible, and try and include your keyword.
Address – Your physical address should be included on every page. Include a local telephone number, and ensure visitors know exactly where they can find you.
Content – Every marketer knows the importance of content marketing. Produce high quality, targeted blog posts, videos, and podcasts to add value to your site and give something back to your audience.
3. Off-site SEO
It’s not just your website that can help you rank for your local terms. Your off-site SEO is a crucial factor in driving local traffic, and boosting your conversions.

You need to be building a bank of relevant links that point to your website. When implementing a local campaign, you need to make sure these links are from local sources and will help in your optimization efforts. Our top tips for off-site, local SEO are:

Get your website listed and linked to from local directories
Approach local companies and ask them to link back to you
Provide content to other, relevant sites in your area in the form of a guest post
The aim of this is to widen your reach, and ensure prospective customers from across your local area can find your business. Where possible – in your guest posts for example – use your local keyword phrase as the anchor text that links back to your website. This will tell the search engines what your page is about, and improve your SERP position for that phrase.

4. Local Business Pages
The fourth essential but easy win for local SEO is building local pages for your business. These pages can help you build a presence for your regional terms, and improve your rankings. Search engines Bing and Google allow you to build business pages that display in the SERPs for relevant local terms.

To open a Google+ for Business account, simply visit this page: https://www.google.com/business/ and for Bing visit this page: https://www.bingplaces.com/

Make sure that you’ve completely filled out your profile, using the same business address that is used on your website. You should also make the most of images and updates. One of the most important aspects though, is reviews.

The search engines will consider business pages with more reviews higher than those without, increasing their visibility. Therefore it’s important that you acquire as many genuine reviews as possible to boost your visibility.

5. Social Media
Our final easy win for local SEO comes in the form of social media.

The search engines are beginning to rank websites based on their social signals, and are giving social media profiles more authority. More than this though, you can optimize your social media accounts based on your region. Again, this is a simple but effective way to ensure prospects in your local area can always find you when they’re looking for you.

Facebook for example, allows you to customize your business page with your location as well as your business type. Likewise, Twitter places your location in a prominent position on your profile. This will help your followers find you; just make sure you include a website link on all your social media profiles.

More and more businesses are selling online, and you need to make sure you business website to working for you. The customers on your doorstep are perhaps your most lucrative, and a robust local SEO campaign is the first step in maximizing this potential.