So many businesses overlook locally focused SEO. Don’t be one of the businesses missing out on community business. Boost your presence and catch the fish swimming in your pond. Yes, even when you’re an online business.
What’s Local SEO?
Local SEO is all about helping your business gain visibility in local search results. Google’s clever, even if the searcher doesn’t specify they want results ‘near me’, Google knows. You want your business to come up as that locally sourced, friendly neighborhood product or service.
1. Set Up Your Google My Business (GMB) Listing
The first step is to make sure your Google My Business profile is fully optimized. This listing helps your business appear in Google’s Knowledge Panel and search results. Make sure your business name, phone number, address, and hours are accurate, and upload high-quality images of your shop, business logo, services or products.
This is what gives your business an air of legitimacy, people feel more inclined to do business with a business that they can see, contact and rely on to be open.
2. Localize Your Website Content
Next, focus on localizing the content on your website. This means including local keywords like your city name or nearby landmarks. Let’s say you own a pizza place in Altrincham, you wouldn’t just say you’re a ‘restaurant’, you’d specify the cuisine. You want people who are looking for you to find you. You don’t want gyro enthusiasts showing up to your pizza place in a fury.
So you wouldn’t withhold your location, either. Taking your keyword from ‘restaurant’ to ‘pizza restaurant Altrincham’, that’s what gets you the customers you’re looking for.
3. Get Local Links
Acquiring links from local websites is another effective strategy. Look for local publications or events where you can get a mention. Even smaller websites with lower domain authority can help boost your local SEO if they are based in your area. It’s the online equivalent to having the support of your local community.
It emulates the offline experience of walking into a business, not finding what you want and receiving a recommendation from the owner. You’ve walked into a Greek restaurant looking for pizza, but the manager tells you exactly where you can get a great slice. You want that great slice of pizza to be local.
Wrapping Up
To be that local hero, you’ve got to make sure your Google ‘My Business’ profile is filled out. Google won’t fill in the gaps for you. Make sure your website features localised content that pinpoints your business, and build up local links.
You can do this by reaching out to other local businesses and helping each other out with a link, finding your way onto local directories or doing some good old fashioned digital PR and getting links in local titles.
It’s best to monitor the success of your efforts and adjust accordingly based on what is and isn’t working. It’s also best to know when to ask for help, maybe by Googling ‘SEO agencies near me’.
