These days, a lot of businesses are seeking to expand geographically and losing sight of their local market (where you can actually make the biggest difference). SEO is an incredible tool for capitalising on your local market, while also optimising your content and platforms for all viewers. Now, SEO isn’t as scary as it seems so here are a few quick tips to help you start with local SEO (without the headache).
1. Create and optimise your Google My Business listing.
This one is key! Allowing you to control how your business appears in a Google search, your claimed and verified Google My Business listing is a super opportunity to get in touch with your local market. Simply make sure all of your information is accurate and up-to-date, add relevant photos, a convincing description and customer reviews and you’ll be set.
2. Use keywords in your titles and descriptions.
Keywords – the bread and butter of good SEO. Your titles and descriptions should be chock full (but tastefully so) of keywords related to your business, services and location. That’s the key to showing up first when a local searches using those words or phrases. Also, make sure that your website’s metadata is correctly formatted and includes all relevant information needed for local SEO – your business name, address, phone number, and URL.
3. Ensure that your website is mobile-friendly.
Think about it, most of us do our Googling on our handy little pocket devices. This means designing your website to function *and* look good on smaller screens is vital! Plus, your load time should be as short as possible for optimal mobile-usability.
4. Get reviews from satisfied customers.
What people say matters. And if you won’t take our word for it, Google and other search engines factor in online reviews when determining how to rank the search results. So, if you can get positive reviews from your customers, it will improve your chances of showing higher up in the results. Don’t be afraid to ask for them!
5. Build local backlinks.
Listing your site on local directories and business listings is a super important part of local SEO. By earning backlinks from high-quality websites in your niche that deal with the same local geographic area, you’re widening your search prospects and making your business look more and more legitimate to the Google crawlers.
This step can be complex so we suggest using backlink research tools like UberSuggest, SEMRush and link building support tools such as Postifluence, which will help to safely post backlinks on top sites with a few clicks.
6. Update the NAP Citations on your site.
An important ranking factor for local SEO is NAP: name, address, and phone number. This means that if you have a brick-and-mortar location, you need to make sure your NAP is listed correctly and prominently on your website so people know all about you. If you’re displaying conflicting information of where you are and how people can contact you, your SEO will be impacted.
Overall, the best local SEO tactics are those that get you in front of your audience and build trust in your brand. The tips above are super actionable, so try them out and remember: SEO is trial and error (and tough!), so keep tabs on your rankings and make adjustments accordingly until you find what’s working best for you. Or, get some professional help to really take control of your ranking!
