Do you run a business that caters to those in your direct locality? If so, you would be wise to devise a local SEO strategy.
Local SEO can gain substantial exposure for your business, making it visible to search engine users in your area. In the long run, it’s one of the most beneficial forms of local business marketing.
Choose the Right Keywords
Every local SEO campaign should start with choosing the right keywords. Selecting the right keywords is vital in that it has the potential to expose your business to the right types of people. If you choose the wrong keywords, you might still get traffic, but very little of that traffic will include paying customers.
For instance, let’s say you’re a plumber in the Cleveland, Ohio area. In this case, you would want to choose keywords like “plumber in Cleveland” or “Cleveland plumber.” You might also use keywords like “drain cleaning services in Cleveland” or septic tank installation in Cleveland.”
Doing this would expose your website to people searching for those services in the Cleveland area. So, not only would it have the potential to get you traffic on search engines, but it would have the potential to get the right type of traffic as well.
When choosing keywords, it’s wise to do keyword research. This involves using tools like Ahrefs and SEMRush so that you can discover metrics for individual keywords. This allows you to make more informed choices on which keywords are most beneficial to your business.
Once you’ve chosen appropriate keywords, you’ll need to use them on your website pages. Include them in headers and scatter them throughout your on-page content as well. If you need help, make use of professional SEO services.
Open Up a Google My Business Profile
Do you know how when you search for a local service in Google, a small box pops up at the top of the page containing the names of 3 different businesses? These names got there because they’re signed up with Google My Business. And yes, they are reaping benefits as a result of appearing in the top 3.
This is why your business also needs to have a Google My Business profile. Google My Business profiles are highly visible and can provide great exposure to local businesses.
To sign up, fill out the necessary information and verify your business address. Then, start posting pictures, statuses, and other information. Do this regularly, and your business should start to climb up in the rankings.
Post to Social Media
Social media is a part of local SEO as well. By using social media on a regular basis, you indicate to search engines that your business is active. This helps you establish clout in search engine rankings.
You should be posting statuses at least a few times a week, though the more you do it, the better off you’ll be. You should also be conversing with commenters, as again, this shows that your business is active.
It’s also a good idea to post your content to your social media profiles. This can help you to obtain backlinks, and can also help to demonstrate authority in your niche.
The most important social media platform for you to use is Facebook. Note, though, that Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram can help as well.
Pursue Local Citations
An aspect that’s exclusive to local SEO is local citations.
These are digital instances of your business information. These most commonly include online business listings (like those in Yelp and Facebook, for instance). However, they can also include mentions of your business in blog posts and newspaper articles.
The more citations you can get for your business, the more familiar you can make it with search engines. The more familiar a search engine is with your business, the likelier it is that it will favorably rank your business’s website.
If you need help getting local citations, you should consult a digital marketing agency or SEO company, like this Ft. Lauderdale SEO company.
Establish a Link Building Strategy
The most challenging aspect of both local and global SEO is obtaining backlinks. These are links from other websites that lead to your website. They show search engines that your website has credibility, thus helping it to rank.
Why is getting backlinks challenging? Because you have very little control over it. After all, you can’t just hijack someone’s website and post links back to yours; you need the owner of that website to make the decision to link to your website.
So, how do you make this happen? Well, there are a few different strategies to consider.
You could guest post on other websites. This will enable you to place a link to your website in your content.
You could swap links with other business owners in your area. This requires nothing more than a friendly agreement.
Or, you could just create good content and share it on social media. This doesn’t guarantee a backlink, but it puts you in a position to get one. The key, of course, is to create content that people actually want to link to.
Note, there are also backlinking services available. In other words, you can hand off this task to someone else.
Time to Start Building Your Local SEO Strategy
Now that we’ve provided you with some SEO techniques and have told you about some SEO tools, it’s time to start building your local SEO strategy. Put these tips to good use, and, soon enough, you’ll be reaping the benefits of SEO.
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The link building strategy can be tough, like you noted. I have a couple of agreements with local brands that they’ll link back to my blog posts, but it’s a slow process. The best advice that I got from the marketing agency Ashworth Creative is keeping my blog up-to-date and making sure it’s easy to follow.