How to Boost Your Website’s Local SEO
· BlueHat Marketing
Local SEO is a vital aspect of website optimization, as it attracts customers in your area to your site, which leads to more sales. Without optimizing your website for local searches, the people who could use your product or service the most won’t be able to find you. And since you’re not only competing with millions of other websites but also other service providers in your area, it’s crucial to make sure your local SEO game is on point. Here are some tried and true methods to improve your local SEO:
Register Your Site on Local Directories and Maps
The purpose of SEO is to make sure your website reaches the top of relevant search queries. Of course, it’s hard for customers to find you if you’re not even registered on local business directories like Google My Business . By not registering with Google, you’re ignoring the 86% of customers who perform local search queries on Google Maps.
When registering on local directories, it’s crucial that your data is correct and consistent. Spend time working on your listing. Add high-quality images, fill out all the information, and include your store hours.
The more exposure you have, the easier you are to find.
Don’t Ignore Reviews
We can’t stress enough how essential it is to show you care about your community. Become a neighbourhood staple by engaging with your customers. Don’t hide from bad reviews or reply defensively to them. Always reply to negative reviews with diplomacy and empathy. It wouldn’t hurt to offer a discount or free product either. Other customers will be more likely to take your response into account when choosing your business. If you want to encourage customer loyalty, don’t forget to respond to positive reviews and reward Yelp check-ins with discounts and free food!
Engage with your community directly through review sites like Google My Business and Yelp.
Optimize Your Pages
Good old-fashioned SEO practices can boost your site’s local exposure. When building and designing your website, don’t forget to include these techniques:
- Make sure to include your full business name, address, phone number, and email address on every page of your site.
- Include local search terms in your keywords and long-tail key phrases (e.g. pancake restaurant in Edmonton)
- Ensure your website is attractive yet responsive.
- Include high-quality images of your workspace, restaurant, office, salon, etc.
Local SEO is SEO. Without an essential campaign strategy, your website will get lost in Google’s bottomless pit.
Practice the “Mobile First” Mentality
Okay, kids. Here’s the skinny: 88% of local business searches from mobile devices lead to store visits within 24 hours. Your potential customers are looking for businesses like you on-the-go with their phone in their hand. They’re hungry for perogies: they search for perogies near me and choose the closest one with a decent rating. It’s that quick. Customers are looking for fast, clean, and easy-to-navigate web pages. If you don’t have accelerated mobile pages (AMPs), you’re missing out on plenty of potential business. Always make sure your website is mobile friendly first before optimizing for desktop.
Get on Social Media
From now on, start thinking about social media as a tool. It’s the cheapest form of marketing there is, and the potential for success is never-ending. Always take full advantage of tools available to you, and if you find yourself wondering if you really need this much exposure, the answer is yes.
Your past, present, and future clients are more engaged with companies on social media than other digital platforms. According to HubSpot , 59% of Americans prefer communicating with companies via social media, while 86% of consumers enjoy social network personalities over other platforms. If you want to reach one-third of the world’s population that uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Snapchat, it’s time to get on the social media bandwagon.
Get Local, Professionally
Maintaining user engagement while taking care of your website, social media account, and customer reviews can seem like a full-time job because it is. If you lack the time or the know-how to tackle your local search engine optimization, trust a professional SEO and digital marketing agency to get you the results you’ve been looking for. Contact BlueHat Marketing today !
