Local businesses often have difficulty ranking in their local area. They aren’t aware of how to rank in their local area and don’t understand the importance. These local SEO strategies are essential if you want your business’s success. Our ST. Pete SEO agency uses them to rank local businesses on Google. This blog will cover five simple steps that can help you rank higher in your local area.
1. Claim An Existing Listing Or Create A New One On Google My Business
First, you need to claim or create a Google My Business (GMB), listing . You can ensure that your existing, live listing matches the information you have elsewhere, such as directories, social media profiles, and more.
You don’t need an account with Google My Business if you haven’t already. This will ensure you have all the necessary features so that you can immediately take advantage of them, such as sharing photos from events and boosting posts.
Claim Or Create Local Listings
Next, you need to claim your local listing online. Different businesses market themselves locally, but not necessarily nationally. This means that they will rank higher in their local area by claiming local listings via platforms such as Yelp and Google Places.
Review it!
Google loves customers and Google Maps also rewards businesses with positive reviews. How do you get those highly-respected reviews? When you create a Google My Business Listing, it opens up the possibility for anyone who comes across it online to leave constructive criticism or praise.
Even if you don’t get reviews, don’t stop asking. These reviews can show customers that you care about their opinions and help to reduce negative reviews. It makes potential buyers feel valued and cares about their opinions. There are many resources available to help you obtain more reviews for local businesses.
2. Keyword Research (and Research Competitor Sites)
This is an important step in ranking locally and the first step to a successful SEO strategy. It is important to find out what keywords are being used by your competitors and ensure that they are included in your website copy, blog posts, and business listings (including Google My Business).
Your Website Must Have Local Keywords
Another great way to increase your Google Maps rank is to include location-based keywords in your website’s main pages such as the homepage or About Us page.
These keywords can be used to help local people find your site. They also influence how high you appear in Google Search for specific search terms that relate directly or indirectly. These words should be included in headings, text, body, and image tags (including captions) wherever possible. It’s obvious that we’re local!
3. Maintain Consistent Information And NAP (Names, Addresses, Phone Numbers)
You must make sure your contact information is consistent if you want to rank local. Make sure your website has all the necessary details, including name, address, and phone number. The same applies to social media profiles. This will ensure that people are able to find you easily when they search in their area.
Use The Same Name And Address
Google Maps assesses businesses on the basis of trustworthiness. One way to find out if they can rely upon your business is consistency in information across the internet. Let’s say you own a company called LA Medical Center. Make sure your name matches what appears on Google My Business. Don’t change your address information. This information must be correct to avoid confusing Google.
Use A Local Number
Google offers an interesting perspective on toll-free telephone numbers. They seem a bit too eager to use them in spamming and other malicious activities. This is why it is better to not use these phone numbers when advertising or setting up your website. You will be less popular than those who don’t have them. It’s better to use local telephone numbers that include the area code of your location so people can find out what’s going on in their neighborhood.
Update Your Hours
Google Maps’ business listings let users know when an establishment will be closing or opening soon. This will show Google Maps that your business is active and trustworthy. It will also help you rank higher for your store. This prevents customers from arriving at the wrong place and making a trip. Negative reviews and poor experiences can lead to negative reviews on Google Maps, which will impact your local rankings.
List Your Business On Local Citations
It is essential to place your business on local citations if you want to rank in the local market. Here are some ways to do this:
- Register your name and address online in free databases such as YP.com and Manta.com
- You can add listings to various websites that combine information about businesses, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor
- You must claim your place pages in GMB, Facebook, and Twitter.
- Every page of your website should include a link to your address that gives directions and contact information for those who live nearby.
4. Use Local SEO Best Practices To Optimize Your GMB Page
Optimizing is all about providing as much information as you can about yourself and your products/services. Make sure you check off all relevant categories, such as Home Services, Professional Services, and Products & Prices so that they are prominently displayed on search results pages.
You should provide detailed descriptions of each service or product. Include keywords that are relevant to the information you provide in these tags. However, do not include hyperlinks. If you wish, add photos of staff members. However, ensure that the images are not too small and of high quality.
5. Make A Mobile-friendly Website And Create Quality Content
You must create quality content and have a mobile-friendly site in order to rank locally.
Mobile-friendly sites will let people navigate your site on their smartphones without any compromise to the user experience (UX), even though your content may be viewed on a smaller screen.
This is a great step to take if you don’t yet have one. There are so many great tools available for creating websites of any type, even ones that are specifically for smartphones!
Google trusts local review sites to provide feedback about businesses in their vicinity, so quality content is important for ranking local websites. These reviews should come from trustworthy sources, so ensure that you contact these people for information about customer service or any other verification of legitimacy before you post links online.
Here Are The Steps To Rank Locally In Your Region (Summary:
- Claim an existing listing or create a new one on Google My Business
- Keyword Research (and Research Competitor Sites)
- Maintain Consistency in Information and NAP (Names, Addresses, Phone Numbers)
- Make a mobile-friendly website and create quality content
This post was written by Kristian D’An. Kristian is the owner and SEO Specialist at Lux Digital Marketing, a St Pete SEO company. Kristian has been optimizing websites successfully for over 7 years. He has helped his clients achieve the #1 position on Google in several different industries.