Seeing their brand get attention from potential clients is the ultimate goal many small businesses aim to achieve. There are numerous ways to attract customers to your business, but having good local SEO is probably the best way to get noticed.
Search Engine Optimization refers to your brand’s position in search engine results. Ranking high in SEO means you are able to capitalize on your brand’s popularity through your local audience.
A well-thought-of SEO campaign can work wonders for your business, but you should check a few boxes first to ensure you’ve gone the right way.
Continue reading this article as we unveil the ultimate checklist for your local SEO campaign.
What Is Local SEO and Why Is It Important?
Since the world has gone almost entirely digital, no one reads the papers to know what’s trending and what’s making headlines. Instead, people turn to their smartphones to search for what matters most.
According to Forbes’ research on mobile marketing facts, a staggering 95% of people have used their smartphones to research local information. Of the 95%, 61% of them followed up with a local business they found through search engines, while 51% visited a brick-and-mortar shop.
According to these stats, local search engine optimization is the driving force behind web traffic toward businesses that have made themselves known. Imagine the possibilities you miss out on if your website isn’t optimized for local SEO.
As the name suggests, local SEO refers to optimizing your website to appeal to an audience in the same geographical location as your business. An optimized local SEO makes you more visible to your ideal customers.
Moreover, using a local SEO strategy allows the targeted audience in your vicinity to find you before anyone else sees you on search engine results. Turning to local SEO as a digital marketing strategy is especially important and beneficial for startups and small businesses just beginning to create an audience for themselves.
The importance of local SEO lies in its possibility to turn visitors into potential clients. Moreover, local SEO is a sort of a “discovery tool” that shows geographically-relevant audiences that there is an option nearby.
Local SEO Checklist for Website Optimization
Optimizing your website for local optimization would not be challenging if you knew what to consider. From listing your business on review sites to optimizing your website data and selecting high-volume keywords, here are some of the most important aspects to rule your local SEO game.
Be Present on Review Sites
Review pages like Foursquare, Yelp, and Trip Advisor are some of the most visited websites for online reviews. Listing your brand on any of these review sites allows people to talk about your business and make it known to everyone using these sites.
Likewise, people can use the information on your business as a reference. Listing your brand on review sites will boost your local SEO influence and make your brand more visible to prospects.
Find the Right Keywords to Rank Better
Choosing which keyword to use is essential for a successful local SEO ranking. Knowing which keywords are trending and what people type into search bars can significantly help your business.
Generating a high-impact keyword doesn’t have to take up much of your time and cause you headaches. Thankfully, online SEO tools like Google Search Console and Google Keyword Planner can help you generate the best-suited keyword for your business.
Online SEO tools are beneficial as they can help you discover your website keywords and service keywords. Moreover, you’ll gain insight into your audience’s search preferences and the keywords your rivals use. Knowing these metrics will help your business rank higher in local SEO.
Optimize the Metadata of Your Website
The metadata containing the page title, the meta description, and the URL is the tag users see first, so you would want to pay special attention to that part of local SEO. Unfortunately, when businesses try to up their local SEO game, they fail to understand how vital metadata is and pay little to no attention to that section.
The metadata lets visitors get insight into the essence of your business, and it tells them what your business is about when your brand appears as part of the search results.
Google’s algorithms will also appreciate well-written metadata, resulting in a higher rank on the SERP. Optimized metadata will have the main keyword in the URL, meta title, meta description, and within the first 100 words of your content.
Establish a Presence on More Platforms
Being present on social media means you’re part of a global community of over 4.6 billion social media users. Establishing a presence for your brand on leading social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram means you have furthered your reach and expanded your brand exposure.
Many large global corporations are present on the most used social channels because they know it’s the best way to attract new audiences and stay competitive. Regarding local SEO, creating a page for your brand on the global social media platforms will help with SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and eventually generate more leads.
Claim Your Business in Google Business Profile
Formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), the Google Business Profile is a local SEO directory that lets you manage all of your company’s internet presence in one place.
Enter the information Google asks for, keep it updated, communicate with reviewers, and share company updates through social media posts. You’ll see your brand reach broad audiences and rank well on SERP when you do all these.
Use a Local TLD
Local SEO and local TLD go well together. TLD stands for Top-Local Domain and refers to websites using location-specific domains. For instance, if you’re a business in the UK, using a “.uk” domain over a “.com” one for your webpage will favor your webpage over a similar one with a different domain.
Make Use of Long-Tail Keywords
For local SEO, using long-tail keywords to rank higher on the SERP means you’re aligned with what visitors search for to get to a product or a service online.
Long-tail keywords are longer and more precise phrases that visitors use to search for precisely what they need. Long-tail keywords are typically used when visitors are close to making a purchase.
Be a Mobile-First Business
Optimizing your website for mobile use is a must. Local SEO algorithms will favor mobile-first indexing when ranking businesses on the SERP. If your webpage isn’t mobile-optimized, you miss out on many potential purchases.
Acquire High-Quality Inbound Links
A well-rounded local SEO digital marketing campaign isn’t complete without link building. Having trustworthy inbound links can boost your website’s ranking on the SERP and help reach a wider audience. Inbound links can also elevate the local relevance of your website.
Takeaway: Optimizing Your Website Via Local SEO
Establishing your business as a trustworthy brand that thousands of customers like is a marathon rather than a sprint, but if done right, it’ll benefit your business in several ways.
Turning to local SEO to optimize your website means considering a few aspects – from listing your company on review sites to choosing the keywords that’ll help you rank higher in the SERP to using a local TLD.
To ensure your webpage is optimized for local SEO, follow our checklist, and you’ll be all set. But, if you need help, you can consult our friendly professionals at Digital Heart Media for your next social media marketing campaign or SEO link-building marketing tactic.
Contact us now and achieve long-term business growth.
