Local businesses are finding it increasingly important to have an effective online strategy. The days of knocking up a cheap and cheerful website that acts as a glorified business card are long gone.
The simple fact is that the businesses with a top ranking are the ones who are getting the lion’s share of the traffic.
But equally true is that these businesses haven’t got an amazing (and expensive) marketing team working for them. In fact, all they have done is to focus on some straightforward techniques that any small business owner can put in place.
That is exactly the reason why Pickaweb put together the Definitive Guide to Local SEO to help any small business owner to get their online strategy back on track – quickly.
Here we’ve got a quick summary of some of the key points to help you hit the deck running.
The Basics
First up there are some SEO basics that need to be put in place. This is all about applying some best practices to your site.
Things like keyword selection, setting up metatags, using keyword rich URLs, linking between pages, adding more pages for specific products or services, etc..
These are definitely quick wins and should be your first priority.
Name, Address & Phone (NAP) Citations
As well as fixing up your site you need to ensure that you get listed in authority websites – especially those related to local businesses. These are called local citations and they are very important for any local business serious about getting traffic.
But you need to ensure that you are listed consistently across them, especially your business name, address and phone number – hence the acronym NAP.
Fortunately there are loads of NAP sites to chose from and you should also pay attention to niche citation sites.
This is definitely an easy win. That is not to say it isn’t time consuming although there are a number of companies like BrightLocal that can do all this for you.
Link Building
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link to you. In recent years it has gained a tarnished reputation because people tried to game the system and were penalised by Google.
However, it is still a legitimate strategy for any business and despite the mystery that surrounds it there are still some surprisingly easy ways to get links for your local business.
Google My Business
These days if you are serious about getting traffic from Google then you need to play by their rules and that means setting up and configuring your Google My Business listing.
Creating your listing is just the first step and you need to make sure that you optimise it and make full use of all the features that Google provides for you.
Blogging for Local Business
Most local businesses do not have a blog. Possibly because they either can’t see the benefits or they can’t think what to write about or maybe they are just in a plain boring industry.
But there are definitely benefits to blogging for any local business. You just need to get started and create some initial content ideas for your blog.
Customer Reviews
Getting reviews is a vital part of any local SEO strategy these days. In fact you may have noticed that the local businesses that tend to get a high ranking have got one thing in common: Google reviews. Go check it out.
People often think that getting customer reviews or testimonials is difficult. But there are easy ways to get customer reviews too.
Video for Local SEO Success
With great video cameras in most smartphones these days there is no excuse not to make videos for your business. You can create great quality videos using your iPhone and some basic equipment.
But it isn’t just about creating video for the sake of it. Video can be a great way to improve your site’s ranking.
So, it’s: Lights, iPhone, Action!
Mobile – The Future of the Net
These days people aren’t just sitting at home browsing the web. They’re out and about using their smartphone or tablet. In fact the growth in mobile usage is staggering and is behind Google’s decision in April 2015 to promote mobile friendly websites in their mobile search listings.
First up you need to check if your site is mobile friendly. If it isn’t then one of the ways you can address this is to consider switching to a responsive website.
Google+ for Local SEO Success
Google+ is Google’s social platform and it is increasingly important for local SEO success.
There are some basics that you need to ensure that you get the most from Google+ but there are considerable benefits for any local business.
Tools of the Trade
There are loads of great tools for Local SEO whether you want to get the basics right, get on top of your NAP Citations, create a better blog, get more reviews, use video or get more mobile traffic.
by Pickaweb
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