Secrets of Local Business SEO All Small Businesses Ought to Employ

It is certainly a fact that the rate of conversions taken from local business SEO searches is very high. This is probably not something new to local business owners. All local businesses are willing to get this local, high converting, and targeted traffic, but the problem is, how to get them.

As Warren Buffet has so famously said, “When the tide goes out, you see who’s not wearing a bathing suit.”  Well, the tide has certainly gone out and there are a lot of naked companies around.  Many of the failed companies will insist that they had been the victims of a “perfect storm.”

However, in the years to come, it will become apparent that some companies have actually used the crises to gain market share, increase employee loyalty and enhance profitability while their competitors were crumbling.

Here is what all small businesses ought to know about local business SEO.

local business SEO
Know about local business SEO.

The concept of SEO can be very confusing at first, and can even remain so after a very long time. But one interesting fact is that you do not have to be an expert in SEO before you can acquire the needed traffic. There is no need for you to invest so much money, or carry out research for months.

Check out a few of our landing pages here.

Here are those vital elements needed to rank your website for local searches.

Local business SEO … have a mobile-optimized website

It is very important for you to have a website that is mobile optimized. If you have a website that is not mobile optimized, every local SEO you carry out will only end up unproductive, because you will be sending people to a website that they will hate and leave.

According to the Google, “Mobile Planet Smartphone Research report in 2013”:

It is very important for local businesses to appear well on Smartphones. 94% of people that use smartphones search for local information on their phones and about 84% make a purchase or get in touch with the business owners.

And that was only in 2013. In the year 2014, mobile traffic overtook desktop traffic on the Internet. It is also getting even better in the year 2015.

Check to see if your website is mobile friendly.

Execute basic local SEO

To ensure your website is seen on local searches, the first thing for you to do is ensure that your website is well optimized for search engines. Here are some things you should do:

Your company’s address, mobile number, and hours of business should be added to the footer of your site. Your website logo should be alt tagged.

When you are alt tagging, the name, city, state, address of your company as well as the business type should be added.

On your homepage, ensure you add the content of about 300 words. This is particularly crucial so that people will know the types of service your business is rendering, who your target audience is, and understanding your approach.

If you have many images on your website, that is great, but ensure you add captions to your images. After headlines, the second most-often read is your captions.

Is your website Google friendly?

Why is it important to claim directory listings

If a business has been around long enough, there is a good chance that the business is already listed with its address and phone number. With that in mind, is it important to claim your business listing? 

Absolutely! Many local directories do not have any verification method to prove that someone editing a listing belongs to the business.

If you take the initiative to claim your listings on major local directories and networks, it prevents other people from modifying (or even completely removing) your listing.

Set up your Google My Business listing

For those that have been in business for a long time, you must have noticed that Google’s business listings have undergone a great many transformations. The latest is Google My Business. Right now, listing on Google is free, and if there is one listing you should have on the internet, then it should be Google.
Ensure you complete the company information in your profile. Select as many business categories as your business qualifies for. Also, upload your business images, include the business hours.

 Set up your Yahoo Local Basic Listing

Local businesses can easily submit listings on Yahoo: Local through Infoserve. This is the specific provider for UK business listings for Yahoo clients.

Not only can you have your contact details and weblink posted, but it will make it easier for consumers scouring all the top search engines to find you and your services.

local SEO benefits
Local SEO benefits.

Set up a Bing Places for business listing

Google has a greater audience than Bing. However, it is still very effective, which implies that listing your business there is worth it.

Go over to Bing Places for Business and follow the step-by-step instructions you find there. It’s free.

Set up Apple Maps Connect

Irrespective of its struggles, the Apple Maps app is still being used by most people. The app is being improved by Apple by allowing owners of businesses to add their listings. This is a free listing. You will be required to sign up with an Apple ID.

Build customer reviews

Important aspects of your business are reviews. Based on a local media tracking study, about 38% of visitors are looking for reviews. You can get reviews from:

  • Facebook
    • Yelp
    • Google
    • Yahoo
    • Bing
    • Switchboard
    • Foursquare
 

There are different approaches to acquiring reviews. It is arguably one of the most talked-about topics of local SEO.

Two important things you should know when it comes to reviews are:

 
  • Do not pay for reviews
    • Do not let someone buy reviews for you

Acquiring reviews will assist you with Google ranking. When you have about 25 positive reviews or more from Google users, your SEO rankings on Google will be increased. However, Yelp discourages businesses from asking customers for reviews.

Local business SEO … add local directory listings

One of the best listings you will get is a listing from your local Chamber of Commerce, if you can pay for it. Local directories that are right for your business can change depending on your business location, and the type of business you are into.

Just like with every of your other business listings, ensure that your business information is 100% consistent. For instance, if you have been spelling “Avenue” on all other business listings, do not change over to spelling as “Ave.” for these listings.

 

Know about local SEO … build a social following

You can get different books on this course of action. While you are building your social followers, you could employ a full-time person to carry this through, but usually, there is no need for you to go that far. Just do your best.

You don’t need for you to update your Facebook page every day – carrying out an update once a week is good enough.

If there is time, then you can tweet every day. Making use of a tool like Buffer or Hootsuite will save you time, both of which offer free services, as well as a paid option.

Keyword research for local search

Before you can optimize your website, social media profiles, or anchor text for link building, you have to know what keywords you want to use.

When it comes to local search marketing, you are not only targeting industry-specific terms but geo-specific terms as well.

Let’s look at an example of a local plumbing business that might have several locations in Washington. When planning their optimization strategy, the first thing they might do is take a look at some geo-specific keywords + plumbing to see how many times they are searched, using Google AdWords Keyword Tool.

While the numbers may not be exact, you can rest assured that, given the above data, “Seattle plumbing” is searched more than “Tacoma plumbing,” but “Tacoma plumbing” is searched more than “Everett” and “Edmonds plumbing” combined.

When you start with terms like that, you will also get additional suggestions plus the approximate number of times those phrases are searched monthly.

Want to try some other ways to get keyword ideas? Try typing in your keyword ideas in Google search, then scroll down to the bottom to see the related searches.

You can also look at your top competitor’s website (the one that ranks the highest for your main targeted keyword phrase) to see what keywords it ranks for, using SEMrush. A free account will show you ten keywords.

Using a combination of these tools and researching other local competitors in your industry should help you develop the right keywords to use for the local search optimization of your business.

On-site optimization for local search

Once you have your keyword set, the next thing you will want to do is optimize your website for local search. Let search engines know what locations you are targeting by including geo-specific information, keywords, and phrases in the specific places on your website.

Title and meta descriptions

When it comes to search results, people are going to see your website’s SEO title tag and meta description, or another related snippet from your website, first.

Note that when searching for air conditioning repair Seattle, people will see those keywords bolded in both the title and snippet about the website. Make these two areas count for local search by doing the following:

  • Locally optimized title tags  – The SEO title tag is still one of the most important elements for on-site optimization even if Google sometimes chooses alternate titles for search results. Regardless, you should still assume that Google might choose your specified title tag to link to your website in search results. Hence, you will want to make sure it not only includes your primary keywords but your location as well within 70 characters.
 
  • Locally optimized meta descriptions  – Again, Google might choose a snippet of text from your website instead, but it never hurts to have an optimized meta description. Make sure it includes your primary keywords, areas your business serves and phone number, if possible, within 165 characters.
 

Local address & phone number

Another good signal to search engines is a local street address and phone number on all pages. Most businesses will place this information on their website’s footer.

Be sure that it is actually in the text and not in an image. This is good for search engine bots, and people on their mobile phones as your phone number will be clickable!

Location-specific pages

build customer reviews
Build customer reviews.

Have more than one location but only one website? That’s not a problem. Just create a page on your website specific to each physical location.

This way, anyone searching for your business in a particular region, city, state, or country should be directed to the appropriate page.

Embed a map

If you enter an address on Google Maps, you can get an HTML embed code to add the map to your website. Just click on the link icon to get the code.

You can also click on the “customize” link to choose sizing and other features for your map before embedding it on your website.

This is a great way to help visitors to your website find your location easily, and, who knows, it might tell a Google search bot more about your location.

Local search directories

Once you have optimized your site for local search, you should begin some off-site optimization. The first places to look at are applicable local search directories.

The following are some of the top additional local search directories.

 

Yelp

Yelp is one of the most well-known local search directories. You can add or claim your business listing for free and add photos and lots of additional details beyond just your contact information. Business owners can respond to reviews on their page, which is a plus for demonstrating customer service skills.

Yelp also offers pay-per-click advertising within their network so that you can get your business listing in front of more people.

Merchant Circle

Merchant Circle is another popular local directory that allows businesses to add or claim free listings with extended descriptions, profile pictures, and links to their websites. It also offers free basic statistics about your listing such as what keywords drive traffic to your listing.

It also shows you the number of visitors your listing has received in the last thirty days compared to an average business and the top business in your category on Merchant Circle.

You can click on the “who is this?” link to find out who the leader in your category is to learn more about your competitor’s local marketing strategy.

Superpages

Superpages allows businesses to add or claim free listings that include an extended description of their business, multiple categories, a listing of products and services, one related business image and a link to their website. You can add or claim your business listing here.

Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages allows businesses to add or claim free listings that include an extended description of their business, multiple categories, and a link. You can also add additional photos to the business listing.

Additional local directories

Looking for more? You can use tools like  Whitespark Local Citation Finder, which will help you find the best local directories for your business.

You can also search for the names of your main competitors to see what sites they are listed on and make sure you get listed there as well.

Link building

Once you’ve built your local business listings up, the next thing you should start doing is building links to your website.

Keep in mind that you don’t want to overdo things as Google is hard at work on an over-optimization penalty as we speak. That said, there are many great ways to acquire links.

Local marketing on Facebook

With 845 million monthly active users, you’re bound to find some of your target audience on Facebook. Here are some ways to make sure your business gets found by Facebook users in your area.

Optimizing Facebook page for local

The best way to optimize your Facebook page for a local audience is to make sure it is set up as a Local Business. If you haven’t created your Facebook page, make sure to create your page as a Local Business.

If you have already created it, you may be able to change the category, depending on your number of fans. To check to see what category your page is listed as going to Admin Panel > Manage > Edit Page and then Basic Information. Here, you will see a category and sub-category for your business.

Once your Facebook page is set up as a local business, be sure to enter all of your local details including your street address, local phone number, and business hours.

If you don’t want to list your exact street address, you can just enter the city, state, and zip code to give users an approximation of your location.

Looking at local analytics

To make sure that your local marketing strategies are getting local results, check out the following analytics.

Google Analytics

When reviewing traffic to your website, look at your Google Analytics’ Audience Demographics data.

Here, you will be able to see if local visitors stay on your site longer than other visitors by analyzing time on site, bounce rate, and pages per visit.

If you have set up goals on your website, such as a person making a purchase or signing up for your mailing list, you can see if people in particular regions are completing these goals more often than others.

Through analyzing the data, you might find additional regions that you will want to target your local marketing efforts towards.

The bottom line

If you follow the steps we have discussed here, you should start seeing an increase in traffic to your business. The thing to keep in mind when doing a local search and social optimization is that it takes the time to see the results.

Don’t expect miracles in the first 30 or even 60 days. It will take months, if not a year before it kicks in.

What other local searches and social optimization tactics do you use?

  
 

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of collaborative innovation. And put it to good use in adapting to changes in your business environment.

 

It’s up to you to keep improving your learning and experience with innovation and creativity efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.

 

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.

 

When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.

 Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

   

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. 

 

Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?

 

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

 

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.

 

Check out these additional articles on local business and its performance from our library:

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Secrets of Local Business SEO All Small Businesses Ought to Employ