Every business wants to capitalize the power of search engines to increase their sales and visibility and so do you, right?
But you would agree that the kind of customers you want may not be the same for a business belonging to a different industry than your business. Therefore, your SEO strategy should be aligned to your specific business needs. Yet, a lot of local businesses fail to understand this.
So, if you own a local business and you are wondering how to increase your local customer foothold, then continue reading this article as we share some interesting tips which can boost your local search ranking dramatically.
Use Long Tail Keywords
Keyword research is the best way to discover what your customers are looking for. But don’t go for a short and generic keyword, rather focus on “long tail phrases.”
For example, if you have a Chinese restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina, then “Raleigh North Carolina Chinese restaurants” or “Raleigh Chinese restaurants” could be important keyword phrases for you, and not simply “restaurants.” You can use Google AdWords or keywordtool.io to find relevant long keywords.
In a nutshell, your main focus should be on understanding the exact language that your customers use when they look for a business like yours.
Register on Google My Business
Google My Business helps you connect with your local customers by displaying all the relevant information about your business, whether they are looking for you on Google Maps, Search or Google My Business.
So, this is a great way to boost your visibility and show your credibility to your potential customers. Go to Google My Business, register your business, follow the steps and you will be all set.
Encourage Genuine Reviews
Whether you are on Yelp, Facebook or Google+, always ask your customers to leave a genuine review of your business. Provide them with multiple options for platforms to choose from to get better results.
But, do not try to get fake reviews or incentivize customers to leave positive feedback, as it may cause problems for you later on and hurt your search engine results if it is discovered what you did.
Create a Google Business Page
Today, social media holds a lion’s share in the search ranking algorithm and it is important to create your social media business pages, most specifically your Google+ page. You should include your business address, your name and the URL of your website.
Verify your business and try to fill in all the information a Google+ page needs so that your potential customers can get all the details they need to know about you.
Go Mobile
With the recent Google’s Mobile Armageddon update, it has become mandatory for every business to make their website mobile friendly to rank higher. You must focus on making your website mobile responsive to give your customers a better experience. If they don’t like your website while viewing it online, it will lead to a higher bounce rate, which will lead to a negative search ranking.
So, what SEO strategy do you follow for your local business? Do you have any points to add here? Please feel free to leave your comments below and thanks for reading!