How To Target Local Businesses With Local SEO?

If you have a local business that operates in a given city or community and you do not need to attract clients from all over the globe, instead of focusing on your local clientele, local SEO is the way to go.

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO is a targeted online marketing tool aimed at improving your online activities to an extent where you get the most exposure and visibility to your local clientele. It uses techniques that are different from a globally-oriented business SEO.

Almost half of all searches on Google are local. Every day more than half of people search for a local business and 50% of consumers who did a local search visited the store within a day!

If your local SEO is poor, you will not come up in these searches. Let us look at your top priorities for a local SEO strategy.

Local SEO Strategies

Increasing Domain Authority

Your website’s domain name needs to have a high domain authority, which means high search engine scores and higher traffic.

To do that, let’s start by creating a dedicated Contact page. Your Contact page must have:

• name of your business
• address
• phone number
• email (If you have several addresses, include them all)

Your phone numbers should be clickable if a website is viewed from a mobile device.

Adding Google Map To Your Page

With many users searching for a location of your business and driving instructions, add a map to your website. 86% of people use Google Maps to look up the location of the business.

Building Positive Reviews

For an added local SEO boost and credibility, add testimonials to your website. They should come from Google reviews and from the Yelp page. Also, consider providing instructions on your website to your clients on how they can leave you a review.

Localized Blogging

Next, create local content. The time of static websites is long gone. To make a website dynamic, add new content all the time.

The best way to do that is through blogging. For best performance, your blog should be on your website, and not on another domain.

As you get links to your blogs, you’ll attract more clients to your website and add value to your business. In your posts, include local cities and local neighbourhood names, including unofficial ones.

If there is a major local event, mention that too. Consider sponsoring local organizations or collaborate with local businesses and put them in your posts.

Talk to local officials and/or celebrities and mention their names too. The idea is simple – use words known locally.

As hard as it may sound, stop talking about yourself and your products in your blogs. People don’t care about you. Instead, give them added value. Give them an advantage, something useful that they won’t find elsewhere.

It doesn’t even have to be encyclopedic facts. Give them entertainment. People love entertainment and will come for more. You’ll get what you want – traffic, i.e. new clients.

Being local doesn’t mean staying on your website. Go out and “meet the people.” Have your business listed in as many local business directories as possible.

Here is a list of directories for local businesses:

• Google Business Profile
• Yahoo!
• Bing Places For Business
• Facebook For Business
• Foursquare
• Yelp
• MapQuest
• Superpages
• Citysearch
• Local.com
• MerchantCircle
• EZlocal
• LocalDatabase
• ShowMeLocal
• Topix
• CitySquares
• LocalPages
• LocalStack
• YellowMoxie
• GetFave
• Tupalo
• Avantar
• Property Capsule
• Navmii
• Where To?
• ChamberofCommerce.com
• USCity.net
• YellowPageCity.com
• AmericanTowns.com
• 8coupons
• eLocal
• GoLocal247
• YaSabe
• YellowPagesGoesGreen
• Pointcom
• ABLocal
• Opendi
• VotefortheBest
• 2findlocal
• My Local Services
• Credibility Review
• Insider Pages
• Yalwa
• Brownbook.net
• Bizwiki.com
• AroundMe
• HotFrog
• Find Open
• Public Reputation

Google Business Profile

To become visible in Google searches, complete your profile on Google Business Profile. Be sure to complete your profile in full and start collecting real reviews from customers.

In your Google Business Profile provide: a unique description of your business; upload high-resolution photographs for your profile image; add your open/close times; business address; phone; business website; and contact information.

Structured Data Markup

There is work to be done in the backend of your website. You will need to add a Schema markup for local businesses to your website.

The use of Schema markup will tell Google you’re a local business which will boost your local rankings.

To simplify the process, use the free Hall Analysis tool to generate the code, and then paste this code in the section of your HTML file. Done? Test it with Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool.

Social Media

Remember, social media is extremely powerful. Make sure you maintain your social media accounts by adding new content and engaging your customers. Work with your clients, encourage positive feedback and work with the negative ones.

To let people know your business has social media accounts, add social media links on your company’s website profile and other social media. The information in social media should be consistent and never contradictory.

These profiles will make you visible to your clients and will tell Google more about your business, thus promoting your position on SERP (Search Engine Result Pages).

As you build your website design and run your social media accounts, start getting inbound links to them. Do it by participating in local online forums and business blogs and by leaving comments.

Don’t worry too much about links from high-authority websites. Instead, you should focus on getting links from local websites that are relevant to your business. Work with local businesses and discuss with them the opportunities for having their websites link to yours.

Link Building

You may find many link-building strategies online. For example, you may offer internships and get links from your students’ pages.

You could also sponsor a local event and get links from them. You may give a discount to local businesses in exchange for a link to your website.

If you are a local business, local SEO is your must-have. Your clients are local, so your presence and your content must be local too.

Have your website listed in local business directories, engage your clients, and provide useful and meaningful local content.

Keep in mind. The modern client has a choice, and the modern client is smart and is often doing online research when looking for a local service or product.

Of those who have a computer, 96% do local searches. Your job is to make sure they find you when they do. Local SEO is what will deliver this result for you. There is strong competition, so invest in effort to make your local SEO the best.

High-quality products or services, good website and social media profiles, professional local SEO and excellent customer service will enable you to add value to your local community and succeed in your business endeavours!

We Can Help With Local SEO

All The Way Up Media is an SEO agency that specializes in local SEO.

Why to hire an SEO company.

If you would like to rank your company on the map and on Google search for local clients get in touch with our internet marketing company today.