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7 Ways to Increase Your Local Search Rank

7 Ways to Increase Your Local Search Rank

By Forward Web 06 March, 2016

 

With infinite online marketing options available today to improve website leads, traffic and sales,  it is no surprise that many small business owners are feeling confused.

 

Online marketing has certainly become more complex. In fact, local search engine optimization will constantly produce results and nowadays, with more and more consumers engaging in the regular use of smartphones, it has become immensely important for local businesses to have strong local search presence.

 

Forward Web hopes you find the following 7 ways to help your business increase your local search rank helpful:

 

Confirm that Your Website is Optimized

When it comes to materializing in local search, your on-page optimization is of the utmost importance. It is essential to take the time to properly optimize all of your on-page factors before you even begin to think about link building or citation building (just having a solid on page optimization is not enough in today’s competitive market).

 

Build Your Local Listing Pages

This step is very simple and straightforward; make sure to claim your local listings on Google+, Bing Local, Yahoo Local and any other popular business listing directories. Once you have completed your profile, you will have to verify that you are indeed the business listing owner. Each site has a different verification method, some may just verify your email while others may send you a pin code through USPS mail then you will have to manually enter the code in order to complete the verification.

In addition to the big sites, there are also local listings that you can make sure to include such as YP.com, Yelp, foursquare and other industry specific business directories. Make sure you complete each profile thoroughly using accurate and consistent information across all of your local listings.

 

Maintain NAP Information Constant

When it comes to NAP (business name, address and phone number), it is important to maintain consistency as you create business listings. Pay attention to make sure that all directory listings appear exactly as it is on your website.

Maintaining consistency will improve your local SEO greatly. For instance, abbreviating the word Ave on your website but spelling it out in your listings will affect your SEO, therefore, you want to keep a close eye to make sure everything stays the same across the board. It might be a good idea to audit your business listings to catch and correct any discrepancies.

 

Make Certain That Your Website is Mobile and Table Friendly

What do you think will happen when someone visits your website on their table or mobile device and encounter difficulties as they try to navigate through an unresponsive website? Most likely they will leave and find a site that is optimized for their device.

Local searches on mobile and table devices are becoming more and more common nowadays, consequently, it is vital for your website to offer a pleasant and smooth experience on any device. Investing in a mobile/tablet friendly site is well worth it and will go a long way.

 

Start Blogging

A great way to increase your local search visibility is by creating a blog on your website and updating it regularly. Your blog should consist of content that targets local keywords and search terms that are related to your business. Blogging not only provides great SEO benefits but also gives visitors to your website new information to read each time. The goal is to ultimately convert a visitor into a sale (or at least a lead) and the longer they stay on your website, the higher your probabilities for that outcome will be. Also, to further expand your reach, you can share your blogs on your social media accounts.

 

Reviews

So many people depend on reviews for just about everything nowadays (I think we are all guilty of this), and for good reasons. Positive online reviews build trust and credibility, which is what we are all actively looking for. With that in mind, we encourage you to encourage your customers to leave reviews. You want to make sure that you are gathering local business reviews immediately and not force or offer incentives to do so. Perhaps you could present them with a list of review websites and let them know that you would love to hear their feedback.

You will find yourself pleasantly surprised that most customers will be happy to provide their feedback when simply asked.

 

Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms

Social media is an essential part of your local search marketing efforts therefore, you want to choose the right platforms for your business. Trying to be active on every social media platform is highly counter productive so, identifying the outlets that your target audience is active on always the priority. Once you determined the appropriate social media platform your business will be active on, create a publication schedule (remember, your objective is to engage with your audience constantly).

 

ForwardWeb.net wants your business to thrive and we hope that you find these tips to increase your local search rank useful and informative. In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding local search ranking or anything else related to web development and web marketing, contact ForwardWeb.net!

 

 

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FORWARD WEB CORE

Meet our core team members.

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Fernando D. Alfaro

FOUNDER / LEAD DEV

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Fernando D. Alfaro

FOUNDER / LEAD DEV

Husband, Brother, Son, Friend, father to our son Amadeus and various fur-babies, oh and business owner/entrepreneur.

What I love most about what we do here at Forward Web is the problem solving component. The internet is always changing and everything can always be improved (which keeps things exciting for me). My goal here at Forward Web is to create the most efficient web platforms possible, empowering the end user to either spend less time on the internet or to solve some form of inefficiencies that exist within the business through the web (think automation, but not necessarily limited to automation).

I have a deep fascination with A.I (Artificial Intelligence) and decentralized platforms. However outside of the internet I enjoy listening to music, working on various side projects and boxing (yes, boxing).

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Julia Alfaro

Creative / Accounts

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Julia Alfaro

Creative / Accounts

Helping people has always been a passion of mine. People are interesting to me. In fact, I believe that everyone is like a book because we all have a story to tell. I gain great satisfaction in knowing that I am able to make someone’s day, life or business a little better, even if it’s just by sharing a smile or a little positivity.

I strive to be a professional woman, I take pride in that. I am very hardworking, kind, intelligent and ambitious. I am a dreamer; I have very high hopes, dreams and goals. I am talented, creative and funny, with a great imagination! I am not perfect, I accept that, but I do tend to be a perfectionist (that can sometimes be a good thing or a bad thing). But in reality, I am a work in progress and I am learning to live life one day at a time.

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Branden Tobin

Customer Relations

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Branden Tobin

Customer Relations

Branden spent 7 years in the gaming industry as a quality assurance specialist and product design consultant. After becoming a
customer at Forward Web in 2013 and experiencing the great services and company values first hand. When the opportunity came up to help improve client experiences at Forward Web, Branden did not hesitate to get involved. “My goal is to help people, and in terms of the web, Forward web is the best place for me to do that”.

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Ankur Kavathiya

Project Manager

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Ankur Kavathiya

Project Manager

With a vast knowledge in IOS/Android app development, as well as various web applications. My experience allows me to ensure projects at Forward Web are on-time, as well as meeting various Quality Assurance checks.

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Ramani Chintan

Back-End Dev

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Ramani Chintan

Back-End Dev

I have over 6 years experience in web development. With Forward Web I primarily work on back-end development which includes the customization of various CMS or Shopping Cart platforms like Magento where I am able to use my experience and knowledge in PHP, JQuery and other relevant languages.

When im not working on projects with Forward Web, I enjoy spending time with my lovely wife Nidhi, married on 3/13/2019

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Nevin Davis

Systems

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Nevin Davis

Systems

I have a degree  in Computer Science and Engineering. I’m a redhat certified engineer with 8 years of experience as a server administrator. I’ve been working with Forward Web for close to 4 years now and I am primarily responsible for the securing and optimization of our network as well as general management of our dedicated servers.

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Franny Kenney

Media Specialist

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Franny Kenney

Media Specialist

California’s Central Valley based photographer; Frances (Franny) Kenney completed her Associate degree in Photography at Modesto Junior College in 2017. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in photography at California State University Sacramento and is on track to graduate in May of 2021. Franny is a licensed commercial drone operator. She is highly motivated and has a strong work ethic. Over the past three years Franny has been working and volunteering as a lab technician at the photo lab on the Modesto Junior College campus.

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Brandon Miltsch

Advisor

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Brandon Miltsch

Advisor

During my 15+ year marketing and sales career, I have gained unique expertise and achieved significant accomplishments for leadership brands in the technology and communications industries.

With a solid Oracle track record with both the Social and Marketing Cloud – along with over 15 years of digital agency experience and a successful sales record at NTT/Verio – BrandON brings a strong mix of expertise and business development skills to the Oracle team. BrandON has also been thrilled to speak at several engagements monthly internally and externally, further illustrating his passion and desire for Oracle executives to optimize and promote their “personal brands”, teaching Social Media and Networking skills. Outside of work, Brandon enjoys spending time with his wife Christina and their 5-year old son, Riley. He is also excited to announce the release his new book, Networking on üBER Steroids.

Contact FORWARD WEB

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