7 Ways to Increase Your Local Search Rank
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!
