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5 Local SEO Tips To Drive More Traffic To Your Small Business

The right and effective search engine optimization(SEO) strategy can help you reach your target audience through local search results on Google, Yelp, Bing, and other search engines. The general SEO strategy generally works well, but if your concentration is local, you should pay attention to local SEO tips like the ones I’ll be covering below.

Use a local SEO strategy to attract the attention of nearby residents who have never heard of your business.

 Here, I’ll go over my top local SEO tips, which will ensure that you’ll appear in the search results when someone in the area searches for a company like yours.

If you operate a small local business with a physical store or all your customers are based in one specific location, you might not understand or consider this part of digital marketing crucial for you and your business.

However, implementing specific SEO tools and techniques may boost your site’s traffic.

1- Claim And Optimize Your Google My Business Listings

If you have a Google My Business account, that’s great; if you don’t have one, it’s time to get one.

 You certainly deal with these listings all the time because they normally appear on the right side of the Google search results and provide you with all the necessary details about a specific company you might be interested in doing business with.

It’s essential that you register your business so that you can update details like your address, business hours, and website URL.

Updating your business profile is not only a useful tool to help local customers locate your company, but you also need to address and respond to your customer feedback (reviews) here. This can be quite effective because people often look for trustworthy reviews before deciding whether to visit a local business they have never used before.

Follow these easy steps to claim your GMB listing:​

  • Log in and create a Google Business Account: This step involves creating a Gmail account for business use (not for personal use) and logging in.
  • Check if your company already has a Google My Business listing. The simplest and easiest method to verify is by searching your company name on Google Maps, and if it appears with the auto-filled address, your company has a profile.
  • Hit “Own this business” or “Claim this business on your Google My Business profile. To take control of your GMB listing, log in using your Google Business account and then follow the instructions.

Once you have access to your GMB account, make sure that all of the details are correct, and take care of any unresolved customer service issues by responding to reviews. 

Additionally, Google recently announced new services that let you modify your company information if it has changed as a result of COVID-19. For instance, you can now specify different business hours and highlight the security measures you’re taking.

2- Place location pages on your site.

In case your business has multiple business locations, it will be great to mention them and create a location page for each on your website. But keep in mind that since we’re concentrating on local SEO tips here, these should contain more information than just an address and a phone number.

Additional details you should add:

  • A map embedded
  • If necessary, where can I find parking?
  • Photos of your shop’s inside and outside
  • Photos of your shop’s inside and outside
  • Optimized headings and descriptions
  • Local news or other important and relevant information
  • Strong calls to action that inform your clients of their next steps.

Your location pages should be more than just an exact duplicate of one another with minor changes. Add details that more precisely reflect the unique characteristics of each place, such as particular descriptions, explanations of how one product or service differs from another, and other information.

3- Make sure your NAP remains constant.

Name, address, and phone number are referred to as NAP. It is essential to mention the same across all your online platforms.

Consider the following steps in order to perfect your NAP etiquette:

  1. You should always use the legal name provided for tax purposes when listing your company name.
  2. Include all of the words used in the address, even those that are commonly abbreviated, such as “street” or “road,” in full. Provide an exact and full address.
  3. Use dashes for adequate space when adding your phone number.

 It is much simpler for search engines and customers to trust that they have the correct information for your business when you consistently use the same NAP information. 

Look for connections. For mentions of your brand on the web, and make sure your name, address, and phone number are consistently written. If you find any instances where they aren’t, change your information or contact the website in question so they can do it for you.

4- Target local keywords

A collection of local SEO tips will not be considered complete without a keyword strategy.

Local keywords go hand-in-hand with local content. These are essentially the search terms that people use to find the businesses they need on Google or other search engines.

 To rank on the first page of local search engine results, you should conduct in-depth keyword research and choose search terms that are relevant to your company. Then move further to create high-quality and informative content that enhances the resources presently provided.

 If your website contains a tonne of high-quality content but doesn’t rank as highly as you’d like it to, think about re-optimizing your current pages. Updating articles frequently receives a small SEO boom, and informative content is simple to modify to perform well at a more competitive level.

5- Build Links on Local Sites

The collection of local SEO tips wouldn’t be considered complete without link-building strategies.

Link building is a constant SEO element. Google will have more confidence in your website and send you more visitors if there are more websites linking to it.

Additionally, clients and search engines will find it simpler to determine where you are based if you can develop a number of links on the websites of companies based in your area.

There are numerous techniques to increase the number of links pointing to your website. To give people a good reason to write about and connect with your business, you may create guest articles for the blogs of nearby businesses, submit your company to local directories, or team up with another business owner on a project.

Make sure to concentrate on local link-building strategies because getting attention on local websites may call for a more concentrated strategy.

Let’s Wrap Up

SEO is both an art and a science. This call is for businesses that operate locally from a physical location. Finding a happy balance between ranking for important search words by using local SEO tips and engaging with the local community is necessary.

If you manage a small local business and this is your first exposure to local SEO, It’s alright. Start by consulting with TechMozo, where you will gain more knowledge about it.

You can take charge of your online presence by claiming your Google My Business listing, maintaining a consistent NAP, and making sure you publish high-quality, impactful content for local businesses and consumers.