You need to give your local business the edge it deserves. Apart from lab-based promotions and advertizing, there is another more efficient way to do so. Local SEO is the most important tool for any local business owner. It is not only highly targeted; it is also cheaper than most conventional advertizing methods.
Local competition is quite cutthroat, and no one knows it better than you! To stay ahead of your competitors, you need to reach out to your target audience in a new way.
We have archived the five most effective strategies of local SEO marketing that will help your business garner more traffic steadily.
Pay attention to your title tags and meta descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are HTML elements that will make a world of difference to your website content, blogs, and promotional pieces. You can customize these elements to reflect your business value propositions too. It is easier to understand their role in marketing, by viewing them as “mini-ads." You need to design them so they can convey the messages to your target groups.
Back in 2016, Google actively increased their main search results area to about 600px. This gives you the chance to offer a more descriptive title of 50 to 60 characters. You can add more descriptive elements in the meta tag region. Stay within 200 characters for best effects. Double check to make sure that your title tags and meta tags are complete.
If you are new at this, do not forget to seek help from a reliable Digital Marketing Consultant. Emulators like SEOmofo and Yoast SEO plugin are great when it comes to optimizing WordPress websites. Yoast also has a great blog and forum section that will help you understand the true essence of local SEO.
Here are a few basics of an effective title tag and meta tag –
- Include the name of the town, city or district your business serves
- Include the targeted keyword carefully in both the HTML elements
Your CTR will depend on the presence of these elements in both the tags.
Claim your business
This is the first step towards success for all business owners. Google My Business is an active directory, and you need to claim your business on GMB. It is free, and you need no more than 5 minutes to optimize your profile.
GMB has a physical verification process. Google will send a postcard to the business’s physical location with a PIN. You need to use that PIN to verify your GMB account.
Add a solid description of your business, value props and include your business-oriented target keywords. Include categories, hours and types of payments you accept.
Once your GMB profile is complete, add your local business profile to Bing Places for Business as well. It is quite similar to Google, so it should take you only a couple of minutes to finish.
Pay importance to online directories and citations
Directories are like word-of-mouth references for online customers. 80% of your clients search businesses and products online through search engines. Once you make sure that your clients prefer Google to Bing and Yahoo!, you can optimize your website for Google.
Start your local SEO venture by submitting links to online link directories. List your business on reputable businesses directories including Yelp and CitySearch. If you have more directories that offer an exclusive platform for niche businesses, make full use of the opportunity.
Sort your business Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) and submit it to citation aggregators including Neustar, Infogroup, and Acxiom. Avoid all kinds of spelling errors, old and irrelevant information. If you submit your NAP to four different places, make sure each set has the same information.
Collect online reviews
84% of your potential customers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. You need to make sure; you have enough trustworthy and genuine reviews on your website, business directories, and social media sites.
To track your business mention, you can use social media listening tools like Tiny Torch and HootSuite. This will notify you every time someone mentions your business on any social-networking platform. You should try Reputation Loop, Trust Pilot and Get Five Stars as well. These are three very excellent reputation management tools. These will enable you to monitor your reviews almost in real time and help you respond to them.
Google My Business page and Facebook Page should be your prime focus. Both these places have a direct effect on business reputation. A well-maintained business profile on Facebook can garner thousands of views each month and boost sales. Do not forget to link your website to your social media profiles. LinkedIn and Instagram are two other important platforms that increase visibility and business.
Make use of local structured data markup
Structured data markup or schema markup is significant for website optimization. You can add the schema.org markup to your site code. This provides more businesses and site-related information to search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo!
At present, only about 32% of all business websites use this markup. This will give your business a competitive edge over the 68% of the remaining ones that are missing out. Google loves structured data markup, simply because it helps the bots to crawl and map your site.
---
You can check proper structuring of your schema by using Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool. If you do not like coding, use Google’s Data Highlighter tool to mark content manually. All you need is a working mouse! If you have no idea about coding, leave the details to the experts. Key solutions online can help you optimize your schema markup for any search engine spiders.
Local businesses have the distinct advantage of a dedicated crowd. You should capitalize your location and combine it with your products and services. This will generate your targeted, long-tailed keywords. Optimizing your business for search engines based on location is not difficult. You need a little guidance and a little patience.
Related Posts
SEO Tactics that will See Your SME Dominate Search Engines In 2017
A Quick Guide to the Best SEO Practices Today
6 Future Trends of SEO For 20172
What Small Business Owners Should Know About Online Marketing
A Complete Checklist For Online and Media Marketing Today
SEO Best Practices for a WordPress Blog Post [Free Ebook]