Do you own a small business? Does any part of your profit margin depend on local sales? If the answer to either of those was “yes,” then you need to consider optimizing your website for local search results. Local SEO content uses localized keywords, landmarks, and location specific language to make your business more visible to people living in a close physical proximity. This creates a local link that results in more on-site sales, and that’s always a good thing, right?
Optimizing for Local SEO Ranking: The Basics
Knowing how to update your website and your web presence is the key to becoming locally accessible. With standard SEO, we can get so concerned with the global web, that we forget to focus on our local presence. This often tends to create a blind spot that results in lost revenue. There are some very simple things you can do to improve your local visibility, including:
- Connect your address to Google’s local search engines. This is the best way to make sure that you rank on local searches and remain visible to anyone looking for similar businesses. Make sure that your address is updated in every local search and review site.
- Local support can increase your ranking on local search engines. Work with other businesses in the area, bloggers, and local news sites to increase the number of times that your business is mentioned in area-specific searches. This doesn’t necessarily need to translate into backlinks; just the use of your business name in the local area can improve your visibility.
- Include details about your business. This can mean the purpose of your products, the atmosphere, and the hours of operation. It’s also important to take popular searches into consideration. This can include everything from free Wi-fi to the goods and services that you focus on. The more information present in online searches, the easier it will be for consumers to locate your business.
- Define your transactional terms. Identify the keywords that are essential to your business page, and then find ways to make them location specific. This helps you to rank higher on local and international searches. This is great news for brick and mortar shops that ship items globally.
- Figure out where you need to focus your efforts. Before moving forward with any SEO plans, you need to decide what you hope to accomplish. The purpose of your page will have a lot to do with your language and SEO techniques. Decide whether your primary goal is to draw attention to your business internationally or locally.
Making sure your digital content is optimized for local SEO takes a working knowledge of area specific features and the different search methods used by local consumers. It can be difficult to create a balanced approach to SEO that generates interest at every level. Ask the experts at MintCopy to help you come up with a localized SEO strategy that generates real, measure results.
Use our online form to get in touch today. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter to stay updated on the latest content marketing trends, including how to rank for local search.