Enhancing the local search engine optimization of your business is crucial, as it allows you to focus on a more specific, targeted audience rather than competing on a global scale. Achieving a top ranking for a highly sought-after keyword on a global level can be a daunting task, especially if your competitors have been actively optimizing for it for an extended period. By prioritizing local SEO, you can effectively reach a local audience through the use of relevant keywords, which are the terms and phrases that individuals enter into search engines when seeking specific products or services.
Below you will find 20 tips & tricks to increasing your ranking on local SEO searches.
Bold text is explained verbose below with multiple use cases!
- Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing. This will help you show up in local search results and on Google Maps.
- Use local keywords in your website’s content, title tags, and meta descriptions. This will help search engines understand that your business is relevant to people searching for local products or services.
- Get listed in online directories, such as Yelp and Yellow Pages. These directories are often used by consumers to find local businesses, so it’s important to have a presence on them.
- Encourage customer reviews and ratings. Positive reviews can improve your local SEO ranking and help you stand out from the competition.
- Use social media to engage with customers and promote your business. This can help build brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.
- Use long-tail keywords, which are more specific and targeted than short, general keywords. For example, “best Italian restaurant in downtown Los Angeles” is more specific than just “Italian restaurant.”
- Optimize your website for mobile devices. Many people use their phones to search for local businesses, so it’s important that your website is mobile-friendly.
- Use alt tags to describe the images on your website. This can help search engines understand the content of your images and improve your local SEO ranking.
- Use local structured data, such as schema.org, to mark up your website’s content. This can help search engines understand the context of your website and improve your local SEO ranking.
- Use internal linking to help search engines understand the hierarchy of your website’s content.
- Use external linking to establish the authority and credibility of your website.
- Use social sharing buttons to make it easy for visitors to share your content on social media platforms.
- Use targeted landing pages to optimize for specific local keywords and locations.
- Use Google Analytics to track your website’s performance and identify areas for improvement.
- Use Google Search Console to monitor your website’s search performance and identify any issues.
- Use a sitemap to help search engines crawl and index your website’s pages.
- Use keyword-rich URLs for your website’s pages.
- Use headings and subheadings to structure your content and make it easier for readers to scan and find what they’re looking for.
- Use fast-loading, high-quality images to improve the user experience on your website.
- Use a clean and easy-to-navigate website design to improve the user experience and make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website’s pages.
Breaking down 1 through 9 below.
#1 Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing.
This will help you show up in local search results and on Google Maps.
Claiming and optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) listing is an essential step in improving your local search engine optimization (SEO).
Not only does it allow you to appear in local search results, but it also helps you show up on Google Maps, making it easier for potential customers to find and visit your business. In this article, we’ll explore three real-life examples of how claiming and optimizing a GMB listing can benefit your business.
Use Case 1:
Jane owns a small bakery in a busy neighborhood. She wanted to make it easier for customers to find her business, so she claimed her GMB listing and optimized it with accurate and up-to-date information, including her business name, address, phone number, and hours of operation. She also added photos of her bakery and menu items to give customers a better idea of what to expect. As a result, her bakery started showing up in local search results and on Google Maps, making it easier for customers to find her business and visit in person.
Use Case 2:
John runs a home cleaning service and wanted to expand his business to a new neighborhood. He claimed his GMB listing and optimized it with information about his services, pricing, and contact details. He also added photos of his team in action and customer reviews to build credibility. As a result, his business started showing up in local search results for keywords related to home cleaning in the new neighborhood, which helped him attract new customers and grow his business.
Use Case 3:
Sara owns a small boutique and wanted to attract more foot traffic to her store. She claimed her GMB listing and optimized it with information about her store’s location, hours of operation, and special promotions. She also added photos of her store and products to give customers a better idea of what to expect. As a result, her store started showing up in local search results and on Google Maps, which made it easier for customers to find her store and visit in person.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, claiming and optimizing your GMB listing is an effective way to improve your local SEO and make it easier for customers to find and visit your business. By adding accurate and up-to-date information and engaging photos, you can attract more local customers and grow your business. In the examples above, we saw how a bakery, home cleaning service, and boutique were able to use their GMB listings to improve their local SEO and attract more customers. Regardless of your business type, claiming and optimizing your GMB listing is an important step in increasing your online visibility and driving local foot traffic.
GMB is rather easy to operate however if it seems difficult, and it’s not setup, hire someone to help you immediately. Get an SEO Expert to give you 1 on 1 walkthroughs, as you don’t want someone else managing your core accounts, especially your GMB account!
#2 Use local keywords in your website’s content, title tags, and meta descriptions.
This will help search engines understand that your business is relevant to people searching for local products or services.
Incorporating local keywords into your website’s content, title tags, and meta descriptions is an important aspect of local search engine optimization (SEO). By using relevant keywords, you can help search engines understand that your business is relevant to people searching for local products or services. This can increase the chances of your website ranking highly in local search results, which can drive more traffic to your website and potentially lead to more customers for your business. In this article, we’ll explore three real-life examples of how using local keywords can benefit your business.
Use Case 1:
Mark owns a small hardware store in a busy neighborhood. He wanted to increase his website’s visibility in local search results, so he started incorporating local keywords into his website’s content, title tags, and meta descriptions. For example, he used phrases like “hardware store in downtown Los Angeles” and “local home improvement products” in his website’s content, as well as in his title tags and meta descriptions. As a result, his website started ranking higher in local search results for keywords related to his business, which led to an increase in traffic and sales.
Use Case 2:
Sarah runs a small flower shop in a tourist area. She wanted to attract more local customers, so she started incorporating local keywords into her website’s content, title tags, and meta descriptions. For example, she used phrases like “flower shop near the beach” and “local flower delivery” in her website’s content, as well as in her title tags and meta descriptions. As a result, her website started ranking higher in local search results for keywords related to her business, which led to an increase in traffic and sales from local customers.
Use Case 3:
Tom owns a small pizzeria in a suburban neighborhood. He wanted to attract more local customers, so he started incorporating local keywords into his website’s content, title tags, and meta descriptions. For example, he used phrases like “pizzeria in the suburbs” and “local pizza delivery” in his website’s content, as well as in his title tags and meta descriptions. As a result, his website started ranking higher in local search results for keywords related to his business, which led to an increase in traffic and sales from local customers.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, using local keywords in your website’s content, title tags, and meta descriptions is an effective way to improve your local SEO and attract more local customers. By using relevant and targeted keywords, you can help search engines understand that your business is relevant to people searching for local products or services, which can increase the chances of your website ranking highly in local search results. The examples above demonstrate how a hardware store, flower shop, and pizzeria were able to use local keywords to improve their local SEO and attract more local customers. Regardless of your business type, incorporating local keywords into your website’s content and meta tags is an important step in increasing your online visibility and driving local traffic to your website.
Most website building apps (wordpress, etc) will automatically help you with this portion but if they don’t you need to figure out how to implement this in your website or it will ultimately suffer.
#3 Get listed in online directories, such as Yelp and Yellow Pages.
These directories are often used by consumers to find local businesses, so it’s important to have a presence on them.
We use an app that helps us automatically put our information into directories at yelp, yellow pages, and around 80 more. It’s an affordable monthly payment that you can do yourself or have someone else manage. Often directories are blocked and the only path is finding these automated tools and paying the price. Is it worth the cost? If you have many locations, it’s a bigger deal, as managing all these across all your offering may be extremely challenging to do without these tools. Yext is one of the popular choices, I prefer a different variation that uses Yext under the hood. Shop around.
More on listings.
Getting listed in online directories, such as Yelp and Yellow Pages, is an important aspect of local search engine optimization (SEO). These directories are frequently used by consumers to find local businesses, so having a presence on them can help increase your online visibility and drive more traffic to your website. In this article, we’ll explore three real-life examples of how getting listed in online directories can benefit your business.
Use Case 1:
Lisa owns a small restaurant in a busy neighborhood. She wanted to make it easier for customers to find her business online, so she got listed in popular online directories like Yelp and Yellow Pages. She added accurate and up-to-date information about her restaurant, including her business name, address, phone number, and hours of operation. She also added photos of her restaurant and menu items to give customers a better idea of what to expect. As a result, her restaurant started showing up in search results on these directories, which made it easier for customers to find her business and visit in person.
Use Case 2:
Mike runs a small home cleaning service and wanted to expand his business to a new neighborhood. He got listed in online directories like Yelp and Yellow Pages and added information about his services, pricing, and contact details. He also added photos of his team in action and customer reviews to build credibility. As a result, his business started showing up in search results on these directories for keywords related to home cleaning in the new neighborhood, which helped him attract new customers and grow his business.
Use Case 3:
Sue owns a small boutique and wanted to attract more foot traffic to her store. She got listed in online directories like Yelp and Yellow Pages and added information about her store’s location, hours of operation, and special promotions. She also added photos of her store and products to give customers a better idea of what to expect. As a result, her store started showing up in search results on these directories, which made it easier for customers to find her store and visit in person.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, getting listed in online directories like Yelp and Yellow Pages is an effective way to improve your local SEO and make it easier for customers to find and visit your business. By adding accurate and up-to-date information and engaging photos, you can attract more local customers and grow your business. In the examples above, we saw how a restaurant, home cleaning service, and boutique were able to use online directories to improve their local SEO and attract more customers. Regardless of your business type, getting listed in online directories is an important step in increasing your online visibility and driving local foot traffic.
#4 Encourage customer reviews and ratings.
Positive reviews can improve your local SEO ranking and help you stand out from the competition.
Encouraging customer reviews and ratings is an important aspect of local search engine optimization (SEO). Positive reviews can improve your local SEO ranking and help you stand out from the competition. Not only do they provide valuable feedback for your business, but they can also increase the credibility and trustworthiness of your business in the eyes of potential customers. In this article, we’ll explore three real-life examples of how customer reviews and ratings can benefit your business.
Use Case 1:
Emily owns a small bakery in a busy neighborhood. She wanted to improve her local SEO ranking and stand out from the competition, so she started encouraging her customers to leave reviews and ratings on popular review websites like Yelp and Google My Business. You remember your friend GMB from step1, right? I assume now this SEO stuff is starting to add up in your brain and you’re feeling happy. She also responded to all of her reviews, whether they were positive or negative, to show that she values her customers’ feedback. As a result, her bakery started ranking higher in local search results and received more positive reviews, which helped her attract more customers and grow her business.
Use Case 2:
Chris runs a small home cleaning service and wanted to attract more local customers. He started encouraging his customers to leave reviews and ratings on popular review websites like Yelp and Google My Business. He also responded to all of his reviews, thanking his customers for their business and addressing any concerns they had. As a result, his business started ranking higher in local search results and received more positive reviews, which helped him attract more local customers and grow his business.
Use Case 3:
Nancy owns a small boutique and wanted to improve her local SEO ranking and stand out from the competition. She started encouraging her customers to leave reviews and ratings on popular review websites like Yelp and Google My Business. She also responded to all of her reviews, thanking her customers for their business and offering them special discounts or promotions. As a result, her boutique started ranking higher in local search results and received more positive reviews, which helped her attract more customers and grow her business.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, encouraging customer reviews and ratings is an effective way to improve your local SEO ranking and stand out from the competition. By actively seeking and responding to customer feedback, you can build credibility and trustworthiness, which can attract more local customers and grow your business. The examples above demonstrate how a bakery, home cleaning service, and boutique were able to use customer reviews and ratings to improve their local SEO and attract more customers. Regardless of your business type, encouraging customer reviews and ratings is an important step in increasing your online visibility and driving local foot traffic.
#5 Use social media to engage with customers and promote your business.
This can help build brand awareness and drive traffic to your website.
Using social media to engage with customers and promote your business is an important aspect of local search engine optimization (SEO). By building brand awareness and driving traffic to your website through social media, you can improve your local SEO ranking and attract more local customers. In this article, we’ll explore three real-life examples of how using social media can benefit your business.
Use Case 1:
Jason owns a small restaurant in a busy neighborhood. He wanted to improve his local SEO ranking and attract more customers, so he started using social media to engage with his customers and promote his business. He created a Facebook page for his restaurant and regularly posted updates, specials, and photos to keep his followers engaged. He also used Instagram to share photos of his dishes and encourage customers to visit his restaurant in person. As a result, his restaurant’s social media following grew and his website received more traffic, which helped him attract more customers and grow his business.
Use Case 2:
Laura runs a small home cleaning service and wanted to attract more local customers. She started using social media to engage with her customers and promote her business. She created a Facebook page for her business and regularly posted updates, specials, and photos to keep her followers engaged. She also used Instagram to share photos of her team in action and encourage customers to book her services. As a result, her social media following grew and her website received more traffic, which helped her attract more local customers and grow her business.
Use Case 3:
Paul owns a small boutique and wanted to improve his local SEO ranking and attract more customers. He started using social media to engage with his customers and promote his business. He created a Facebook page for his boutique and regularly posted updates, specials, and photos to keep his followers engaged. He also used Instagram to share photos of his store and products to give customers a better idea of what to expect. As a result, his boutique’s social media following grew and his website received more traffic, which helped him attract more customers and grow his business.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, using social media to engage with customers and promote your business is an effective way to improve your local SEO ranking and attract more local customers. By building brand awareness and driving traffic to your website through social media, you can reach a wider audience and grow your business. The examples above demonstrate how a restaurant, home cleaning service, and boutique were able to use social media to improve their local SEO and attract more customers. Regardless of your business type, using social media to engage with customers and promote your business is an important step in increasing your online visibility and driving local foot traffic.
#6 Use long-tail keywords, which are more specific and targeted than short, general keywords.
For example, “best Italian restaurant in downtown Los Angeles” is more specific than just “Italian restaurant.”
Using long-tail keywords, which are more specific and targeted than short, general keywords, is an important aspect of local search engine optimization (SEO). By using long-tail keywords, you can improve your local SEO ranking and attract more qualified traffic to your website. In this article, we’ll explore three real-life examples of how using long-tail keywords can benefit your business.
Use Case 1:
Amy owns a small Italian restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. She wanted to improve her local SEO ranking and attract more qualified traffic to her website, so she started using long-tail keywords like “best Italian restaurant in downtown Los Angeles” and “authentic Italian dishes in Los Angeles.” By using these more specific and targeted keywords, her website started ranking higher in local search results for keywords related to her business, which led to an increase in traffic and sales from qualified customers.
Use Case 2:
Brian runs a small home cleaning service and wanted to attract more local customers. He started using long-tail keywords like “best home cleaning service in Los Angeles” and “affordable house cleaning in Los Angeles” to improve his local SEO ranking. By using these more specific and targeted keywords, his website started ranking higher in local search results for keywords related to his business, which led to an increase in traffic and sales from qualified local customers.
Use Case 3:
Caroline owns a small boutique and wanted to improve her local SEO ranking and attract more qualified traffic to her website. She started using long-tail keywords like “best boutique in downtown Los Angeles” and “unique fashion items in Los Angeles” to improve her local SEO ranking. By using these more specific and targeted keywords, her website started ranking higher in local search results for keywords related to her business, which led to an increase in traffic and sales from qualified customers.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, using long-tail keywords is an effective way to improve your local SEO ranking and attract more qualified traffic to your website. By using more specific and targeted keywords, you can help search engines understand that your business is relevant to people searching for specific products or services in your local area. The examples above demonstrate how an Italian restaurant, home cleaning service, and boutique were able to use long-tail keywords to improve their local SEO and attract more qualified traffic. Regardless of your business type, using long-tail keywords is an important step in increasing your online visibility and driving qualified traffic to your website.
#7 Optimize your website for mobile devices.
Many people use their phones to search for local businesses, so it’s important that your website is mobile-friendly.
As more and more people rely on their phones for accessing the internet, it becomes increasingly important for businesses to optimize their websites for mobile devices. By making sure that your website is mobile-friendly, you can increase your chances of attracting potential customers and improving your search rankings. Here are three use cases for optimizing your website for mobile devices.
Use Case 1: Local Businesses
If you own a local business, chances are that many of your potential customers will be searching for you on their phones. By optimizing your website for mobile devices, you can make it easier for these customers to find and interact with your business. This can include making sure that your website loads quickly on mobile devices, using large buttons and fonts for easier navigation, and ensuring that all of your content is easily readable on a small screen.
Use Case 2: E-Commerce Websites
For e-commerce websites, optimizing for mobile devices is even more important. With many consumers using their phones to make purchases, it’s essential that your website is easy to use and navigate on a mobile device. This can include making sure that your product pages are easy to scroll through, that your checkout process is streamlined, and that your website is secure for mobile transactions.
Use Case 3: Blogs and Content Websites
Even if you don’t own a local business or an e-commerce website, optimizing your website for mobile devices can still be beneficial. If you run a blog or content website, for example, mobile optimization can help improve your user experience and make it easier for your readers to access your content on the go. This can include optimizing your website for faster loading times, using responsive design, and ensuring that all of your content is easily readable on a mobile device.
Conclusion:
In today’s digital age, it’s more important than ever to make sure that your website is optimized for mobile devices. By considering the needs of your target audience and the type of website you have, you can make sure that your website is easy to use and navigate on a small screen. This can help improve your search rankings, attract potential customers, and enhance the overall user experience of your website.
#8 Use alt tags to describe the images on your website.
This can help search engines understand the content of your images and improve your local SEO ranking.
Alt tags, also known as alternative text, are a crucial element of website accessibility and SEO. By adding descriptive alt tags to the images on your website, you can help search engines understand the content of your images and improve your local SEO ranking. Here are three use cases for using alt tags to describe the images on your website.
Use Case 1:
Product Pages If you have an e-commerce website, adding alt tags to your product images can help search engines understand what your products are and improve your local SEO ranking. For example, if you sell shoes, adding an alt tag like “red high heels” to an image of red high heels can help search engines understand what the image is showing. This can also help users who are using screen readers or have images turned off on their devices access your content.
Use Case 2:
Blogs and Content Websites Alt tags can also be useful for blogs and content websites. By adding alt tags to your images, you can help search engines understand the content of your images and improve your local SEO ranking. For example, if you have a blog post about hiking trails in your local area, adding alt tags to your images of the trails can help search engines understand what the images are showing. This can also help users who are using screen readers or have images turned off on their devices access your content.
Use Case 3:
Local Business Websites Alt tags can also be useful for local business websites. By adding alt tags to your images, you can help search engines understand the content of your images and improve your local SEO ranking. For example, if you own a restaurant, adding alt tags to your images of your menu items can help search engines understand what the images are showing. This can also help users who are using screen readers or have images turned off on their devices access your content.
Conclusion:
Alt tags are a simple but powerful tool for improving the accessibility and SEO of your website. By adding descriptive alt tags to the images on your website, you can help search engines understand the content of your images and improve your local SEO ranking. This can help attract potential customers and enhance the overall user experience of your website.
#9 Use local structured data, such as schema.org, to mark up your website’s content.
This can help search engines understand the context of your website and improve your local SEO ranking.
Using structured data, such as schema.org, to mark up your website’s content can seem like a tedious task. However, it can greatly improve your local SEO ranking and help search engines understand the context of your website. Here are three use cases for using local structured data to mark up your website’s content.
Use Case 1:
Local Business Websites If you own a local business, using structured data can help search engines understand the context of your website and improve your local SEO ranking. For example, you can use structured data to mark up your business hours, location, and contact information. This can help search engines display this information in search results and make it easier for potential customers to find and contact your business.
Use Case 2:
E-Commerce Websites For e-commerce websites, using structured data can also be beneficial. By marking up your product pages with structured data, you can help search engines understand the context of your products and improve your local SEO ranking. This can include marking up your product descriptions, prices, and availability. This can help search engines display this information in search results and make it easier for potential customers to find and purchase your products.
Use Case 3:
Blogs and Content Websites Even if you don’t own a local business or an e-commerce website, using structured data can still be useful for your website. By marking up your content with structured data, you can help search engines understand the context of your website and improve your local SEO ranking. For example, you can use structured data to mark up the titles, authors, and dates of your blog posts. This can help search engines display this information in search results and make it easier for readers to find and read your content.
Conclusion:
While it may seem like a tedious task, using structured data to mark up your website’s content can greatly improve your local SEO ranking and help search engines understand the context of your website. By considering the type of website you have and the information you want to mark up, you can make the most of this powerful tool to attract potential customers and enhance the overall user experience of your website.
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Local SEO is like playing a game of checkers, while trying to rank globally is like playing chess. No pressure, right?