Many local businesses don’t have the time or the money to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of search engine optimization for their website. Part of that struggle is they don’t necessarily know where to start. With so many SEO tasks you could do, what will give them the biggest bang for their buck? It can be truly overwhelming to even think about.
It’s true that SEO takes time to see results. However, there are some tasks that you should be doing now to leverage long-term SEO success for a small business. The actions listed below are quick-win, high-impact SEO tactics that small businesses should be doing to see SEO success. If nothing else, make sure that these tasks are completed to the best of your ability.
Optimize Your Title Tags with Geo-Targeted Keywords
Be sure to optimize your title tags with geo-targeted keywords. If you’re targeting a town or city, be sure to include the area and service in your title tag. By adding these keywords, you’ll narrow down your audience to who you need to focus on, and as a result, Google is likely to rank you higher on those terms.
Localize & Humanize Your Landing Pages
Speak the language of your local audience! It should be evident through your landing page that you understand the local area and community. The more local-specific content you have, the better your customers will relate to your brand. Include a quote from a client that is well-known locally, or show how your products and services make an impact in the local community. It never hurts to have names and images of your staff, manager, or someone else so that your users can put a name to a face.
Claim & Optimize Your Google My Business (Google Maps)
You may already have a Google Maps listing, but is it claimed? Claiming your listing is vital – and if you don’t have a listing, definitely create and claim one! Google makes it pretty easy for you to claim your Google Maps listing. Once the Google maps listing claimed, you have full control of your listing. Google loves when listings are completely filled out – that means adding tons of photos, a business category, hours of operation, and a lengthy description, among other things.
Leverage Local PR Coverage
Reach out to local PR contacts for any events you host. Not only will it get the word out there, but it will also get you a backlink and referral traffic to your website. Often, small businesses lack domain authority, or the ability for a site to rank on a given keyword. Backlinks are what Google takes into account to influence domain authority, and leveraging local PR is a great way to improve.
Encourage Reviews on Google Maps
Whether it’s on your website, on a third party directory website (Yelp, Bing Places, TripAdvisor or another), reviews help boost credibility. In the case of Google Maps, they also help you rank better in maps results. Having customers review you on Google Maps can help you rank more prominently on local searches. On that same note, for any negative reviews on Google Maps listing should be responded to in a timely, helpful, and apologetic (if necessary) manner.
Whether you’re tracking phone calls or website form fills, these tactics will increase your website’s organic search visibility, and with that, leads will also increase. Take advantage of SEO with these tactics today! I’d love to hear any feedback on these steps I’ve drawn out.
If you’re looking for more guidance on how you can accomplish these steps, please contact me!
