SEO is such a vast field of digital marketing. There’s many things that go into SEO from Technical SEO, to On-Page and Off-Page SEO, tp Local SEO. Today we’re going to cover the later, Local SEO. Local SEO has some incredible tools to get you found by your community. We’ll cover tips and tools that you can use to get yourself to the top of the search results for local queries. We will be using our county as an example: Brevard County SEO.
-
- Google My Busines
- Local Keyword Landing Pages
- NAP Syncing
- Local Directories
Google My Business for Local SEO
An amazing tool that EVERY business should have (especially if it has a location) is Google My Business.For example, we have our listing here: Blue Shift Web Services. There are so many useful features of Google My Business. You should completely fill out all of your profile. GMB allows your customers to leave reviews, find directions to your location, and see more information about your business. There’s a lot of good things that you can add into your profile like
- Images – These can be portfolio images, event images, products, etc.
- Website Link – Having your GMB profile include a link to your website is a powerful SEO boost, due to the high quality back link.
- Your category – If you look at our listing, it says “Website designer in Melbourne, Florida” which gives us a boost when someone searches that phrase.
- Hours – This gives your potential clients valuable information at a glance about when they can visit your location.
- Appointment Link – This is optional but also powerful. If you have a link to a digital calendar where they can reserve a portion of your time.
- Posts – just like social media, you can post updates to your Google My Business profile.
- Over time, Google may include links to other profiles like LinkedIn, Facebook, and other review sites.
Tips for Google My Business
- ALWAYS respond to reviews posted on your profile regardless of whether it’s good or bad. There’s benefits to this in both SEO and in brand image.
- Post status updates similar to how you do on Facebook or Instagram.
- Send your clients a review request after service.
Local Keyword Landing Pages
Landing pages are a great way to target highly specific keywords. For example, we did this with “Brevard County SEO“. We focused our web copy around SEO in Brevard County by mentioning the keyword multiple times, using it in the headings, title, and description, and focusing around similar area based things like cities, and landmarks.
You can do the same by looking into your industry and what areas you are trying to target. For us, Melbourne, FL is where we are located so we would use “Melbourne FL Web Design” as a keyword to try to capture more of the searchers in that area.
Using locality in your keywords is a great way to also capture the “near me” search market. Statistics show that people generally go to a location within 5 miles of them.
NAP Syncing for Local SEO
It’s NAP time, and no I don’t mean sleeping. NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone Number. It’s an acronym used to talk about making sure that these VITAL pieces of information are the same across all the platforms and profiles that your business is listed on.
You don’t want people finding the wrong information about your business and then deciding to go your competitor because of it. There are many ways to track and update these profiles, from doing it manually to utilizing a tool.
If you’re tracking your NAP manually, I recommend using a spreadsheet to list out all the places that you’re listed, and the information that they have like login information. Then, if you move locations or update your phone number, you have a checklist of sorts to go through to make sure it all matches up.
Local Directory Listings
Directory listings are an amazing way to generate backlinks, and getting listed in location based directories works wonders for Local SEO. The most common local directory to get listed in is your local chambers of commerce. For us, that’s the Melbourne Chamber, the Palm Bay Chamber, the Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber, and the Titusville Area Chamber. Most chambers are paid resources, but provide a huge amount of value.
Other directories can be found by searching your state, county, and city with either your industry with “directory” or “business directory”.
Conclusion
So no matter which Local SEO tactic you use to boost your rankings, doing so will get you found within your local community. Four ways to boost your SEO ranking locally are Local Keyword Landing pages (like our Brevard County SEO page), NAP syncing, Local Directory Listings, and Google My Business.
If you need help with your digital marketing, check out our digital marketing services. If you’re interested in Local SEO landing page service, check out the Brevard County SEO page.
