Every Small Business Should Employ Local SEO Tactics
You want your website to get the top rank on Google search results. Right? Make no mistake: getting and maintaining the top rank on search engine results requires a lot of hard work. And these efforts aren’t a one and done activity, you can’t just set and forget it. There are constantly changing internal and external factors making this a constant ongoing exercise.
Where there is difficulty, however, opportunity follows. And the truth of the matter is a lot of businesses (even your competitors) won’t take the time or invest the money to get this done right. If you want to increase and improve you online visibility, search results and your local customer base, here are four SEO tips you need to know.
Tip Number One: Keyword Research
Graphics, images, audio clips, and videos help make the website attractive but are not what search engines “see” in your website. Search engines recognize websites by keywords. Learn which keywords are the most relevant to your business and use them. There are free keyword planners you can find online to help with your research. Check out “Tips for Growing Keyword Seeds with Excel Formulas”, it’s a little dated but provides a solid foundation to growing your keyword list.
Keyword research will help you identify which words or phrases will make search engines recognize your business better. Keywords should describe what you do and where you do it. Moreover, keyword research helps you identify what your target customers are typing into search bars when they are looking for products or services similar to what you offer.
Tip Number Two: Use a SCHEMA
SCHEMA, or structured data, is a form of HTML code that is used by search engines to identify important information from your business’ website. SCHEMA allows search engines to determine your business name, contact information, and base location. SCHEMA is helpful for local businesses because all search engines read its content.
Tip Number Three: Keep Your Content Current
A simple reaches reveals an almost endless array of articles and opinions about the importance of blogging, and in the most elementary sense we agree, you need to post content regularly on your website so that search engines find you. While there isn’t a published formula about how you should publish a blog we’ve heard that if it less than at least every 14 days your website will start to slip in ranking. So at a minimum you’ll need 26 blog posts per year. This may seem like a daunting task but one that is made simple with a content calendar and even easier when you assign (hire) this task to someone else.
WordPress is a popular blog platform for many businesses today. With its easy-to-use tools, you do not have to be a tech genius to post and edit content on a regular basis.
Look for blog platforms that automatically schedule social media and blog posts based on when your target audience is most likely to see them. These online tools allow you to automatically re-post content, if need be. Although it could take a few months to gather readers and followers, the effort will be well worth it.
Tip Number Four: Don’t Forget Your Website’s Footer
The blank space (footer) at the bottom of your website is one of the most underused tools when it comes to increasing the number of visitors to your website.
This might be a little technical but your website’s footer can be used to hold HTML codes that are usually found at the top (header) of your website. Having a lot of HTML code on the header slows the loading of your site. Visitors lose interest in websites that take a long time to load. The faster a website loads or opens, the more visitors will come and the higher the site will rank in search engine results.
Learning about and using all four (and more) of these local SEO tips can help increase your website’s visibility and ranking. While progress may take a few months, do not lose focus. The continued effort will result in an increased number of new customers and profit for your business.
We’ve successfully helped clients move from obscurity (not getting found online) to the first page of Google but applying these and other tactics to their website. One of clients went from getting 3 website views per week (on average) to receiving 122 calls per week (on average) and 90% of new prospects finding him due to a Google search.
5 Ways to Apply This Information Now
- Review and update your keyword list
- Read “Get Started Using Schema” by our friends at KissMetrics
- Create and implement your content calendar
- Share this article on LinkedIn (or Your Favorite Social Media Site). Sharing quality content increases your visibility and credibility with your existing contacts, creating conversations and potentially new business.
- Leave a comment below. Let’s start a conversation about what you need to do to optimize your website for search.
Do you want to improve your local search results?
Not ready for a call, no worries, drop us a line at Contact@MusselwhiteMarketing.com today.
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