Local SEO is important for small businesses as if your business is on the second page of Google no one knows you exist. Local SEO can be confusing so in this post, we will look at some of the most simple ways you can improve your search engine rankings so that your business can show up higher in the search engines.
By optimising your website and getting some mentions on other websites you can start to get more traffic to your website and as a result, sell more of your product or services.
Local SEO is a big field but a lot of your competition will be in the same boat as you and won’t know what to do with their website either so improving just a few processes on your website can help.
Fix anything that’s broken
Firstly you are going to need to look at your website and see if anything is broken. A simple google search for “free website audit tool” will show you some tools that can scan your website and show you if there is anything broken.
When you find these issues you can either fix them yourself if you have the knowledge or you can hire someone else to do this. Typically an SEO freelancer should be able to help with fixing technical issues on a website.
If you have a larger website that’s more complex you may want to hire a technical SEO consultant as more complex problems may need an expert rather than an all-rounder.
Do your research
Researching your audience and the terms they will use to find your website is also important. This is known as keyword research. Keyword research allows you to find keywords that people will use to find your business and uncovering the keyword with the most traffic and least competition is going to help you attract the customers to your website.
Get relevant mentions
Google uses something called backlinks as a ranking factor to decide where your website should show when someone searches for a keyword related to a product or service that you sell.
A backlink is simply another website linking to yours. However, people run into problems with backlinks when they either get them by buying them in bulk or getting them from places that are not relevant.
Getting a link from a beauty website when you own a car garage isn’t going to help your business or websites show up in the search engines. In this example, you would be better off getting links from other car websites as it creates a relevance that Google can understand.
Track everything
As a local business owner, it’s easy to get put off when the work you are putting in doesn’t seem to be working, this is why you should track your rankings consistently. There are many local rank tracking software options out there and if you are investing in your businesses SEO you should be tracking them to see if what you are doing is working.
When tracking your rankings you should take in mind that the work you are doing can take months to affect your search engine positioning so don’t give up after a few weeks of work.
Conclusion
Local SEO can be tough if your competitors are investing heavily with their marketing budgets but search engines have many positions and being number one doesn’t always have to be the case.
By planning your website through the use of keyword research, fixing any technical issues and getting your website mentioned in the relevant places you are going to bring in new customers to your business.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
Speak Your Mind