Local SEO uses a variety of strategies — getting your site ranked on search engines like Google, business directories such as Yelp, Foursquare, Yellowbook, Google My Business listing, Bing Places for Business page, localized content on your website, online reviews and other strategies.
Below you’ll learn 4 of the most important strategies to improve your local SEO presence.
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1. Optimize your Website’s ‘Localization’ Information
This means you should be including your address, city, county or region name naturally throughout your site (with schema markup). For businesses with several locations, this may involve creating individual pages for each location and optimizing those pages with location-specific content and keywords about your various services or offerings.
2. Claim your Google My Business Page
This should be the first online directory you take ownership of and is a first step towards helping your business display on important Google services (i.e. Maps and Google+). Only 44% of businesses have claimed their Google My Business listing, which means by starting/investing in local SEO already puts you ahead of your competition.
3. Create/Claim your Business on Trusted Online Directories
Reliable and trustworthy online directories also play a big role in the impact of your local SEO efforts. By creating/ claiming your business listing in these types of directories you accomplish a number of things including showing Google that your business services and information are present and consistent across the web, and you open your business up to being seen by more potential customers utilizing those online directories. Examples of these trustworthy directories include Yellowbook, Best of the Web, Yelp, Foursquare, etc.
Note: it’s important that your citations (address, phone number, website, etc.) are consistent across the various online directories. If there are any discrepancies Google will most likely avoid listing your business in the local 3-pack.
4. Get Reviews and Ratings
Reviews are critical for two main reasons, they:
1.) Portray the quality of your service
2.) Send signals to search engines telling that your site and services are trusted (yes, they are a ranking factor Google utilizes)
88% of local consumers trust online business reviews. The number of reviews you receive, the overall quality of the reviews and the authority of the review sites themselves are all important factors for local search rankings.
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Why Use Parqa Marketing
Local SEO companies help you to position your business on search engines and other digital marketing platforms/directories so you’re seen by potential customers — on their terms.
Parqa is a Digital Marketing Agency that specializes in SEO, SEM, Local Search Optimization, Marketing Automation, Social Media and content creation. We help grow your brand and drive leads through a variety of inbound marketing tactics. See how our experts can help your business grow through search engine optimization.
