Are you a small business trying to grow your local customer base? If so, then you should focus on building a strategic local SEO marketing plan.
Don’t worry if you don’t know what that means. We’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn 7 ways to improve your local SEO ranking so you can build your customers and grow your business.
1. Create or Improve Your GMB Profile
When it comes to your local SEO strategy, your Google My Business profile is imperative to ranking locally. If you have a profile, let’s improve it. And if you don’t have one yet, let’s get you set up with an optimized profile that will bring in new customers every day and improve your ranking on the SERPs.
First, if you set up a profile with only your Name, Address, and Phone number you need to head back to improve your profile. Yes, these three are important, but there is so much more you need to add if you want to beat out the competition in the rankings.
Second, you need to verify your listing with Google. Then upload your logo and several images so you can start to build your brand.
Next, ensure your hours of operation and the rest of your information is up to date. With the changes happening this year, making sure your information is completely accurate will build rapport with your customers and provide excellent customer service.
2. Consistently Post to GMB
Did you know you can post informational articles to GMB? They only stay for one week so be consistent in uploading an informational post every week. You can mention upcoming events, sales, product launches, and anything else happening currently in your business.
The ideal length is 200-300 words, so you don’t need to write a lot. But you should clearly focus on one topic, event, sale, or product. Additionally, you should include photos to improve engagement.
3. Cross-Post to Your Blog
Your GMB activity will influence your blog posts and help improve your rankings. So take advantage of that by posting to your blog regularly as well. You can use the information from your GMB post but optimize it with great local keywords to improve your rankings.
You can take your short GMB post and expand on it. If you mentioned a product, go into depth on how it can help your clients. If you promoted an event, go into more detail about who will be there and why your customers should be sure to be at the event.
4. Ask for Reviews
In your blog posts, on your GMB profile, and in person at your business encourage your customers to leave a review on your profile. You can run promotions and give away prizes to those customers that leave you a review, but you can’t pay anyone to leave a review.
Reviews will help your ranking quickly and in the long-term. Respond to all of them, even the negative ones. This will show all your customers that you listen to them, even (and especially) when they have problems or concerns.
5. Ensure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
The majority of local searches are done on the phone. So you need to make this a priority if you want to rank locally. Don’t dismiss this step or you’ll quickly fall behind your competitors who understand its importance.
This should go without saying in 2020, but unfortunately, the majority of websites aren’t optimized for mobile. So here is your friendly reminder to optimize yours now if you find yourself in that group. Don’t worry, this is an easy fix and a quality website developer can help you with this.
6. Update and Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
If your Instagram account profile lets the whole world know you love cats, coffee, and walks in the park, then you need to optimize your profile. You only get 150 characters in your IG profile and 160 characters on Twitter, so make them count.
Be sure your location, hours, and contact information is easily available on all your profiles. Also, be sure your website is linked so visitors can find you easily.
And just like in your GMB profile upload your logo and images so you can build your brand. Respond to every comment and interact with your customers. This will build your following and increase your customer list.
7. Network Like a Boss
You remember going to networking events and passing out business cards until you were blue in the face. Well now your networking needs to move online and you need to up your game. You need to connect with influencers in your area and offer merchandise or discounts on a product if they will give you a shout out on their platforms.
This will build your followers and increase your brand awareness much more than running ads or attending live events. People want to follow people they know and trust, and many people trust online influencers more than advertising alone.
These seven tips will help you improve your brand and build your business online. Local businesses aren’t left out of the SEO game, you still need to optimize your profile and interact with your customers.
Use these tips to improve your local SEO rankings and scale your business to the next level today.
Local SEO Ranking Doesn’t Have to Be Difficult Any Longer
You have put off improving your SEO strategy for too long. You need to start taking the steps to improve your rankings today.
Stop wondering how to improve your local SEO ranking and start taking action on these seven simple steps now. You can’t afford to put this off any longer.
If you need more help with your local SEO, or you don’t have the time to do it yourself, then consider outsourcing your digital marketing. We help small businesses just like yours every day. And we can grow your reach locally, so let’s schedule your free consultation so we can show you how we can help you too.
