With everything in the world being an internet search away, people can get any kind of information in a matter of seconds. This can range from which local business to buy from to what the weather is like on any given day. As a business owner trying to improve your local SEO rankings, you need to use this convenience to your advantage because if you don’t, you will end up losing customers faster than you may think. If you are new to the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), then the following guide will help you.
1. Build an Online Presence
The first thing you need to do if you want any kind of acknowledgment online is to have an established online presence. Unlike what some people may think, this is relatively easy. To start establishing your online business persona, you can start with various social media platforms, or better yet build a simple website. This website can help direct your customers and potential clients towards relevant information as well as the products and services you offer. Since millions of people use social media platforms, having a presence on them can be quite beneficial in getting the word out to your targeted audience, specifically if you are targeting them based on location. If you want to start building a presence through social media your social media presence can be as simple as having accounts on different social networking platforms, or you can even invest in ads that are geographic and demographic-based to ensure that you get attention locally.
2. Get Cited
One of the most important steps you need to take towards building your SEO is getting cited in different local directories. This means that you need to get in touch with websites that could potentially cite your business for customers looking for similar services. It is crucial to research which website offers the best Citations for Local SEO since there are different websites that offer this service. This will help your business gain a better following. In turn, your SEO results will be better. Citations are not just built on you contacting relevant directories but also how previous customers rate your business. Getting cited gives potential customers the semblance of having a reliable business that can be trusted to provide quality services and goods.
3. Use Customer Reviews
As mentioned above, your customers’ ratings can help your business thrive or sink it so it is best to take matters into your own hands and provide a space for your customers to share their experiences. Having reviews, whether they are good or bad can help your business flourish. Good reviews will encourage others to try your business out, and bad reviews will ensure that you are aware of areas that require development so that your business can grow and become better. Having customer reviews on your website or social media accounts can help you provide a reliable and trustworthy image to search engines and potential customers. This will help you improve your chances of being the top option on search engines. Having space on your webpage dedicated to your customers gives you better control and observation tools.
4. Use the Right Keywords
Keywords are another important factor when it comes to search engine optimization. Depending on what topic a person is looking up online, there are certain words that they are going to use to get the search results they want. For example, if one wants to find plumbers nearby, they will use keywords such as plumbers in (insert the neighborhood or city they are in). This is why as a business owner trying to build a presence in your community, you need to include some of these commonly searched terms in different areas on your website. You can do so by adding different blog posts discussing the services you provide, or general information about your area of expertise. The more articles and information you have, the more likely you will be able to include keywords and have the right meta descriptions that will lead more customers to your business. Meta descriptions are simple concise descriptions with keywords giving people a quick view of what you are offering them.
5. Optimize Loading Speed
In an era where everything is at a person’s fingertips, people expect swiftness. People want information in a matter of half a second rather than minutes. One of the things you need to work on is how fast your website loads. You can improve this by using media that can be compressed. You can also reduce speed by reducing the redirecting from your main page to other pages. This can make a ton of difference between a website that gets a ton of foot traffic and one that doesn’t get as many potential customers due to imperfect SEO.
6. Use Quality Backlinks
Backlinking can also help your website gain reliability and traffic from potential customers. Backlinking is used by many businesses trying to gain attention from customers and trying to build a reliable, trustworthy reputation among other businesses. Backlinking is when you contact other websites and ask them to insert links in their content that lead back to your website. The more reliable the websites you are connecting your business to, the higher your SEO ranking will be. In return, you can include links to these websites on your own page. Using backlinks means you are building connections that will help promote your website and therefore your business.
Now that you know how to optimize your online presence, you will notice a definite increase in your customer base. Not only will SEO provide your potential customers with an idea about your business, but it will also help you track analytics and your success over any given period of time. Following these steps is going to ensure that your business is the first search result whenever anyone looks for the keywords you use, so do not hesitate to spend time and effort on this essential part of marketing your business.
About the Author
Jenna Kramer is a freelance marketing writer. She has 6+ years of experience in writing about business, technology, entrepreneurship and social media marketing. Jenna loves to split her time between blogging and hanging out with her friends and family.
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