Local SEO For Small Businesses

Local SEO is basically the procedure of improving ones website in order for it to appear in the top positions of Bing, Yahoo and Google for searches that are related to one’s city, area or state.

Local SEO provides a very rare opportunity to create one’s own little niche within ones local community. A business’ location could be considered their niche, and embracing it with SEO is key in pulling in more customers since most people make their local purchasing decisions based on one reference source i.e. Google.

Top 5 Ways To Improve Local SEO Ranking For Small Businesses

1. Make Sure To Fill Out All Local Listing Pages
   From the likes of Yahoo to Google to the Yellow Pages, one needs to create a presence everywhere. This is a quick way to create an identity at the top of the search engines. In addition, the local listing pages end up linking to ones pages and improving SEO.
2. Start A Blog And Talk About The Local Community
   It is advisable to write about the local community in one’s blog. One can write about local issues affecting the community, country or city. One should include citations on each blog page and share the blog on social media. This would be a great way to reach new clients and to increase ones citation network. In return even if it’s not directly related to one’s business, the fact that people are reading it, improves ones ranking in the SEO.
3. Reach Out To Local Publications
   When it comes to the power of the press, nothing is more influential than that. Having local news sites write about one’s business is a strategy for marketing. Nevertheless, one could also try and reach out to blogs or websites that normally focus on one’s field. These are likely to reach a wider audience as compared to other forms of advertising.
4. Ask Customers To Leave Reviews On Ones Sites And Pages
   Having positive feedback from clients is definitely an important aspect and it may end up lifting ones business in the search results. The positive reviews are important both in quantity and quality as they improve one’s ranking in both local and traditional SEO.The most impactful reviews are those attached to ones Google My Business profile. Nonetheless, reviews on sites like Yelp may also be helpful.
5. Utilize Social Media
   Social media marketing is one of the best strategies to utilize when it comes to building a good ranking on local SEO. Knowing which social media oulets are mostly used by the locals would be an added advantage as one could optimize their social media pages and set them up as a local business. After one has finished setting up the pages as a local business, one needs to fill in their contact details, location and business hours. A complete profile may end up giving one more credibility with search engines.In conclusion, if one wants a constant supply of clients, it’s paramount for them to make local SEO a top priority.