A Dozen Steps to Ace Local SEO

Today, I want to share with you my personal twelve-point checklist for rocking local SEO. I’ve used these strategies myself, and they’ve helped me achieve great results. So, let’s dive in and conquer the world of local search!

1.

Claim your business listing.

First things first, make sure you claim your business listing on popular directories like Google My Business. This ensures that when people search for your services in your area, they’ll find you!

2.

Create a consistent NAP.

No, I’m not talking about taking a nap! NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. Make sure these details are consistent across all online platforms, such as your website, social media profiles, and directory listings.

3.

Optimize your website.

It’s time to give your website some love! Optimize it by including relevant keywords in your page titles, headings, content, and meta descriptions. This will make it easier for search engines to understand what your business is all about.

4.

Build quality backlinks.

Backlinks are like votes of confidence from other websites. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more search engines will trust your website. Reach out to local organizations, influencers, or partners to build these connections.

5.

Get customer reviews.

Reviews are gold when it comes to local SEO. Encourage your customers to leave reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, or Facebook. Positive reviews can improve your online reputation and attract more customers.

6.

Create local content.

Show your expertise and showcase your local knowledge by creating content that appeals to your target audience. Write blog posts, produce videos, or share tips and tricks that are relevant to your local community.

7.

Optimize for mobile.

Nowadays, everyone is glued to their smartphones. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly so that users can easily navigate and find the information they need while on the go.

8.

Use local keywords.

Include keywords that are specific to your local area throughout your website. For example, if you’re a bakery in New York City, use keywords like best bakery in NYC or fresh-baked goods in Manhattan.

9.

Engage on social media.

Don’t underestimate the power of social media! Engage with your local community, share valuable content, and interact with your followers. This will not only boost your online presence but also increase brand loyalty.

10.

Monitor your online presence.

Keep an eye on what people are saying about your business online. Set up Google Alerts or use social listening tools to stay informed about any mentions, reviews, or discussions related to your brand.

11.

Optimize for voice search.

With the rise of smart speakers and voice assistants, optimizing for voice search is crucial. Focus on conversational keywords and make sure your website provides concise and clear answers to popular voice queries.

12.

Track and analyze your SEO efforts.

Last but not least, keep track of your SEO efforts. Use tools like Google Analytics to monitor your website’s performance, track keyword rankings, and gain insights into what’s working and what needs improvement.

I hope this checklist helps you boost your local SEO game! Remember, it’s all about consistency, staying engaged, and continuously optimizing your online presence. Good luck, and may the search engine odds be ever in your favor!

I want to talk to you about something called local search engine optimization (LSEO). It’s a fancy term for a powerful way to market your business online if you want to reach customers in your local area. If you’re not showing up when people search locally, you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers.

Investing in LSEO can bring you many benefits. It can increase the number of people visiting your website, make your brand more visible, and even help you make more money.

If you want to take charge of your local search results, there are some things you should do. I’ll share a checklist and some best practices for LSEO with you.

Local SEO Checklist

Keyword Research

First things first, let’s talk about keyword research. It’s an essential step for any successful SEO campaign. Basically, it means finding out what words and phrases people are typing into search engines when they’re looking for local businesses like yours. It’s like discovering the secret code to attract more customers!

When it comes to understanding what a website is all about, Google relies on the text and hidden code within it. This means that it’s crucial to optimize a website with keywords that people are actually using.

Let’s say there’s a painting company. They might think of optimizing their exterior painting page using the term exterior residential painting because that’s what the industry uses. However, after doing some keyword research, they might find out that people are actually searching for home painting service. In that case, they should optimize their page around the term home painting service.

If you have a local business, you can also include a geo-modifier in your keywords to make them location-specific. For example, instead of just home painting service, you could use home painting service Portland or home painting service Portland Oregon.

But now the question arises – how do you find out which keywords to focus on and rank for?

To get started, think of words that you or others would use to find businesses like yours. You can also ask customers, friends, or family for their ideas. Once you have a list, enter them into Google’s Keyword Planner. This tool will give you new keyword ideas and show you how many people search for them. Keep in mind that the tool only shows advertiser competition, not SEO competition. But keywords with high ad competition usually have a competitive SEO score as well. Look for keywords that have at least a hundred monthly searches, but with medium to low competition. Then, naturally include them in your titles and meta descriptions.

Keyword research is a detailed and thorough process. For a comprehensive guide on keyword research, check out Backlinko’s Definitive Guide to Keyword Research.

Now, let’s move on to title tags.

The title tag is super important for SEO. It’s the main thing you see when you search for something. It shows up in your browser tab and when you save bookmarks. The title tells you what to expect when you click, and it also tells Google what your page is about.

Your title should have the keyword you want to rank for and describe your page accurately.

Here are some tips for writing the perfect title tag:
Keep your titles short, under 55 characters, so they look good in Google
Include your brand name if you can
Start the homepage title with your brand name, then say what services you offer
Example: Sue’s Painting Company Residential Painting in Portland

If you want to learn more about Title Tags, take a look at this helpful guide.

Meta Descriptions

The purpose of a meta description is to give a quick summary of your page to both users and search engines. When you have meta descriptions that are interesting and descriptive, it can increase the chances of people clicking on your page when it appears in search results.

Try writing unique descriptions that are no longer than 156 characters, so your words don’t get cut off…

You can use this tool to see a preview of what your titles and meta descriptions will look like in search results.

NAP Information

When it comes to local search, N-A-P are the three most important letters after SEO.

NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number.

If you want to make sure people can find your business in the local area, it’s really important that Google knows where you’re located. Google can find your business information on your website and on other websites too. It looks at how many times your information is mentioned and how consistent it is to decide how high to rank you in local search results.

The more times your business information shows up on the internet, and the more consistent that information is, the better chance you have of showing up in local search.

What Customers Say

Did you know that more than 92 percent of people look at online reviews before deciding to use a local business or service? And if that’s not enough, 60 percent of people actually judge a business based on its star rating! Can you believe it? And guess what, 43 percent of people think that a business needs at least 3 out of 5 stars before they even consider using it. That’s why it’s so important to have positive reviews.

Now, here’s the thing: the quantity and quality of your online reviews really matter when it comes to how visible your business is online. The more 5-star reviews you have, the more exposure your business will get. It’s as simple as that!

So how do you get those positive reviews? Well, it all starts with creating an amazing customer experience. It’s important to focus on making every customer happy. And after you’ve finished a job, don’t be afraid to ask for feedback. It’s polite, and it shows that you care about what your customers think.

When it comes to receiving and responding to reviews, there are several platforms that can be really helpful. I’m talking about Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, Foursquare, Houzz, and Angie’s List. These places are great for getting reviews and engaging with your customers. It’s important to understand how online reviews can impact your business and its online presence.

Pictures Matter

Optimizing images is a crucial skill in the world of SEO.

Search engines don’t view images the same way we do. So, we need to provide them with extra information to explain what the image is about. This can help improve the rankings for the keywords you’re targeting.

• Filename: When you save an image on your computer, it has a name. Before uploading it to your website, make sure the filename includes your target keyword. For example, let’s say you have a photo of your home painting service. You could name it home-painting-service-photo.JPG.
• Title Text: When you hover over my image, this text will pop up. Pretty nifty, isn’t it? It should include the keyword and give a quick description of the image. How about something like Awesome Home Painting Service in Portland?
• Alt-Text: Hi! If the image doesn’t load, this text will show up instead. This is super helpful for folks who can’t see the image. Make sure to include the keyword and describe the image in a few words. For example, Vibrant Home Painting Service in Portland.
• Size: Okay, before you upload your images to your fancy website, it’s important to compress and resize them properly. You can use cool tools like Photoshop or even a free web tool like Compress JPEG. Trust me, it makes a big difference!

Anchor Text Optimization

Let me tell you about anchor text. It’s that clickable text you see in a hyperlink. So, when you click on something like Home Painting, Google figures out that the page you’re going to is related to home painting. Pretty smart, right?

When you create content for your website, you can make certain words or phrases clickable links that connect to specific pages about those topics. This is helpful because it helps Google learn more about what your website is all about. Plus, it can improve your website’s position in Google’s search results for those specific words or phrases. In the example mentioned earlier, you would want to make sure that every mention of home painting in your content is a link that goes directly to your home painting service page.

Being Mobile-Friendly

If you’re frustrated when you visit a website and it’s hard to read because the text is too small or you have to zoom in on your touch screen, or if it takes a long time to load, then it’s time for that website to be updated and made mobile friendly.

Most mobile-friendly websites have something called responsive web design, which means they can adjust and look good on any size screen. This is also better for search engine optimization (SEO). Or, you can create a separate website just for mobile devices.

In April 2015, Google made an announcement that they were going to penalize websites that weren’t optimized for mobile devices. They even have plans for another update in May 2016.

If you don’t follow Google’s guidelines for mobile friendly websites, you’re going to lose a lot of mobile search traffic.

Citations and Social Profiles

Let’s talk about citations and social profiles. A citation is when someone mentions your business online and includes some or all of your NAP information. You might see these mentions in a local listing on websites like YellowPages.

Now, a social profile is like an upgraded version of a citation. It’s more trustworthy, unique, and customizable. Think of platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest – they’re all examples of social profiles.

If you want to make your website more visible, you’ll need to create lots of relevant and high-quality citations and social profiles. This helps your business get noticed by more people.

• First things first, always make sure your NAP information is consistent. Use the exact same business name, address, and phone number wherever you go.
• Oh, and if you ever move to a new location, don’t forget to update your NAP info on your website, citations, and social profiles. Keep everything up to date!
• Write unique descriptions about your business that give a brief overview of its history, specialty, products, and services.
• Add at least 5 relevant and high-quality pictures, not including your company logo.
• Choose up to 5 relevant business categories, with the first 3 being the most important.
• Keep track of your passwords and usernames using a spreadsheet.
• Remove any duplicates. Just one citation per location is enough.

Google My Business

Did you know that Google receives over 3.5 billion searches every day? If your business isn’t listed on Google, you’re missing out on a lot.

Google My Business, or GMB for short, is an amazing marketing platform designed specifically for small businesses like yours.

• Easily manage and update how Google presents your business information.
• Gain insights into how users discover your business on Google.

To ensure that your business is visible on Google Maps and can be easily found by customers looking for directions, you need to take a few simple steps. First, go to Google My Business and enter your business name and address in the search bar. This will list your business on Google.

If your business is already listed, you can claim your profile by clicking on it. Make sure to check the box that says I am authorized to manage this business… and then click Continue. Take a moment to review your business address and make any necessary changes. After that, click on the Mail option. Google will send you a postcard with a verification code. Once you receive the postcard, enter the code in Google My Business to complete the verification process.

However, if your business cannot be found on Google Maps, don’t worry. There are still ways to get your business listed. You can check out a unique guide to Google Maps marketing for more information on how to make your business visible to potential customers.

If you think the info here doesn’t match your business, no worries! Just click on This doesn’t match. Add your business. Then, simply fill out the form with the most accurate details. Once you’re done, hit Continue and we’ll move right along.

Now, here’s the next step: after you’ve double-checked your address, go ahead and click on Mail. We’ll be sending you a nifty postcard with a special verification code. It should make its way to your business location in about 1-2 business weeks.

When that postcard arrives, just take the verification code from it and head on over to Google My Business. Pop in the code and ta-da! You’re all verified and good to go.

While you’re eagerly awaiting your awesome postcard, why not spruce up your business info? You can update your address, description, categories, hours of operation, and even the map marker. Plus, you can add cool images that’ll show up when people search for your business locally.

Ready to make some changes? Just click on the little hamburger icon in the top left corner to open the menu. Then click on All locations and select Manage location to get started.

The Magic of Schema Markup

Let me tell you about schema markup. It’s basically special code that you can add to your website to help search engines understand certain information on your site.

So, if you’re a local business, you definitely want to use local business schema. This awesome code directly feeds your location and contact info to Google. And you know what that does? It adds credibility and authority to your site, which helps boost your local rankings.

But wait, there’s more! Some types of schema markup can even generate rich snippets. These fancy little elements enhance your search results and give people a better idea of what to expect when they click your link. This means they’re more likely to visit your site and stick around longer.

Guess what? Google supports rich snippets for all sorts of things like review ratings, recipes, events, videos, and news articles. How cool is that?

If you want to learn more about how to use schema markup, you should definitely check out this guide from the Search Engine Journal. Trust me, it’s worth it!

Let’s Talk About Link Building

When it comes to Google, a link to your website is like a vote in your favor. The more votes you have, the more Google will show your site to people searching for your content.

Here’s the thing: links also bring trust and authority. Think about it this way – if big shots like Forbes, Business.com, and the Wall Street Journal link to your website, you’re suddenly seen as trustworthy and authoritative too.

Now, most websites will naturally have a few links here and there. But if you want to take it up a notch (and improve your rankings), you need to do some link building.

So, what’s link building? Well, it’s all about reaching out to top-notch websites that are relevant to your content and convincing them to link back to you. It’s a way to build your brand, get noticed online, and boost your website’s ranking and traffic. Sounds pretty cool, right?

Let me give you an example to help you understand. Imagine that someone writes about your website in an online article. If the website where the article is published is very well-known and respected, it can have a big positive impact on your website.

Building links can seem like a big task that requires reaching out to others and following up regularly. However, in the process, you can get good quality links for your website and also create new connections with people. It’s a win-win situation!

In conclusion,

If you follow this checklist with 12 important points for local SEO and you practice the best methods, it can really help your website do better than your competitors. It will also help to improve your brand’s reputation and get more exposure.