Now that it’s 2018, dominating search engine results entails a solid local SEO strategy. After all, 46% of all online searches on Google have to do with finding local information. If you’ve yet to embrace SEO as part of your business strategy, you can always start today. It doesn’t matter if you’re running a small business or a local startup. Taking advantage of the best local SEO tactics can help you rank high on search engines.
Don’t be overwhelmed because it is a lot simpler than it sounds. Listed below are some of the best practices for improving your local SEO.
- Get local press coverage
Think about getting coverage from the local paper, radio or TV station. Google views these publications as authority sites. Hence, when your business is promoted by these trusted online brands, you benefit from it. Getting that local coverage means having a better chance of getting indexed high on Google.
- Build high-quality backlinks
The number of backlinks you build and their quality has a tremendous effect on local search engine rankings. Apart from getting local press coverage, there are several other ways to gain brand new, high-quality links. For starters, you can publish and distribute valuable content online. You can make a comprehensive article such as this Local SEO guide by Miromind. You can also come up with an engaging video. Sharing relevant information encourages other organizations, especially authoritative platforms, to link to your company’s website.
- Optimize your Google My Business listing
One of the simplest yet most important steps you need to make to create a solid local SEO strategy is to claim and verify your Google My Business Profile. Doing so improves your chances of getting featured on Google Maps, Local Finder, Local Pack, and other organic rankings. To optimize your profile, you need to provide a physical location, street address, contact information, images, and more.
- Improve internal linking
To rank high on search engines, you must have great website architecture. Most businesses tend to have only their most important pages linked from the footer or the navigation menu. That shouldn’t be the case. You can add internal links wherever relevant. It could be on business blog posts, service pages, etc. A little improvement goes a long way. Revamping your websites’ internal linking structure should lead to better rankings.
- Title tags must contain a local SEO keyword
Adding a local keyword to your title tags helps certain pages to rank high in local searches. For instance, including a keyword such as laminate flooring New York will inform search engines that the page shows content related to New York. That page, in turn, will be more likely to pop up in searches from that geographical area and during searches for that particular local keyword.
Managing the data of short-tail and long-tail keywords can be challenging at scale. There are a lot of guides which can help you with your advanced link building strategies that you can use for getting organic traffic and will rank you higher
Nowadays, one can’t simply ignore the power of local SEO. Research shows that 50% of consumers who perform a local search on smartphones tend to visit a physical store location within a day. More importantly, 18% of these mobile searches lead to a sale within the same day.
So, what are you waiting for?
Come up with a strong local SEO strategy to drive traffic and increase sales.
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