If you own a business, achieving success with local SEO is important. SEO means Search Engine Optimization and it is a key component in today’s tech-driven, search-engine powered world.
You want to make sure that when for example, someone types in “Fayetteville Arkansas furniture store” into a search engine that your furniture store is at the top of that list— ready to be discovered. This is a great way to draw in local customers and should be applied no matter what type of business you run.
Here are 8 local SEO tips to get you started.
- Create a website.
Make sure that your website is clear and easy to use for your future customer. Don’t allow it to become too cluttered. Use clear and concise page titles that include your business name and give the viewer a clear idea of what your product/service is. Also be sure that your website follows the webmaster guidelines of major search engines like Google and Bing so that your content is found and approved. - Submit your website.
After creating your website, submit your website to the major search engines like Google and Bing. And don’t worry about Yahoo—if you submit your website to Bing, you’re covered on Yahoo too. - Get involved in social media.
It’s important to expand your online presence as much as possible, so look into getting Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts for your business. Not only is social media great for SEO, it’s also becoming more and more important with advertising/marketing. - Get listed.
There are a few different approaches to this. Websites like Yelp, Foursquare and Yellow Pages are becoming a go-to resource for customers looking for local businesses, especially with the added bonus of allowing customers to provide and peruse reviews from real customers like themselves.You should also make sure to make your mark on Google Places, Bing Local and Yahoo listings. Doing this is free and allows those search engines to provide a quick and clear listing for your business—complete with the phone number and a map. - Encourage reviews.
People love to check reviews on businesses before trying them out so it doesn’t hurt to encourage your customers to leave reviews on all of the aforementioned websites. Any review (positive or negative) offers the sense of credibility to your business. You can, though, offer a little incentive to your already happy customers to leave a great review for you. - Figure out your keywords.
Using certain words throughout your website and social media will increase the likelihood of being found. Find out which keywords will provide the most traffic for your website(s). Make sure that all of your titles and descriptions sound natural though—don’t overdo it with the keywords. - Try Google Adwords.
Have you noticed the yellow box on the top and bottom of the Google search results page that promotes certain websites above others? That is because of Google Adwords. It’s not free, but it is pay per click so it is based on results. This is a great form of online marketing for your business. - Utilize Google Analytics.
This free analyzer is a great resource that every webmaster should check out. Not only does it let you measure the numbers of visitors, it also tells you how customers reached your site and what pages they visited so you can keep them coming back.
Good luck and happy searching.
As a full service marketing agency, The Belford Group creates branding, websites, marketing, social media and search engine optimization solutions to assist our clients in finding and reaching their ideal audience.
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