5 Simple Tips to Improving Local SEO for Your Small Business
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your website and marketing your business online, so it ranks better on Google for your local audience. For business owners that rely on people physically visiting their storefronts, improving your local SEO will result in more foot traffic through your doors. In fact, local searches lead 50 percent of mobile users to visit stores within one day.
So if you want your business to become a local sensation, check out these five simple tips for improving local SEO for your small business.
1. Create a Google My Business account.
One of the simplest ways to get your business in front of locals who’re searching the web is to create a Google My Business (GMB) account.
When someone searches for a local pizza restaurant, for instance, GMB will display your address, phone number, hours of operations, photos of your food and restaurant, and all the other info you entered into your account. By giving this information to Google, your business will be more likely to be mentioned in Google’s Local 3-Pack, which is the top three local listings that show up on mobile results.
Creating a Google My Business account will also help you get found in other search features like Google Maps. Not only will you be more easily discovered with a GMB account, but you’re also much easier to contact which increases the chances of locals giving you a call to make an order or stopping by your shop to buy.
2. Create local business profiles.
Have you ever googled a business and found almost nothing about them on the web, no photos, reviews, etc.? If that’s happened to you, you probably never visited that business – you chose a business with more social proof instead.
Boost your online presence and improve your local SEO by creating local business profiles on popular search-and-discovery sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellow Pages, and Foursquare. Each profile you create is another platform for users to land on when they search online and you want to give consumers as many opportunities to find your business as you can, so claiming your business and optimizing your profile on many different sites is must.
Don’t forget to also look for any local online directories, or even your city’s website, to find local options where you can list your business information and link back to your website. Creating these business profiles will build your social proof, making consumers more inclined to check you out.
