10 Top Tips for Ranking Well in Your Area
You already know about the good that a killer search engine optimization (SEO) strategy can do for your business. As an offshoot of general search practices, local SEO can also have a number of excellent benefits, especially for small businesses looking for new ways to promote themselves in their community. It is a way for local companies to ensure that anyone looking for their service can find the most convenient option, while also ensuring that they can grow their own business.
What are the top 10 tips for ranking well at a local level, and how can you achieve them?
Image source: Pushpin on the map by Shutterstock
* * *
Get Involved
Almost every town and village has their own local website or forum, and this can act as a goldmine for a small business.
If you can include links in your post, even better, but if not, at least search spiders can see that you are a prominent player in the area.
* * *
Get Involved Again
Remember that offline is just as important as online.
Is there a local charity event you can sponsor? Could you do a product giveaway to the nearby school?
Anytime you do something in your area, someone online will talk about it, a newspaper will report it, and at the very least, the people you are involved with will give you a ‘Thank You’ mention and link on their website or social media.
* * *
Use Google Places
This powerful tool can bring huge increases in customer numbers.
Contact details and your location are all input, but the greatest impact can be the testimonials people can leave that then feature in Google search results.
The onus is on you then, to ensure all of those testimonials are good.
* * *
Encourage Reviews
Whether you have to offer customers 10% off their next purchase or a free item, it will be worth it if their positive review boosts your ranking and brings in more fully paying punters.
Get creative and get your happy customers singing your praises online.
* * *
Remember the Others
While Google may be the search leaders, Bing, Yahoo, and others can bring in customers and have their own business directories, too.
Be sure to use them.
* * *
WHOIS
No one is certain that Google factor this in, but there’s no harm in making sure that you register your web domain to your business address.
If it is considered, you will make a huge step forward in the search results.
* * *
Look at Your Domain
Don’t get us wrong, there is something empowering and ‘feel good’ when you start a small business and have a .com or .org domain.
At the same time, it isn’t very specific, is it? Stick to your country, so .co.uk or .co.nz, for example, especially if your town or village name is repeated multiple times worldwide. Larger, global businesses should go for a .com for their general or US based site, then specific domains for each country they are in.
* * *
Use Other Avenues
It is easy to get obsessed with search – that is the point, after all – however people do still use business directories such as Yell. You won’t get the same volume as through the search engines, but you might pick up extra customers.
You get another inbound link, too, which is always welcome.
* * *
Contact Focus
Make a fuss of the contact details on your page, and mention your location throughout your web content. Just remember not to make it look spammy!
Use schema, for example, to give prominence to contact details to the search spiders pick them up easier.
* * *
Think Bigger
While you’re aiming local, don’t shut yourself off to people outside of your area.
A message such as “We offer services in X town but also nationally,” or merely stating that you are based in a specific location, will help you to rank locally but not be potentially shooting yourself in the foot.
* * *
Bright Local are leaders in local seo tools for business websites.
