Small and medium sized companies need to be careful about how they spend their marketing budget. They cannot hope to compete with giant multinational corporations either in search engine optimization, or in paid advertising. But our digital marketing specialists know that you don’t even need to do that.
Relying on local SEO helps you reach the people that matter – those living in your area. These are the ones who are likely to walk in your store or schedule an appointment at your offices. Raking in local searches involves optimizing your website in a specific way. Here is how our specialists approach this task:
1. Finding Relevant Local Keywords
Local SEO starts with keyword research. It does not matter that you already have your list of industry-related keywords. People perform searches in a different way when they look for local businesses.For instance, many of them ask the digital assistant embedded in their mobile phone or computer (Google Assistant, Apple Siri or Microsoft Cortana). This type of search is more conversational so it has to reflect in the structure of the keywords used for ranking.
2. Optimizing Headlines, Meta and ALT Text
Once keyword research is completed, digital marketers will implement the local search term throughout the website. The keywords must appear in:
- H1, H2 and H3 titles
- Page title
- Meta description
- ALT text for images
Also, the keywords must appear in the written content on the pages, without overdoing it. Google penalizes keyword stuffing as an attempt to shortcut its ranking process.
3. Creating Location Pages
Companies with stores or offices in different locations need a separate page on their website for each city, county or neighborhood. This is one of the necessary steps for showing up on Google Maps or Apple Maps when users are looking for your type of products or services.
When we create these pages, we make sure that each of them has original content, even if you offer the same services or sell the same products.
4. Creating Consistent NAP Information on All Website Pages
When you consult with our digital marketing specialists about issues in ranking on local Google searches, one of the first things we check is the format of NAP (name, address, phone number) data on your website.
Google does not understand different address formats as the same place. Thus, any variations would be interpreted as two different addresses, thus two different businesses.
For this reason, we often change the design of sites as part of local SEO efforts, in order to create a standard header and footer containing correct NAP data and other relevant information.
5. Creating Local Content
The effort of ranking in local searches is ongoing. And part of the work is writing and publishing content that is relevant for people in your local area. From news related to your industry to local events you host or sponsor, try to become an authority on everything that matters for customers in your area.
Local content attracts more interest than general purpose articles, even if it has a shorter lifespan in terms of relevance. However, you can find new and interesting things to post at least on a weekly basis, attracting new potential clients from your local area.
EverConvert Can Help You Create an Effective Local SEO Strategy!
When you need a reliable marketing specialist, EverConvert is here to help you find new clients. Our multi-disciplinary team will work with you to understand your business goals and develop an effective local SEO strategy.
Contact us today to schedule an appointment with us and start discussing your digital marketing strategy for success!
