Are there some tips that could help my business appear in the top 3 results in my local SEO? That’s a pervasive question many local business owners have, and you all have a point.
The internet is a very competitive space, with billions of existing websites. Millions of websites may compete for attention in the most competitive niches, while in income less competitive niches, there may be at least a few thousand. Whatever your niche, you will likely face some level of competition.
One way to get around the immense competition is to optimize your website for local searches. Google estimates that approximately 73% of all web traffic is related to local search. This means that whenever anyone searches for a business like yours, your website will appear in the top search results within your local area. This means that not only is it easier for you to win with local SEO, it’s also likely to be the source of most of the traffic you’re getting any.
Even though your local industry might still be competitive, it will be easier for you to stand out and achieve a higher ranking, mainly if you follow these five tips.
1. You Need a Website
A website is a crucial part of all the different puzzle pieces that Google and other search engines look at when assessing or ranking businesses for locally oriented search entries. You probably already have one. But if you don’t, now is an excellent time to consider investing in getting a modern, SEO-friendly website.
You don’t have to worry about the cost of getting a website these days, as you have so many options. For instance, with tools such as WordPress, Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, and others, you can quickly build your website if you have the time and patience to learn. Or you could hire someone to do it for you at affordable rates.
Nonetheless, you should bear in mind that not every web developer knows beyond the technicality of how to build a high-converting website.
2. Geo-specific TLD
Top-Level Domain (TLD) names are domain names that end with an extension representing a particular country’s name. Some examples are .us for the United States and .uk for the United Kingdom. Although you can still rank well without geo-specific TLDs, it is worth being placed #2 in helping you rank in the top 3 in your local SEO.
3. Produce some great content
Having a website is not the be-all and end-all of ranking for local SEO. You can have a website and never show up in any search results, especially if that website is not SEO-friendly. Once you have your website optimized, it’s time to produce content that provides signals to search engines, such as Google, as to what your website is about.
|Ideas on how to build great content can be found here|
Content is also important because it generates backlinks and citations. Backlinks are generally a great indicator of the authority of your website, and if a lot of links to your website generally appear in connection with locally relevant content such as blog posts, articles, etc, this sends a signal to Google that your website has local authority.
Also, this is a citation when your business name is mentioned online, perhaps in a social media post or in a blog or an article or press release. Notably, a high frequency of citations by local sources will also signal to Google about the local authority of your website.
Good content is a way to get people talking about you and produce citations for you, even if they don’t directly add a link to your business. Another way to achieve this effect is to host a local event and publicize it on social media.
There is more to local SEO than writing an article or a blog post. Make sure your content contains a lot of local signals. Typically, a local signal identifies a prominent individual or place in your area. When you use them frequently in your content, it signals to Google that your website is predominantly focused on that particular area.
4. Sign up on local directories
When Google’s bots and algorithms are trying to figure out how to assess a website, a lot of things get taken into consideration. It’s a big-picture assessment, and no one factor is decisive. Another thing that will help boost your local SEO efforts is signing up on as many local business directories as you can, such as Yelp, Yell, etc.
There are also niche-only directories; hence, you should find all the directories in your niche and list your business. For example, if you’re a renewable energy company operating in the UK, SolarLocator would be a great place to be. Again, this sends strong signals to Google about the focus of your website and business.
5. Google my business
And the 5th tip which could easily be up there in helping your business appear in the top 3 results for local SEO is “Google my business“.
This is Google’s own web directory, if you will. As you might imagine, signing up on it will greatly impact your local SEO efforts. To sign up on Google my Business, you will need to provide certain essential pieces of information, including your business name, location, and precise contact details. Giving Google my Business your exact address is important because if there is a conflict between the information you provide and the information on your website, Google will not trust your website, and your search rankings will drop.
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