Local SEO is a concept that doesn’t get talked about enough. Too often, people focus on search engine optimization as a whole, ignoring the nuances. While this works for national companies, if you are a small company operating in a limited geographic area, you don’t need to outrank businesses a hundred miles or more away.
Just like with foot traffic, your competition is local.
Nearly half of all Google searches are local searches. This means that without local SEO marketing, you are really losing out. Here is your quick and simple local SEO guide for 2021.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO refers to methods that enhance search engine visibility specifically for small, local businesses. With the correct approach, you can rank higher when people in your area search for the services or products you offer. Search engines look for key aspects of your online presence when determining your ranking, so local SEO ranking factorsgo beyond just keywords—though those matter too.
Key Strategies for Enhancing Local SEO
Improve Your Google My Business Page
One of the first things potential clients and customers will look at when assessing your business is your My Business page on Google. But they aren’t the only ones; Google is also checking this out.
Listing your business puts it on the radar, putting its location on Google Maps and giving you the opportunity to turn up in the sidebar of the Google results page. Some ways to improve your local SEO in Atlanta through your My Business page include:
- Keeping your information detail and accurate
- Adding your logo and enticing images to the page
- Ensuring the location listed is accurate
- Adding information on things like payment methods and hours of operation
- Responding to all customer reviews
- Encouraging customers and clients to leave reviews
Incorporate Local Keywords
You want to make sure your content has the keywords locals are likely to be searching for. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to add your location to more general keywords.
For example, if you have a car wash in Atlanta, your generic keywords might be things like car wash, car vacuuming, and car waxing. You add Atlanta to those—i.e., car wash in Atlanta, Atlanta car waxing.
If your business operates in more than one city, you can switch things up to attract searches from other areas. Also, keep in mind that there may be more than one way to refer to a given area. You can use terms for metro areas, counties, and more.
Optimize Your Site for Mobile
Finally, consider how most people are searching for companies like yours. In most cases, it’s going to be on their phone or tablet.
Search engines penalize websites that aren’t optimized for mobile when the potential customer is searching on a mobile device. This means that you could be missing out on most searches even if your site is otherwise optimized.
If you want to improve your local results, turn to a local SEO company in Atlanta. SEO Guru offers the best SEO services in Atlanta, helping companies throughout Georgia rank better in searches and drive customer traffic.
