Hey there local business owner, have you been struggling to drive more foot traffic and attract new customers through your website? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. As a local business, you have to work twice as hard to rank well in search engines like Google since you’re competing against huge national brands with massive marketing budgets. The good news is you have a secret weapon – local SEO. By optimizing your website and online listings for local search, you can tap into the huge number of people searching for businesses like yours every single day. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the key steps to leverage local SEO and get your business ranking higher in local search results. By the end, you’ll have the tools and knowledge to strengthen your online presence, reach more potential customers, and ultimately boost your bottom line.
Understanding Local SEO and Why It Matters
Local SEO is all about optimizing your business for local search results and maps. Why does it matter? Because most people search for local businesses on their phones, and local SEO helps you rank higher in those results.
To leverage local SEO, you first need to claim and optimize your business’s local listings like Google My Business, Bing Places for Business, and Yelp. Make sure all information like your address, hours, and photos are up to date across listings. These listings also allow customer reviews, so encourage happy customers to leave reviews to build social proof.
Next, focus on ranking for location-based keywords in search engines and maps. Mention your city and state name, full address, and zip code on your website and in content. Use phrases like “best pizza in Springfield, MO” or “family dentist at 123 Main St”.
Build location-optimized content like blog posts about your neighborhood or city. Mention landmarks, events, and other local points of interest. Embed an interactive map showing your location. Link to other reputable local businesses. All of this signals to search engines like Google that your business is an authoritative local source.
Finally, gain high-quality local backlinks. Ask local organizations, media outlets, bloggers, and business partners to link to your site. Sponsor local events and organizations to get your name and link in front of community members. The more sites that link to you, the more search engines will trust you as an important local business.
By optimizing your online presence and engaging with your local community, you’ll rank higher in local search and maps, driving more foot traffic and revenue for your business. Local SEO does matter, so start implementing these strategies today!
Optimizing Your Google Business Profile for Local SEO
Optimizing your Google Business Profile is key to ranking well locally and driving more customers to your door. Here are some tips to improve your local SEO:
Complete your business profile
Double check that your business name, address, and phone number are correct. Add business hours, photos, and a description of your products or services. The more information you provide, the more likely people will find you.
Choose a profile photo
Select an eye-catching photo that represents your business. It should be well-lit, high resolution, and taken from an interesting angle. You can include your logo, storefront, products, or team. Photos allow customers to connect with your brand and build trust.
Add posts and updates
Post regular updates, events, news, and offers to engage your followers. Share photos, videos, sales, new products, or behind-the-scenes clips. Updates keep your business profile active and relevant so more people will see your posts and visit your store.
Get reviews
Encourage customers to leave reviews about their experience. Reviews build social proof that you run a reputable business. Respond to both positive and negative reviews promptly and politely. Thank happy customers for their praise. Address critical reviews empathetically by apologizing and outlining how you will resolve any issues.
Claim and verify your profile
Claiming and verifying your Google Business Profile confirms you are the business owner. This adds credibility and allows you to fully manage your profile. You can then optimize your profile for local SEO to increase visibility in search and Maps results.
With a optimized profile, you’ll attract more local customers and gain an edge over your competition. Leveraging local SEO is a proven way for neighborhood shops to thrive.
Building Local Links and Citations
To rank well locally, you need to build quality links and citations pointing to your business website. These help search engines determine your relevance and authority in the local market.
Link building
One of the best ways to build local links is to get listed in local business directories like Yelp, Foursquare, and TripAdvisor. Claim and optimize your free listings by adding photos, your business description, address, and contact info. Ask happy customers to leave reviews on these sites as well – positive reviews are a ranking signal.
You should also build links on locally-focused websites like neighborhood associations, chamber of commerce sites, and community blogs. Contact the webmasters and ask if they’ll add your business to their local business listings or resources pages. Some may allow you to write a guest post to earn a link.
Forge partnerships with complimentary local businesses and create cross links between your websites. For example, if you’re a restaurant, link to a bakery or food delivery service. These types of links show a connection between businesses in the same community.
Citation building
Citations are mentions of your business name, address, and phone number on other webpages. The more high-quality citations you have, the better. Some of the top local citation sources include:
•Google My Business – Claims your free business listing on Google, including Maps and Search. This is the most important citation you can get.
•Bing Places for Business – The Bing equivalent of Google My Business. Claim and optimize your free listing.
•Apple Maps – For businesses with a physical location, you can claim your business on Apple Maps.
•Yelp, Foursquare, TripAdvisor, etc. – In addition to link building, optimize your citations on major directory sites.
•Local newspapers – Contact your local newspapers to get your business listed in their online business directory.
•Industry associations – See if your local industry associations or organizations provide business listings on their site. Get listed if possible.
Building a strong network of local links and citations, in addition to optimizing your on-page SEO and content marketing, is key to ranking at the top of the search results in your city and neighborhood. Keep at it consistently and your local visibility and traffic will improve over time.
Leveraging Schema Markup on Your Website
Schema markup is code you add to your website to help search engines better understand your content and business. By implementing schema on your site, you’re giving search engines additional context about your business that can help you rank higher in local search results.
Types of Schema for Local Businesses
There are a few types of schema you should implement on your local business website:
- LocalBusiness – Provides details about your business like name, address, phone number, business hours, etc. This helps search engines understand your business is a local operation.
- Offer – Highlights the products, services, or events your business offers. Adding offer schema to your service pages or product listings can help search engines understand what exactly your business provides to customers.
- Event – Adds details about any events your business hosts like sales, networking events, fundraisers, etc. Event schema helps search engines index your events and allows them to show up in local event listings.
- Review – Enables you to markup customer reviews and ratings on your site. Review schema allows search engines to understand sentiment around your business and incorporate reviews and ratings into search listings.
- FAQ – Can be used to markup any frequently asked questions pages on your site. This provides more content for search engines to crawl and index, which helps them better understand what information people are looking for about your business.
How to Add Schema Markup
The easiest way for local businesses to add schema markup to their website is through a plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math. These plugins have built-in tools that allow you to generate the proper JSON-LD schema markup for your:
- Business information
- Service pages
- Product pages
- Events
- Reviews
- FAQ pages
All you have to do is fill in the details, and the plugin will automatically add the markup to your site. By leveraging a tool like this, implementing schema markup on your local business website is really straightforward. And the benefits to your search rankings and visibility can be huge.
Driving Foot Traffic With Local PPC and Social Media Ads
Once you’ve optimized your local SEO, it’s time to start driving more foot traffic to your business. Two of the most effective ways to do this are through local pay-per-click (PPC) ads and targeted social media ads.
Local PPC Ads
PPC ads allow you to show up at the top of Google search results for keywords related to your business. You only pay when someone clicks your ad. Some tips for setting up local PPC campaigns:
•Focus on location-specific keywords like “pizza Chicago” or “plumber Austin TX”.
•Set a tight geo-targeting radius around your business location.
•Include your business name, address, and phone number in the ad text and landing page.
•Keep your bids modest to start. You can always raise them if needed.
•Track conversions to see which ads and keywords drive the most in-store traffic.
Social Media Ads
With platforms like Facebook, you can create ads targeting users in a specific location and radius around your business. Some tips for effective local social ads:
•Choose eye-catching images that showcase your products or services.
•Keep your message short and include a call-to-action like “Stop in today!” or “Call to book an appointment!”
•Target users within 5 to 15 miles of your business. The smaller the radius, the less you’ll have to spend.
•Run ads for events, sales, new products, or services to spur quick action.
•Track link clicks and in-store visits from social ads to determine ideal budget and audience.
Driving more foot traffic to your local business through paid advertising and social media marketing is key to success. Start small, focus on high-intent users close by, and optimize over time for the biggest impact. With regular tweaking, local PPC and social media ads can become one of your most effective tools for boosting in-store visits and sales.
Conclusion
So there you have it, a few tips to help boost your local SEO and get more customers walking through your door. Optimizing your online presence by focusing on local SEO is one of the smartest moves you can make as a small business owner. While it does require an investment of your time, the rewards of ranking higher in local search and gaining more visibility in your community can be huge. Give these strategies a shot and stick with them – your patience and persistence will pay off. Before you know it, you’ll be topping the local search charts and wondering how you ever got by without leveraging the power of local SEO. The customers will be pouring in, your business will be booming, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a local legend.