Local Search Engine Optimization

What is Local SEO?

Local search engine optimization works by optimizing local listings for your business. Ranking better on search engines like Google is the ultimate goal. Local SEO, as the short term for local search engine optimization, is similar to search engine optimization but hyper-focused on a localized area of at most a 15-mile radius. For a business looking for more local customers, there is no more cost-effective way to generate leads online.

How to optimize for Local SEO

While there are hundreds of steps we take on behalf of our clients, here are a few of the first ones we start with.

Google Maps

Claim or setup a new Google My Business page. Adding photos and optimizing the page’s content are great first steps for any local marketing.

Directories

Creating and optimizing directory citations for your business further shows search engines that your business is active online.

Photos

Adding new photos to your listings online and map pages can have a great impact on local visibility. Geo-tagging these photos helps too.

Accuracy

Search your businesses name, address and phone number online. Then go through the listings and fix any errors that exist about your business.

Best Local SEO Strategies

Getting your business to rank in the local map pack reaches potential customers when they are looking for a local company that offers what you offer. Showing up in these highly coveted positions is not an easy task. Our team makes certain to optimize every point about your business online because every place it exists is an area of opportunity to outperform your competition. We don’t settle when our clients are just another option on the first page of Google search, we want you to show up as strongly as possible, as the best option!

Directory Citations

Think of directory citations like backlinks. Directory citations are back-links but on a smaller scale than truly powerful ones can be. Most directory citations you are probably familiar with. Websites like Mapquest and Yellow Pages are two such websites. There are areas to supply the directory website and its visitors with your business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, and a brief description of your business. Using these fields as much as possible we go through hundreds of websites in a few short months and build up your brand online.

Time for Organic?

Once your business has started to dominate the local map pack in Google search and other search engines like Yahoo and Bing there is another step that compliments local search engine optimization. By adding organic search engine optimization, or more powerful back-links to your website’s link profile you can start to rank once in the Google My Business section and again, underneath with your website’s organic ranking.

Layered Dominant Marketing

Showing up once on the first page of Google is great, showing up several times within the local map pack, organic rankings, review and social sites is even better. We practice authority marketing as well when it comes to search engine marketing. When you’re able to show that your company is not just another option on the first page of a search engine but instead the best option, this will not only improve your campaign but also improve your ability to convert traffic into paying customers.

Use more than one SEO strategy

By making certain that you are using multiple strategies that do not interfere with each other you can make the most aggressive efforts possible for your company. Using local directory citations to build a safe foundation of beginning links for a new E-Commerce website would be one such example. Always starting with any project with a focus on on-site optimization methods is a very important step as well. Relying on an assorted style of back-links is also an opportunity for a stronger profile. As long as you are continuing to provide relevance and value to the search engine visitors who find you you will win consistently.

Disavow unhealthy links

One often overlooked area of concern for any search marketing campaign is to remove the liability associated with having poor or spammy back-links. These kinds of links could accidentally appear over time or be maliciously put there by a competitor. Some of the ones we see often are websites in a foreign language that you don’t service or websites with a list of thousands of other website links that you are listed on. By submitting a list of unhealthy links like this to Google you can request that your website not be penalized for these links existing. While you can also attempt to reach out to the webmaster where the back-links exist, most of the time you will not get a response in a timely manner. Creating a disavow file may sound daunting but the process is fairly simple and can be done for most web properties within an hour or so.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization is the practice of optimizing your business online for higher rankings and more traffic. Popular areas of optimization include on-site, local, organic, national, and back-linking. Whether your business is just starting out or you’ve been around longer than a century, people make new purchasing decisions online more than any other avenue of consumer outreach.

As an alternative to paid search traffic as a search user acquisition channel, oftentimes the cost per acquired lead is just lower. In comparison to paid search traffic, well-maintained search engine marketing campaigns can lead to long-term traffic growth as well as a dependable ongoing supply of new potential buyers for your business.

Not limited to any one tactic or strategy, search engine optimization is best defined by the intent of the actions of a digital marketing strategy to obtain better results from popular search engines than any one specific service.

Are Back Links Safe?

Not all backlinks are created equal. There are plenty of unsafe and potentially harmful backlink strategies. One good guide on safe backlinks is to look at whether the website they are on is industry-related to the site it is linking to. Another good point is to only use backlinks that are surrounded by a body of content that would also be highly relevant to your website’s content. We do not use any unsafe or potentially harmful sources for backlinks we create and have thorough testing measures in place to safeguard our campaigns.

Can I do Search Engine Optimization Myself?

Yes, you certainly can. To this end, we have created several free downloads on our website to assist you in this endeavor. However, when attempting to do your own search engine optimization you should understand that the majority of your time, in the beginning, will be learning what the right steps are to take, followed by the time it takes to learn how to implement the right steps you have found. We work often with companies to train their staff in-house to internally manage parts or all of a search engine marketing campaign.

Are There any Free Tools for SEO?

We like to refer people that ask for free tools to audit search engine optimization to moz.com as well as a free chrome extension called SEO Quake developed by semrush.com. Another great and free tool for testing the speed and performance of your website would be tools.pingdom.com. Website speed and performance oftentimes have a harsh impact on optimization campaigns if highly sensitive areas are not taken care of before trying to get more traffic.