{"id":141134,"date":"2020-05-19T16:07:37","date_gmt":"2020-05-19T16:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/?p=141134"},"modified":"2020-05-19T16:07:37","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T16:07:37","slug":"maximizing-local-seo-five-reliable-tactics-to-enhance-your-visibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2020\/05\/19\/maximizing-local-seo-five-reliable-tactics-to-enhance-your-visibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Maximizing local SEO: Five tactics to enhance visibility without breaking the bank"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"well\">\n<h3>30-second summary:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Google frequently changing its search engine algorithm in recent times in a bid to reduce the organic reach of most businesses so they can invest more in Ads, what are the options left for your small business in this period?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to GoGulf, 46% of all Google searches are of people searching for local information, and 86% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Local SEO is that effective, what is it, and why should your business rely on it?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this article, I will examine basic things that still work like adding your business to online directories, building backlinks, developing local content targeted at your local audience, incorporating titles and meta description tags, and the use of targeted keywords.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO changes all the time. That&#8217;s why you need to update your <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/resources\/seo-the-complete-strategy-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SEO strategies<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> regularly to remain visible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to this <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialmediatoday.com\/news\/12-local-seo-stats-every-business-owner-and-marketer-should-know-in-2019-i\/549079\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">article<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 72% of consumers visit a store within 5 miles after doing a local search. This shows how powerful local SEO can be. If you can make your business visible such that your business appears in the search results when a potential customer searches for a product and service, there is a 72% chance they\u2019ll drop by your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.1stonthelist.ca\/blog\/what-is-local-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">what is<\/a> local SEO<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? Local SEO involves the optimization of your online presence in order to improve your chances of being discovered by people who make local searches. Think of it as your traditional SEO, but with the inclusion of geography in it. In other words, it&#8217;s you trying to attract more business from local searches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this article, you\u2019ll learn five local SEO tactics that will help you skyrocket your visibility without breaking the bank.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>1. Be strategic about your title and meta description tags<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you search for something on Google&#8217;s search engine, you&#8217;ll see millions of results competing for your attention. The only way you can tell if the search result has what you&#8217;re looking for is the title and the description you see immediately after the title.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many business owners take the title of their blog posts and meta descriptions for granted. You need to start seeing the title and the description as a way you can &#8220;sell&#8221; your page to a potential visitor of your page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A useful tool that will help you optimize your title and description is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpbeginner.com\/plugins\/how-to-install-and-setup-wordpress-seo-plugin-by-yoast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yoast SEO<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It&#8217;ll be able to test how good your title and description are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deliberately include the location of your business in your blog post titles. For example, let\u2019s assume you sell wine and your potential client is looking for the best New York wine, you\u2019d be doing yourself a great service by including the words \u201cNew York\u201d in the title and the description.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-141136\" src=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/local-seo-example-new-york-wine.png\" alt=\"Local SEO example New York wine\" width=\"777\" height=\"185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/local-seo-example-new-york-wine.png 777w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/local-seo-example-new-york-wine-300x71.png 300w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/local-seo-example-new-york-wine-768x183.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 777px) 100vw, 777px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Source: Google Search<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h2><b><\/b><b>2. Optimize your Google My Business account<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You know how you\u2019ll search for a pizza place on your phone and Google will show you a list of pizza places near you? That\u2019s made possible by using Google My Business. Google My Business (GMB) is a tool used to manage your online presence across Google, including Google Search and Google Maps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll find it shocking that<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/info.brandmuscle.com\/StateofLocalMarketing2017_Download-Report.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">56% of local businesses haven\u2019t claimed their Google My Business listings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. So don\u2019t sleep on this tip.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you haven\u2019t claimed your GMB listing then make sure you do so. But don\u2019t just claim your GMB listing and forget all about it. Optimize your GMB by filling in your Google My Business Profile, choosing the relevant category, and including images. This will not only help your potential customer find you, but it will also give them some information about your business and thus influence their decision to stop by your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><\/b><b>3. Create local content<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.socialmediatoday.com\/news\/12-local-seo-stats-every-business-owner-and-marketer-should-know-in-2019-i\/549079\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GoGulf<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 46% of all Google searches are of people searching for local information. So how do you harness that attention so as to get your target audience to know about your business?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating local content that will be of interest to your target audience makes you the local authority for your industry. By local content, I mean the creation of content that is targeted to your local audience. This will require you to be strategic with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/03\/04\/shortcuts-find-long-tail-keywords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">keywords<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So as a florist, instead of creating content on the best flowers to give your wife, think of the best flowers your customer can give their wife in Florida. That way you&#8217;re specifically addressing those in Florida and those who come across your article see you as the go-to florist in Florida.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><\/b><b>4. Get inbound links to raise the domain authority<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As beneficial as it is to create local content for your own website, Moz revealed that link signals are an important<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/moz.com\/local-search-ranking-factors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">local search ranking factor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that will help enhance your visibility as shown in the diagram below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Link signals include inbound anchor text, linking domain authority, and linking domain quantity. All this helps to raise the domain authority as this helps increase your local search rankings.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To improve your link signals you should also guest post local content on other websites as well. Create valuable local resources that your target audience will love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you guest post and refer people to the blog on your business website, you&#8217;re acquiring <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/11\/06\/strategies-to-build-inbound-links\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">inbound links<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to raise your domain authority. Those will help you with your SEO and increase your chances of being visible on Google when the people within your geographical location search for things related to your business.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b><\/b><b>5. Add your business to online directories<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why stop at just adding your business on only one directory when there are so many directories out there. Adding your business to as many online directories (especially local ones) as you can possibly find will increase your chances of being found online. It will be time-consuming but it&#8217;s worth it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business2community.com\/online-marketing\/20-free-local-online-business-directories-and-listings-you-need-to-be-in-02285643\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Online business directories<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like Binge Places for Business, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Angie\u2019s List, and Trip Advisor will make you more visible to those who need your services locally. And to add to that, getting listed on these sites will make you earn backlinks from them which will help build your domain authority and increase your ranking on Google\u2019s Search Engine Result Pages (SERP), therefore increasing your organic reach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What you need to take note of is that the information on your business on other directories is the same as that on your GMB. This consistency will help with your rankings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Ready to maximize local SEO?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over time Google has tweaked its<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/neilpatel.com\/blog\/the-ultimate-google-algorithm-cheat-sheet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">search engine algorithm<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to reduce the organic reach of businesses so as to direct their attention to investing in ads. As a small business that has limited resources, investing in ads may seem like a long shot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Google\u2019s reducing your ability to organically reach your target audience, then what\u2019s the next available option for you? Local SEO can give you the needed exposure to your target audience organically and at little or no cost.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The good news is that applying the steps above will put you ahead of other local businesses scrambling for their customers\u2019 attention on the most coveted first page of Google search.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you\u2019ve got the tips how did you would you say you\u2019ve fared with your local SEO? <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Toby Nwazor examines how your small business can still win the local SEO war in spite of all the recent Google algorithm tweaks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1092,"featured_media":141141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[37,342,137,22,32],"content_type":[],"class_list":["post-141134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo","tag-google","tag-google-algorithm-updates","tag-local-seo","tag-seo","tag-serps"],"acf":{"tad_independentcommercial":false,"tad_content_format":false},"post_info":{"name":"idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com","title":"","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/maximizing-local-seo-five-tactics-to-enhance-visibility-without-breaking-the-bank.png","category":"SEO","timeago":"6y"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1092"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141134"},{"taxonomy":"content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_type?post=141134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}