Three Top Tips For Local SEO
When it comes to obtaining strong rankings at the top of Google for your business and the services which you offer in your local area, there’s a number of things which you, as a business owner, can do to ensure you’re up there! These aren’t necessarily things which have to take too much time to setup or implement, however are things which can make a significant difference to where your local business ranks on Google. With this in mind, here’s our top three tips for local SEO and ensuring your business succeeds online in the coming year:
- Sign Up To Google Plus For Business
You’ve probably seen us mentioning Google Plus a fair bit over the last few days, especially in our recent blog post which looked at the importance of Google Plus as part of your online marketing strategy, however that’s because of the fact that, for any business (especially a local business) looking to succeed online, it should be a vital component of your approach.
One of the first things you should do when auditing your local online marketing is ensure you’re signed up for Google Plus For Business and if you’re not, do so there and then! These pages are the map listings which show on the first page of Google for the majority of local searches. What potential customers will be able to see, in an instant, from these listings is your website, your phone number, your location and reviews on your page…all the information they could ever want to make the decision to give you a call or come and see you!
- Submit Yourself To Local Business Directories
Whilst business directories aren’t quite as effective at driving local traffic to your website as they once were, it’s still important to be listed on them and Google see’s them as local citations; something important for achieving strong organic rankings on the search engine! You’ll probably be aware of many of your local directories, however if you’re not, simply run a search on Google for ‘Business Directories X’ with X being your location!
As an example, if you’re a London based business, some of the great local directories out there which you should sign yourself up to are the likes of www.ilondon.co.uk, www.londinium.co.uk and www.londonbusinesssearch.co.uk. Of course, a quick search online will return a whole host of directories local to you but one thing to always remember is to make sure that they’re relevant to you and that you submit because they’re local, not simply for the sake of doing so.
- Use Schema Markup To Specify Key Information
In order to secure strong local search positions, you need to ensure that you’re sending clear signals to Google which outline the relationship between your website and the locations which you’re looking to rank in. A Fantastic way of doing this is to use Schema Markup with clear Name, Address and Phone (NAP) information. It can be a little tricky to understand Schema Markup at first, however you’ll find some fantastic content and examples on their site which can help you to get the markup implemented. Having such markup in place sends signals to Google that your website is related to localised searches or searches carried out in a specific area and, as such, ensures you’re seen as relevant to appear in such results!
Above all, local search marketing is an in-depth subject in it’s own right, however by implementing a few things you can increase your chances of securing strong local rankings. Of course, if you’d prefer to leave it to the experts, why not see what our SEO services offer or give us a call today on 01223 75023.
