As a small to medium-sized business owner, you should be focusing some of your time on Local SEO. 

To do that, you first need to know what Local SEO is. Local SEO (search engine optimization) is a digital strategy to make your business more visible online. Optimizing your online resources for search engines can be done by putting the right keywords on your website, online business listings, review responses, and more. 

Read on to find out why Local SEO is crucial for your business and how to improve your rankings on search engines below.

Why is Local SEO important for my businesses?

1. Awareness

Let’s say you own a local roofing company. When potential customers are searching for a roofer, they’ll type in “roofer near me” or “roofing company in [city]” on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Without proper SEO in place, your business won’t appear on the first page (or even several pages 😟) of search results. 

This is bad news for your business. If people can’t find you online, you’ll never grow, and the big chains and franchises will keep taking your market share.

2. Relevance

You might be ranking for some keywords, but they might be the wrong ones. Let’s still pretend you’re a roofer, but you exclusively produce and install metal roofs. If you’re ranking for “asphalt shingles” not only are you up against the wrong competitors, but you’re attracting the wrong customer base.

3. Staying ahead of the competition

With the right kind of care and attention to your Local SEO efforts, you could outrank competitors that are 3x your size. Some competitors might be popular in your area, or maybe they’ve been around for a lot longer than you, but if they aren’t consistently making efforts to rank for the right keywords, you can swing into action. You can easily assess what keywords competitors are ranking for and either try to compete head-to-head or build a strategy to rank for other relevant keywords.

4. Building trust and credibility

By optimizing your online presence you’re information will be up to date, potential customers will find you when they’re searching for your area of expertise, and past customers will be leaving reviews. All of these things will make you more trustworthy and credible to online users and they’ll be more likely to do business with you.

What can I do to improve my Local SEO?

1. Update your information

Assuming you’ve claimed your business listings (Google Business, Bing, Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc.), the first step is to make sure all of your information is correct. You should have the correct name for your business, business hours, website, and phone number linked to make sure people can learn about you and contact you when they’re ready.

2. Do keyword research

You can check the current keywords your website is ranking for by visiting Google Search Consol. You can check out what keywords competitors are using through a host of different online resources like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and other popular platforms. Hubspot lays out serval options in this article. Once you’ve done some research, you can build out a keyword strategy for your business.

3. Ask for reviews

Customer reviews are great on their own, but did you know they play a key role in how you rank on search engines? Search engines will rank you higher as you get more reviews, so keep asking for them! Responding to reviews is what will really take your business to the next level, though. Respond with keywords and reiterate what people are saying to stay ahead of the pack. And yes, you should be responding to both positive and negative reviews to build a good reputation!

4. Be consistent

It takes time to move up in the ranks for Local SEO, but it pays off. Posting one update isn’t enough to change your rankings, and quitting your efforts once you’ve made it to the top won’t keep you there. Be sure to stay on top of responding to reviews, adding keyword-filled updates to your business listings, and keeping your information up to date. As long as you’re in business, Local SEO needs your attention!

So there you have it!

So there you have it!

Now you know why Local SEO is important for small business marketing and how to take a few practical steps to improve your rankings. It does take time to learn these skills and stay on top of research, which you probably don’t have if you’re running a busy business. 

If you’d like a team of experts to take care of Local SEO for your small business, give Bolt Marketing a call!