7 ways to improve local SEO
You know how important SEO is to your site so you show up when people are searching for your brand, but are you factoring in the importance of local SEO?
Google and the other search engines are placing a lot of emphasis on local searches or helping people find things that are “near me.” Dubbed micro-moments, these are opportunities for you to combine your targeted keyword phrase with your city or region for better ranking for searchers on the go.
Let’s say Jane’s visiting Denver and decides she wants to do a food tour. She pulls out her phone and looks up “food tours near me.” Sites that haven’t optimized for local SEO might not show up because they’re not targeting locals or highlighting their location, they’re only optimizing for “food tours” in general.
If you’ve been optimizing your site and online presence for local SEO, you just might be welcoming Jane on your next food tour.
How to improve local SEO
1. Consistent NAP and categories: NAP is your Name, Address, and Phone Number, and these three items must be exactly the same across your website and every directory you use, like Yelp or TripAdvisor. You also want to make sure you’re picking the right categories for your business.
2. Embed Google Maps: Add an embedded Google Map to your site to call attention to your location and get additional map data from Google.
3. Use location-based terms in site and social content: One of the easiest wins for local SEO is through the optimization of your own site’s content to use location terms in close proximity to your keyword phrase or business name.
Instead of just referencing your food tour on your homepage, talk about your Denver food tour. This same principle applies to your social media posts as well by trying to work in keywords or your brand name where it’s appropriate.
4. Meta descriptions and page titles: Meta descriptions and page titles are used to tell the search engines and online searchers what your page is about. Use location terms in those fields to earn that searcher’s click and ensure that the search engines show your page for local search queries.
5. Have listings on online directories: Web crawlers use links to understand your website and the more quality links you have pointing to your site, the better your business tends to rank in the search engines.
You should have listings on important business directories and include links back to your site. Quality directories to have a listing on include Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, and even your local chamber of commerce or tourism board’s website.
6. Request and respond to reviews: The search engines feed on fresh content, including new online reviews! Ask customers to write reviews of their experience with you on Google, TripAdvisor, Facebook, Yelp, and any other review site you’re active on.
7. Get links from authoritative sources: Another good option is to try to get links from reputable travel bloggers or other local sources, like newspapers, TV stations, or regional community forums. Always keep in mind that with links, it’s about quality over quantity. Yes, you want a healthy number of sites pointing to yours, but buying 100 links on a link farm site is going to hurt your site in the long run.
Put a focus on local SEO by updating your site with location terms and geo-targeted keywords. There are a lot of opportunities to get more qualified traffic to your site through local SEO efforts.
