Small business and local SEO don’t have to be unreachable. Here are some tips to increase your traffic and reap the benefits.
If you have a business that is located in a specific zip code with a fixed address and has some kind of website presence, surely you must have come across the concept of small business SEO.
For many small business owners, SEO is a locked room where you are standing outside trying to take a look through the window. Well I’m here to show you that it doesn’t have to be this way, it doesn’t have to be confusing, and it doesn’t have to be an expensive affair.
In my experience, most small business websites not only benefit from local SEO, it can cost a few hundred pounds and the benefits last for months. In this SEO guide there are some relevant questions and answers that will help you improve your ranking and hopefully keep you there for some time.
What Kinds of Small Businesses Can Benefit From Local SEO?
For any business, it is important to understand where and how your potential customers will find your services. The use of Internet search engines to find local services has replaced the older typical behaviors, such as searching newspapers and paper directories. So it goes without saying that almost all localized businesses can benefit from local SEO to put themselves in front of those prospects.
Is local SEO different from general SEO?
Certainly there are crossovers between general SEO and local SEO. Many people use general search terms when searching for local services, plus their search terms are loaded with zip codes or the name of their town or city.
Localized SEO comes with a handful of key differences from SEO in general, the most important being a Google Places list or Google+ page for your business. Claiming this and completing your details 100% correctly will help Google deliver your website or page to their potential customers when they use general search terms and are located in your town or city.
Another important factor in the success of local SEO for small business websites is the use of local referrals in your on-page SEO. What I mean by this is to include your town or city name or postal code references in your page title, description, and on your website in general. If someone is searching for ‘electricians in Glasgow’ and they don’t have any reference to Glasgow in their on-page SEO, then it is highly unlikely that any search engine will deliver their website to their users.
Based on the above, it is a good idea to have your full business address in the footer of your website. Doing this will help search engines determine the relevance of your website to users’ search term and your locality.
There is also the use of Schema.org for local businesses, which is a set of HTML snippets that your web master or web design agency must implement. This also helps search engines identify your business and deliver your website to their users for arbitrary searches related to your offering.
In what other ways can local SEO benefit you?
Once you have set up with a Google+ page, it is very important that you encourage your customers or clients to give you a positive review. Reviews are social signals that positively contribute to Google deciding whether to deliver its listing to its users. Therefore, it is a good idea to include links to your Google+ page and encourage people to connect with you on your website and in other communications, such as emails.
Final thoughts …
Localized SEO for small businesses is an integral and ongoing part of the success of many local businesses. Hiring an SEO company to do the work for you doesn’t have to be an expensive affair, and the rewards will guarantee a good return on your investment.
