Big box retailers and large brands have a lot of resources to put into SEO and search marketing. It’s easy to see why locally-owned or small businesses might think it’s impossible to compete with huge companies in search.
But, small businesses can beat big brands in search and show at the top of search results pages. They can do it through local SEO.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is a type of search engine optimization strategy that helps businesses show up more frequently in searches conducted by people who are close to their business. Unlike a more broad SEO strategy that aims to improve search visibility for all searches, local SEO aims to play into proximity ranking factors to increase visibility in searches conducted by people nearby.
Local SEO Ranking Factors
Google considers hundreds of factors when choosing which results to show on search engine results pages (SERPs). But, there are three primary categories that are important. When Google chooses which webpages to show in results, it considers:
- Relevance. Is the website content relevant to the search term?
- Prominence. Is the website trustworthy and authoritative?
- Proximity. Is the website able to serve the searcher based on their location?
The proximity ranking factor is one of the most important elements of local SEO for small businesses.
The Relationship Between Proximity and Local SEO
A brick-and-mortar business wants to reach searchers near their business — not searchers who live across the country.
For example, a hair salon in Tampa wants to show up in search results when someone in Tampa searches for “hair salon.” The hair salon wouldn’t have much to gain from showing up in a search by someone who needs a haircut and lives in New York City. The salon wants to get their business in front of nearby customers. This is what local SEO for small businesses can do.
With the right SEO strategies, small businesses can increase organic search rankings and start showing up in more local searches. Businesses that have a strong local SEO plan can appear more often on SERPS and receive rich snippets and featured results.
Small businesses with strong local SEO may appear higher in organic rankings.
Small businesses with strong local SEO may appear in Google Maps.
This visibility in local search can help a small business attract new customers who have shown a clear intent for needing a product or service they offer, which is why local SEO for small businesses is so important. If you want your small business to appear more frequently in local search, here are a few strategies for making it happen.
How to Do Local SEO for Small Businesses
Small businesses can follow these steps to optimize their web presence for local search.
1. Create unique pages for your locations
If you want to rank well locally, then your location pages need to be featured on your website. This can be hard for brands that have a national presence and main website, but the more space you’re able to give to individual locations, the better.
Each brick-and-mortar location needs its own page. The location page should have a local phone number, API to Google maps for easy searching, and content unique to that location. As far as content marketing options, consider discussing the history of the location, people who work there, services offered, and unique features related to parking or directions.
Not only will these individual pages boost your SEO, but they will also sell customers on your brand. They know everything they need to visit your location and take advantage of your products or services.
Related: How Can I Optimize My Brand’s Website If I Have Multiple Locations
2. Incorporate local keywords in your meta tags and descriptions
While you’re creating local pages to attract customers, boost your rankings with local keywords in your title tags, meta descriptions, and keyword targeting. Research tools like Moz’s Keyword Explorer can help you come up with local terms to attract customers. For example, you might target local options like:
- Tampa hair salon
- Hair salon on Dale Mabry
- Carrollwood hair salon
- Hair salon near 33618 zip code
These terms provide micro-targeting for audiences in your area. Large cities like Tampa offer a lot of competition for brands, and you can target people right in your neighborhood with the right keyword planning.
3. Develop local content your readers can use
Once you have improved the content on your static information pages, you can start to increase your local rankings with articles for SEO . Review your target audience and consider the information they might need and other local resources they could use.
For example, the hair salon mentioned above could create a list of tips for keeping your hair styled at a beach wedding, or share some of the best places to buy prom dresses in the Tampa area. Both of these content options allow the salon to incorporate local keywords and target content to their hyper-local audience.
The more of a local footprint you have on your website, the more search engines will associate your brand with the town or city you live in.
Related: Blog Posts for Local Businesses: What Should We Write About?
4. Verify your Google Business profile
Google Business Profiles allow you to claim your brand and update your information to appeal to customers. You can add hours, website information, photos, and valuable content to sell customers on your brand. It also helps you appear on search engine results pages when users search for your brand or industry.
Like social media pages, you can also post content from your Google Business Profile. Posts create a social feed where you can update customers with deals, information, and news related to your brand. If you’re closed because of a storm, this is a great place to post about it. If you have an event this weekend, share it with people who might patron your business.
A Google My Business Profile is an essential tactic for local business marketing , and it’s not a set-it-and-forget-it affair. You cannot update your listing once and then ignore it. Business managers need to respond to reviews, post updates, and curate information to make sure this tool is useful for driving organic traffic.
Related: Effectively Using Google Business Profiles for Multi-Location Brands
5. Add location pages to your website
If you have several physical stores, it’s a good idea to create a location page for each on your website. But remember that since we are focusing on local SEO tips here, these need to include more than just an address and a contact phone number.
Here are some other details you should add:
- An embedded map
- Where to find parking, if needed
- Interior and exterior photos of your store
- An optimized title and description
- Local news or other relevant information
- Strong calls-to-action that let your customers know what to do next
It’s important that your location pages aren’t just carbon copies of each other with a few basic tweaks. Customize them with specific descriptions, explanations of differences in products or services, and other details that better reflect the unique character of each location.
Let’s take a tour of a few local business websites that have great location pages you can take inspiration from.
First up is Bay Property Management Group, a real estate company which has a range of bases, including one in Arlington, VA.
This business page includes a short blurb about the organization and outlines the areas it serves from its Arlington office. It also provides a map with this location’s address and contact information.
As you scroll down the webpage, you’re introduced to customer testimonials, a thorough list of services, and you learn more about the team who work at this location.
Finally, they include a gallery of high-quality images of properties that are available in the area, answer FAQs, and provide a contact form so people can easily get in touch.
6. Make sure your NAP is consistent
NAP stands for name, address, and phone number. It’s incredibly important that you ensure these are consistent on every online platform you use.
To perfect your NAP etiquette, make sure to take into account the following steps:
- When listing your business name, always use the official name given for tax purposes.
- For the address, write out all of the words, including common abbreviations like “street” or “road”.
- When including your phone number, use dashes for proper spacing.
Using the same NAP information every single time makes it much easier for search engines and people to feel confident that they have the right information for your business.
Browse the web for mentions of your brand and ensure your name, address, and phone number are always written in the same way. If you spot any instances where they aren’t, edit your details or get in touch with the site in question so they can do it for you.
7. Create local content
Another way to ensure both people and search engine algorithms know exactly where you’re based is by creating content with a local focus.
Talking about your connections with the surrounding area demonstrates that you are an active member of the community and that you have a lot of local knowledge. This is sure to appeal to those tempted to shop with you, and help you increase your local search rankings.
For instance, if you run a hotel like Le Centre Sheraton in Montreal, consider what kinds of content tourists visiting your area would be interested in.
Le Centre Sheraton has a local area page, which highlights local attractions people might be interested in visiting when they’re in Montreal.
If someone is planning a trip to the area, they might come across this resource while they’re doing their research. Then, when the time comes to book their accommodation, this hotel will be at the forefront of their mind. This is one of the main reasons location-specific content can work so well.
8. Target local keywords
Any collection of local SEO tips would not be complete with keyword strategy.
Hand-in-hand with local content come local keywords. These are essentially the terms that searchers type into Google or another search engine in order to find the business they need.
In order to rank on the first page of local search engine results, you want to perform thorough keyword research, and pick search terms related to your organization. Then, create high-quality, informative content that improves on the resources already available.
Here are some examples of businesses successfully targeting local keywords to rank for their desired search queries.
The lawyers at Hasbrook & Hasbrook serve the people of Oklahoma City in personal injury and bankruptcy cases. They rank on the first page of Google searches for Oklahoma-related keywords with a collective monthly search volume of 9,130 (SEMrush).
As you can see in the above page title, they prioritize Oklahoma, OK, and Oklahoma City in headings, as well as the content throughout their site. Their blog focuses on topics of relevance to the citizens they serve and, within their team bios, they include mentions of the University of Oklahoma, where each of their lawyers received their Juris Doctorate.
If your website has a lot of good content, but it doesn’t rank as well as you want it to, consider re-optimizing your existing pages. Updated articles often get a small SEO boost, and informative content can easily be tailored to perform at a more competitive standard.
9. Encourage your customers to leave Google Reviews
Online reviews are a huge part of customer feedback marketing practices. Without even getting into the SEO reasons, reviews are helpful to marketers in that they let you directly react to what your customers are saying.
Positive reviews can help attract new customers to your business, while negative reviews give you the opportunity to mend a customer relationship, and improve your products or services in response to their concerns.
For these reasons, Google highly values authentic (not anonymous) reviews.
When interacting with customers, ask them to leave a short Google review to help your business grow and improve. Many people will be inclined to oblige after a positive transaction but, without the reminder, they may not know where best to leave feedback.
Other great places to include links for leaving reviews are in emailed receipts, shipping confirmations, and on your website.
While you’re at it, get in the habit of responding to as many reviews as possible — you can now do that with your Google My Business account — to improve your SEO, but also to demonstrate your organization’s winning customer service practices.
Boost Local SEO for Your Small Business
The goal of local SEO is to make it easy for customers to discover your business and immediately take advantage of your products or services. By implementing these tactics, you can grow your local SEO and watch your business flourish as a result.
