Local Business – How to Improve SEO Rankings

Steps to Improve Your Google Rankings

Competition is fierce, especially for new local businesses. A huge challenge for many companies is figuring out how to rank high in Google’s search results.

When someone needs a plumber or a landscaper, that person will often search in Google and call the first few names in the search results.

To build your business it is vital to make your way to the top of the rankings.

In this guide, we will walk you through our proven, step-by-step process to catapult you to the top of the list.

But first, let’s look at the main reasons why local SEO is so essential…

3 Reasons All Local Businesses Should Invest in Local SEO

1. Google is the New Yellow Pages: Until recently, the tried and true strategy for local businesses was to place an ad in the Yellow Pages and wait for the phone to ring. Today, though, a stunning 97% of people search for local businesses online, and Google is by far the most popular option.

2. Free Traffic: Although search advertising can be a very effective channel, it’s hard to beat free. If you boost your organic Google rankings, you can take advantage of an ongoing stream of free traffic that you can convert into customers.

3. Level Playing Field: Local SEO is one area where small local businesses are on an equal playing field with larger, national businesses. And if you implement Local SEO best practices, it’s not uncommon to gain first-page rankings in as little as 30 days.

Here are the 5 steps to get you started…

Step 1: Select Your Keywords

First, just make a quick list of simple keywords that explain your services. For example, an accountant might choose “accountant”, “cpa”, and “tax advisor.” Keep going until you have a reasonably comprehensive list.

Step 2: Optimize For Your Keywords

Now that your keywords are finalized, you can move on to optimization. You need to separately optimize for them in 2 places—your Google My Business profile and your website.

Step 3: Develop Citations and Links

A) Citations

A citation is just a listing of your business contact information in an online directory. Popular options include general national directories such as Yelp, general local directories such as your town’s Chamber of Commerce site, and directories that are targeted to your industry.

Be careful to ensure that your contact details are identical across all of your listings.

B) Links

It’s important to build a foundation of links in order to put your business in the running with your local competitors.

Step 4: Request Reviews

Online reviews are crucial for 2 reasons.

First, they let Google know that you have a legitimate business.

Second, they can help convince prospects to give your company a try.

All reviews are valuable, but Google My Business reviews are obviously the most important for improving your Google rankings.

Step 5: Track Your Results

It’s important to track your results with Local SEO, so you know what’s working and what’s not, and how to improve over time.

Here are the 3 most important metrics to track:

A) Rankings: The search results that Google displays are customized based on location and your previous browsing activity. The best way to get consistent ranking metrics is to use a tool (rather than checking manually).

B) Traffic: To track your traffic, or visitors to your website, use Google Analytics.

C) Leads: Finally, it’s critical to track the leads you’re generating from your website. For example, you’ll want to set up Google Analytics Goals to track webform completions when people submit a contact form on your website or sign up for a coupon or for your email newsletter.

Using Goal tracking in Google Analytics, you can track how many leads you’re generating from SEO, as well as which pages on your website and generating the most conversions.