Marketing

5 Ways to Improve Your Local Search Rankings

rgtgrtWhen your customers search for a product or business on their favorite online search engine, they generally only look at the top 3–4 listings, and sometimes only the first page of results. If your business is on the other pages, that potential client or customer is never going to know who you are, and that means lost revenue.

Luckily for everyone, the days of naming a business AAA Financing just to get to the front of the alphabetical order are over; now, companies must worry about their names being at the top of the list in a search. Knowmad Digital Marketing, a North Carolina based digital marketing agency that provides SEO services, states that all small business owners should have a local search strategy in place to compete in their local market. If you’re just getting started with local SEO, use these methods to get to the top of the local search rankings and get more customers calling and coming into your business.

1.Utilize a Search Engine’s “Local Business Center” Feature

This feature allows a business to create a custom profile for the business. You can see this in action when searching a company on Google. You will see a small profile pop up with hours of operation, phone numbers, fax numbers, location, and more. You have complete control over what is put in this profile.

When you select the products and services your business offers, choose the common ones, like “carpet cleaning.” What will put your business in the top rankings will be custom specifics about your business. You can put in words like the city, county, and state in which you operate.

You can put in specific products or services you provide that no other business like yours does. The best way to see what pops up when you search certain words is to put them in your search engine and learn what words work and what won’t.

2. Keep Your Website Up to Date

Search engines will find new content first. Make sure your content is fresh so the search engine can put together the key words and phrases. It is then paired with a new date and made easier to search. People love new content anyway, so this is a win-win for everyone. Ensure your website has the correct wording in it as well. When people search for “an affordable plumber,” you want to have those words somewhere on your website so the search engine can find those words along with fresh content.

3. Find the Correct Wording for Your Social Media and Profile Content

Social media should be linked to your website. If people search “a reputable electrician,” it may take them to a social media page. You can see that this happens by inputting the correct words in your profile and posts. The right wording will give the search engine easy accessibility to your sites, social media websites or otherwise.

4. Utilize Free Directories

List your business in your local directory online. Ensure your listing is fresh. There are some rules to this one, though. You cannot list your business too much, or it will go down in the rankings.

On the other hand, you must list your business enough to be noticed. Find a good middle ground. Also, research what your competitors are listing. Listing in the right category will help your business as well.

You may possibly get away with selecting multiple categories depending what your company offers. Use as many categories as reasonably possible. This will help you reach more customers.

5. Stay Active on Your Blogs, Websites, Social Media, and Community Sites

Any search engine will bring up the newest content when multiple, similar results are found. Looking for a plumber in a large city can get overwhelming. The plumber that has social media, new content on their website running the latest deal and an active online presence will get the top spot. Ensure you are as visible as possible online. This way, you give customers more ways to reach your product or service.

Wrapping Up

Improving your ranking on local search can add thousands of dollars to your bottom line. The good news is that most small business owners don’t pay enough attention to local SEO so you most likely have a great chance to dominate your market. Using the tips above will put you well on your way to getting more customers for your business.

If you have any questions, please ask below!