When it comes to the question of How to do Local SEO?, you want to use many local SEO techniques to get your website ranking in that #1 spot.

Local SEO for small and large businesses is essential for a company to survive.

Below are seven questions and answers to help put you in the right direction!

Google Business Profile

Getting your business on Google Business Profile, or GBP is and will be one of the top ways to get listed in local search engines.

Connecting a business directly to Google will mean that anytime an internet user searches something like “Plumber Near Me,” any business in the surrounding area under the category “Plumber” will show.

A Google Business Profile is the top local directory for any business these days.

Connecting your business to GMB will:

Allow you to be discovered

Whether you are a Brick and Mortar Storefront, Services Only Business, or an Online only location, the more customers can reach you, the better.

Getting onto GMB will place you in front of online users who might not have known your business exists.

Google Business Profiles will keep your customers informed

After you have signed up for Google My Business, or GMB, the potential customers that are searching for your goods or services will have up-to-date business hours, phone numbers, and website, along with any other information you wish for them to know at the tips of their fingers.

Boost New Customer Confidence

New customers love to see reviews. Anytime most people purchase new products or services, Google Business Reviews are a huge deciding factor. Getting Good reviews on Google is extremely important to get more business from online sources.

Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest Business Pages

Social Media is the fastest-growing way to connect your business to new customers.

Business Social Media pages will connect you to more people looking for your services and give you new avenues to promote yourself and your products.

Having many active social media pages is a must-do for a successful business.

Consistently adding relative and helpful content to people will keep your brand in mind when they are looking for your goods or services.

Hiring a Social Media Manager is a great direction if you do not have the time to run all of the necessary Social Media pages.

Create Relative Local Content

Relevant content on your website is the number one way to rank high in Search Engine Results Pages (SERP).

This, however, is an SEO process and takes time, effort, and consistency to build up Domain Authority for your website.

The content and information on your website will tell Search Engines what your website is and what you offer.

When creating content, use well-placed and thought-out Keywords specific to the niche and area you are looking to attract clients.

When researching and creating Keywords, always think of Long-Tail Keywords and locations.

Ex: Emergency Dentist for Crown Replacement in New York City

Creating “Services” pages on your website will help with this process. Listing the different areas you service for each page and the services you offer will tell search engines what you do and for what areas.

Be sure also to list the areas outside your town to attract new business.

When creating compelling content for your website, add proper tags to the heading sections of each area.

Using Title, Subtitle, and H1-H6 tags will tell Search Engines what the article and each area of the article are about. This process is like writing a book; it has a title, preface, index, and chapters.

When you have done better SEO on your website than your competitors, you will rank higher than them on the SERP. In turn, this will create more customers for you.

Content is king when it comes to Local SEO!

Citations on websites such as Yelp & Yellowpage for Local SEO

Websites like Yelp and Yellow Pages are great ways to connect to new customers.

On top of connecting to new customers, these pages also help your website and brand gain more domain authority in the eyes of Search Engines.

Some of these citation websites may not allow you to place your website on the listings directly; however, this does not stop your website from gaining authority.

When you place your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) in some regions of the internet, this will help with authority.

Here is a small list of the citation websites with the most traffic:

Some of these citation websites are paid for. However, if you are on a budget, we recommend looking through the free ones!

Also, this is just a starter list, as many more should always be added!

Backlinks and Link Building

Backlinks are a fundamental way to tell Search Engines that your website holds Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (EAT).

The more EAT you have for your website, the higher it will rank on Search Engine Results Pages.

Figuring out how to get Backlinks is most likely one of the most complex SEO tactics. This process is never-ending and takes a lot of time.

One of the best ways to get backlinks is to contact websites and blogs and ask if you can do guest posts. Building a relationship with bloggers takes time, but the ball will continue to roll once you start.

After you have a few blog posts on websites, you can showcase these blog posts to gain more confidence from new websites to get more posts.

The backlink process is always ongoing, and you should consistently try to implement it.

Optimize Your Homepage

Be sure to add local search keywords to your homepage.

For example, “New York City Dentist” is important to put on your homepage if you are a dentist in New York City as, again, it will tell Search Engines where you are located and what you have to offer.

Be sure to add the following to your home page:

NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number
Opening Hours
Map the location of your address
Reviews from different websites
The correct schema (see below for schema)
Call-To-Action buttons frequently – ex: “Contact Us!” – “Sign up for our newsletter.”
Schema Markup for Local SEO

Schema Markup is coding that gives google and other search engines more information about your website directly from your website.

Google has provided businesses with a tool to create schema here:

Google Structured Data Markup Helper

They will also help you along the way to place this HTML code into your website.

Conclusion

These 7 Local SEO Tips will get you moving in the correct direction to rank your website on search engine results pages!

Please remember these processes take time and effort when it comes to SEO!

We hope this helps, and if you have more tips on Local SEO or any questions/comments, please feel free to comment or contact us for help with your Local SEO!