6 Tips to Help Boost Your Local SEO

There is a common saying that we believe most people can agree is true, “The only constant in life is change.” This especially rings true to digital marketers.

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With various platforms constantly competing to provide the best service possible to users, social media platforms and search engines are constantly evolving and becoming smarter. This is great for the user, which we all are at some point, but it can be increasingly difficult for people working to boost their presence in a valuable way. To ensure that you are focusing your efforts on the most effective area, here are 6 helpful tips to help you boost your local SEO.

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1. Do Your Research

The first step to properly understanding how to boost your local SEO presence is to understand where your business currently stands. How well is your website performing? Is your information correct across the board? How well are your top competitors ranking? For what search terms are your competitors ranking in?

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Conducting a local SEO audit of your website and your competitors can give you a much better understanding into what areas you need to focus your efforts on at first. There are a few changes you can make right off the bat that can improve your SEO.

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Things to look for during your SEO audit:

• Is your business information correct across the board? Is your business found on online directories? This includes local and national directories.
• Do you have a Google Business Profile? Do you maintain it daily, weekly, or monthly?
• What are your competitors doing?
• Is your website optimized for search engine crawlers?
• What is your website's loading time?

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2. Create A Comprehensive Google Business Profile

If your business is not found on Google, you practically don’t exist. This includes having a Google Business Profile. This profile should house all the important information about your business. Your address or service areas, your phone number, your website, your hours of operation. This profile also allows you to upload photos and videos of your business and even has a feature where you can answer frequently asked questions your customers might have.

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You might wonder, why should I bother uploading photos of my business? This is a great question.

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You have a 107% chance of ranking better on Google when your Google Business Profile contains hyper-local information such as:

• Location specific photos
• Location specific videos
• Location specific reviews

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If your business operates in several different locations, such as a franchise based business, you have an 84% chance of ranking better on Google if each Google Business Profile houses location specific photos. For better results, keep each profile as unique as possible.

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3. Invest Time In Your Review Strategy

The conversation regarding reviews is often discussed, but for good reason. Reviews on Google have a tremendous impact on your local SEO performance. Think about it, would you be interested in using a company that has 0 reviews? Or would you opt for the business with 54 reviews, even if it was out of your way?

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Most people would opt for the most reliable option. This is one reason why reviews are so important. Beyond that, Google rewards businesses that seem credible. At the end of the day, Google’s mission is to serve the users, not the business owners.

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To create a successful review strategy for your business:

• Reply to all reviews – good & bad
• Don’t be afraid to ask people to leave reviews
• Make it as easy as possible for your customers to leave a review
• Ask people to mention your location in the reviews. This is not a necessity, but it can definitely help boost your rankings in that location.

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4. Create Comprehensive Content

Quality over quantity. Always.

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Google doesn’t care how much information your website contains, if the information isn’t relevant to your consumer. Put yourself in the minds of your customers, what are they searching for? How might they be searching? Create a comprehensive list of topics most relevant to your business and your customers, and create beneficial content from that.

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As with the Google Business Profile, hyper-localized content is very beneficial. Where is your business located? How far away is it from the freeway? Where is the nearest event center? Creating small pieces of hyper-localized content on your website can give people the information they need when looking to make an informed decision.

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Adding local photos, videos, and customer testimonials on your website is another great way to drive traffic to your website and show off your business.

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5. Create A Backlinking Strategy

Creating a backlinking strategy is not easy. In fact, most agencies across the world struggle with this very thing. What is the value of backlinking?

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When Google indexes your website, it is looking at a variety of things. Do you have beneficial information on your page? How relevant is your business? How reliable is your business?

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Remember, Google’s main purpose is to provide the user with the most relevant and accurate information possible based on the user's search terms. One way to prove to Google that you are a reliable website with authority in your industry is to have outside businesses and organizations link to content on your website.

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Ways to acquire backlinks:

• Engage with local businesses in your area. Discuss the possibility of a collaboration. You write a piece of content regarding their business in return for them writing a piece of content for your business.
• Engage with your local community. Are there any local events you can participate in? What about throwing an event for the community? Have organizations in your area write content about the upcoming event and link to your website.
• Reach out to influencers in your industry. Is there a possibility for a collaboration there?

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6. Be Active

The only constant in life is change. SEO is not a one and done situation. In order to continuously rank well on search engines, you need to stay active on both your Google Business Profile and your website. This includes:

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• Updating and optimizing your Google Listing regularly: upload new photos, answer questions, respond to reviews, etc.
• Update your website with high-quality long & short form content
• Update your website with high-quality images and videos
• Utilize social media to stay engaged with your customers

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We hope these 6 tips will help you boost your local SEO performance. If you have any questions regarding any of the tips mentioned above, don’t hesitate and reach out to our Tier Level Digital Marketing team today!

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