Benefits Of Local SEO For Small Businesses

You’ve done it all, set up your website, sent out emails, promoted your brand on all social media platforms. 

But is your business popping up in local search results?  This is critical when it comes to directing people to your website.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization, is beneficial for all businesses.

It’s a powerful strategy that helps your business show up in search results when customers are out browsing the web.  

Think about it this way…if you’re searching for pizza restaurants near you, several locations pop up in what is called a map pack. Well, the more specific wording that you use, the higher the chance that you can jump to the top of that list.

So, what exactly do you need to do for SEO on your website?

Start with keywords. 

Try to put yourself in your customers’ shoes. 

What exactly would you search for when it comes to your business.  If you’re a pizza joint, you’d probably use wording such as “pizza”, “restaurant”, “catering”, “Italian”, etc. 

It’s important to be consistent with these keywords across all web pages so that Google crawlers can pick up the information and store it in a large database called Google index. 

This can be tricky though because you don’t want to annoy your readers with too many keywords. 

So, one recommendation is to use headings with keywords. 

Headings tend to stand out in search engines and can help you rank higher.

Another way to jump to the top of search results is to use links throughout your website.  If you know any business owners with a similar industry, ask them to carry a link to your site, in exchange for a link on yours. 

Making sure that your website is user-friendly with compelling content should also be on your SEO checklist.  This means making sure your site speed is up to par and that you are mobile-friendly.   

Finally, you’re probably wondering how you know how well your website is doing.

This is where analytics come into play. 

Google Analytics is one option that you can start with. 

There are several different analytics that you can find about how your website is doing. 

You can analyze data such as what links people are clicking on, traffic on your site, how long your visitors are staying on each page, etc.

In the end, while you’re working on SEO, make sure to sit tight.  It’s likely that you’re not going to see results quickly.  SEO is constantly changing.  What works today may not work in a year or two.  So be sure to stay up to date on the latest changes that can affect your website rankings.