Is your website optimized for local SEO? Even if you’re a virtual business that serves customers nationwide, you should still optimize your business for local SEO. Local SEO allows you to appear in search results in your area. By optimizing your website with local keywords, you can target local businesses in your marketing and SEO efforts. The local SEO tips in this blog will help you get started.

Local SEO Benefits

First, let’s chat about local SEO benefits. The goal of all SEO strategies is to drive more quality traffic to your website. Local SEO helps your business appear in local search results, making it easier for potential customers in your area to find you when they search for relevant products or services.

You can also somewhat control the traffic coming to your website. By optimizing for local keywords and targeting specific locations, you attract highly targeted traffic to your website. These people are more likely to convert into customers because you’re telling Google exactly who you want to land on your website. Local searches often indicate strong purchase intent. When people search for businesses near them, they are often ready to make a purchase. Vague and super high-volume keywords might seem more beneficial, but they typically drive the wrong audience to your site, leading to high bounce rates.

Implementing these local SEO tips gives you a competitive advantage, especially as an online business. Many businesses overlook the importance of local SEO. By investing in it, you can gain a competitive advantage over competitors who are not optimizing for local search. You can target local and nationwide businesses, while others are focused on getting clients from anywhere they can.

Local SEO is a long-term strategy. Once you establish your business in local search results, it can continue to drive traffic and generate leads over time with ongoing maintenance and optimization.

There are many benefits to investing in local SEO. Now, let’s get into the tips to make it happen for you!

Local SEO Tips

These local SEO tips will give you everything you need to get started with local SEO best practices. Make it a goal to check each of these tips off your list to give you the best chance at ranking in local searches.

1. Create a Google Business Profile (GBP)

A Google Business Profile is the right-hand featured business you see when you make a local search. Google uses various factors to determine local search rankings, and having an optimized GBP profile is one of them. Providing accurate and detailed information about your business can improve your chances of ranking higher in local search results. See mine below!

Your GBP profile gives users a quick snapshot of your business, including:

• Hours
• Phone number
• Booking link
• Location
• Website
• Social handles
• Q&A
• Reviews
• Photos
• Services

Claim and optimize your GBP with accurate information about your business. Also, encourage customers to leave reviews. The more reviews you collect, the more Google and potential customers see you as a trustworthy business. Your website will be shown in more search results, which drives more traffic to your website.

2. Target Local Keywords

Targeting local keywords on your web pages and blogs can improve your local SEO rankings. You’re specifically telling Google that you want people in your area to visit a certain page. Although these keywords usually have a lower search volume, the users are highly targeted, which means they’re more likely to convert. 

Use local keywords throughout your website content, metadata, headings, and image alt text to improve your visibility in local searches. Include location-specific terms related to your business.

Here are some examples of local keywords:

• Best brunch spots in [city name]
• Affordable [product/service] in [Neighborhood/Area Name]
• Trendy fashion boutiques in [city name]
• Local SEO tips for [city name]
• Personalized virtual training sessions for [city name] locals
• Virtual office assistant for entrepreneurs in [city name]

3. Optimize for Mobile

Over 60% of searches are made on a mobile device, which is why mobile optimization is so important. Google primarily uses the mobile version of websites for indexing and ranking. If your website is not optimized for mobile devices, it may not perform well in search results, leading to lower visibility and traffic.

To optimize your website for mobile, make sure your website hits these points:

• Loads in under three seconds
• Images are resized for mobile
• The layout makes sense for the user
• Buttons are resized (so a finger can click them)

4. Link Building

Link building is the strategy of earning links back to your website from other sources. Backlinks are one of the most important local SEO tips I can give you. When a quality website links to your website, they’re telling Google that they think you’re valuable. It’s like earning a gold star you can show off to Google. The more backlinks you have, the more Google believes you’re a good website to send their users to.

Read more about how to earn quality backlinks in this blog!

5. Monitor Performance

As with any SEO strategy, it’s important to monitor your performance. Use my favorite SEO tools for small businesses to see how your local SEO efforts are paying off. I also have a whole blog about how to check your Google page ranking. Knowing where you stand helps you understand what you’re doing right and where you can improve. If you notice certain keywords you picked aren’t working for you, change them! You aren’t married to the SEO strategies you try. SEO is a trial-and-error strategy until you find what works well for you.

These local SEO tips will help you appear in more local search results. Again, you don’t have to solely market to local businesses – of course, you can serve clients nationwide! But wouldn’t it be cool to work with a business in your community? That’s actually a goal of mine this year – to work with more local businesses and help them improve their website visibility. I’m a local SEO strategist, and ready to help you appear in more local (and nationwide) searches. Contact me today to get started!

About Âme Creatives

I’m a Showit Web Designer and SEO expert who specializes in crafting websites and branding for you: the successful female entrepreneur who is crushing business goals… but doesn’t have the branding or website to match. I’m an expert at being able to create a beautiful brand that fully represents YOU. Ready to work together? Send me a message!