A key component to any small business’ marketing strategy is positioning
its brand in search engine results effectively. But can a company dominate
search results with their own content or content you’ve influenced?
Absolutely. There are simple and effective ways to boost
visibility for your business in search results, while simultaneously improving
related marketing efforts in social media, ratings and reviews, and media
outreach.
Implement these 6 local SEO success tips, along with action
items in order to successfully optimize your business content. There will be
references to some great work done by Billy’s Bakery, a New
York bakery chain, which has utilized many of these tips to dominate their
search results with positive content and coverage.
1. Properly
Optimize Information On Your Business’ Website
Your website is your most important and
valuable online asset, so ensuring that it is properly optimized to appear high
within search results is key.
Action items:
• Create a domain name that reflects your business type and its
location. For example, Billy’s Bakery uses the domain “billysbakerynyc.com,”
which includes it all.
• Add keywords on page titles that identify with your business,
its services and its location.
• Incorporate your business’ name, address and phone number (NAP)
information in not only the homepage or contact page, but each individual page
of your website.
• In
addition to highlighting your offerings, ensure your website copy includes as
much about your local area as possible to further associate your business with
the nearby vicinity. For example, note what section of town you’re in, what sports
team plays across the street, or what park is around the corner. Not only will
this added info help improve your website copy for customers, it will also
boost your search visibility as a local business.
2. Secure, Build
Out And Update Your Business Listings On Local Websites
Perhaps one of the most effective ways to boost local SEO is to
ensure the availability and consistency of your business’ listing information
across a myriad of third-party sources. Google and other search engines
constantly scan these sites to develop a stronger understanding of the local
web and your business.
When your business isn’t listed — or the information listed
about it is incomplete or inaccurate — there is a risk of diminishing or
negatively impacting your business’ placements in search results.
Action items:
• Search leading local
listings websites ranging from Dexknows, Facebook, and Google to Yelp, YP and Yellowbook to ensure that your business is
listed, that you have “claimed” your listing, and that the business name, phone
and address posted are consistent and accurate. Make changes as necessary and
delete duplicate pages. As in the Billy’s Bakery example above, local sites
like Google+, Yelp and TripAdvisor hold a lot of weight in search results, so
it’s important to get it right.
• Build out your listings
with photos, videos, website URL and other key information to make your
listings more informative and attractive to potential customers.
• Ensure that your business
is listed in the appropriate categories so it can be properly optimized.
Relevant keywords in the business name help too. As I noted earlier, “Billy’s
Bakery NYC” includes both the business type and location. However, don’t overdo
it with unnecessary keywords in the business name (e.g., “Billy’s Bakery
Cookies Cakes Hot Chocolate”), or search engines will take note and it will
negatively impact your results.
• To further your efforts,
work with a top listings provider such as Neustar Localeze or Acxiom to
automate the process of securing and updating your listings across the broad
ecosystem of local sites.
• If your business has
multiple locations, create separate listings for each location on your website
to boost the visibility of both your brand and each of your stores. The search
results for Billy’s Bakery highlight the business’ three different locations
individually.
3. Ensure An
Appropriate Link Strategy
Links from your website to other related websites, and vice
versa, play a role in your business’ SEO visibility, because they help to
establish the authenticity and credibility of your business. But trying to game
system by leveraging unrelated links will damage visibility over time.
Action items:
• Consistently share links to
your website via your Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels, and
encourage others to pass along the information as well.
• Include links to your
website in email newsletters and other updates to customers.
• Host or sponsor local
events, or provide discounts for neighborhood students, and then encourage
neighborhood businesses, the local chamber of commerce, charity organizations
and other partners to link to your website when talking about those activities.
• Create a local directory of
community resources including your favorite nearby restaurants, stores and
cultural attractions, to provide an opportunity for you to link out to others
(and for them to return the favor). Even consider starting a blog where you can
talk about your business’ neighborhood and link to businesses and places of
interest.
• However, be sure that your
link strategy is authentic in that you know who you are linking to and that
they have relevance to your business. Also, do not create link schemes like
spamming your business’ domain name on websites, forums or blog comments. Be
wary of third-party content providers who claim that they can improve your SEO
by writing content for your blog with SEO boosting links. These activities
have the potential to damage your credibility with search engines and
negatively impact your visibility in search results, as Google recently warned.
4. Encourage And
Respond To Online User Reviews
User reviews help to build your business’ visibility in local
search results, and so does your engagement in responding to them — whether
they are positive or negative. However, small businesses need to ensure the
reviews themselves always come from the outside.
Action items:
• Encourage your customers to
leave ratings and reviews of your business if they are satisfied with your
work. Whether it’s a simple email after a service is rendered, a flyer at
checkout, or a callout on your website – the more positive, authentic reviews your
business receives, the better your business will appear in search (both via the
search engines and the local review sites themselves).
• As part of your
encouragement, provide customers with a variety of sites to post reviews so the
spread is diverse across multiple key local sites.
• Be proactive about
responding to all types of user reviews. If the post is positive, thank the
customer for their feedback and encourage them to use your services again. If
the post is negative, explain that you appreciate the feedback and ask the
customer to get in contact with you about their concerns so you can address
their problems.
• Whatever you do, never post
false reviews! When discovered – and they usually are, because they’re
transparent – you will either lose your visibility in search, or your
visibility will not be the kind you want.
5. Engage
Regularly Via Social Media
Social media pages play a notable role in
local business’ visibility in search results. The more proactive your social
media strategy, the higher likelihood your pages will attract followers — and
in turn, appear within search.
Action items:
• Develop a strong social media strategy that engages customers
via Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and other popular networks
on a regular basis. The more followers and engagement you receive, the higher
your pages will appear in search. Note Billy’s Bakery’s Facebook page in the
business’ search results above.
• Some
ideas for engagement include updates on new products, promotions and giveaways,
and highlighting stories of relevance to your customers. Be sure to respond to
those reaching out via social media with questions or feedback on their orders.
6. Drive Media
Coverage
Media coverage of your local business —
especially from highly credible news websites — can result in a long-term
positive impact on your business’ search results. For example,
MarthaStewart.com’s coverage of Billy’s Bakery above appears high in its search
results. Coverage like this can drive even more business to your brand,
especially because it’s coming from a reliable, third-party source.
Action items:
• Develop
relationships with local media and bloggers by encouraging them to take
advantage of your products or services. If you’re a restaurant, send over your
popular pizza to your city’s local foodie blogger. Or email a reporter about a
charity event that you’re sponsoring that will benefit the local community.
Your PR efforts can result in positive articles, videos or other types of
coverage that will remain highly visible in search over the long-term and boost
your brand’s reputation.
Some opinions expressed in this article may be
those of a guest author and not necessarily Z420 Marketing Solutions.
Learn more about Local Search Engine Optimization HERE!
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