As a business owner, it’s essential to make sure your website is optimized for local search engine optimization (local SEO). But what exactly is local SEO and why is it so important? Read on to find out.
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your website so that it appears higher in search engine results for people searching for businesses in your area. For example, if you own a coffee shop in Austin, Texas, you want your website to come up when someone searches for “coffee shops in Austin.”
Why is local SEO so important? Because studies have shown that four out of five consumers use search engines to find local information, and one out of two consumers visiting a store they found through a search engine are more likely to visit that store within 24 hours.
In other words, if you want to attract more customers, you need to make sure your website is optimized for local SEO.
Keep reading for seven tips on how to do just that.
1. Optimize Your Website’s Title Tag and Meta Description
The title tag is the text that appears in the search engine results pages (SERPs) when your website comes up. It should be concise and include your target keywords. For example, the title tag for this blog post could be “Local SEO in Texas: 7 Tips for Optimization.”
Your meta description appears below your title tag and should also be concise and include target keywords. This is your chance to tell searchers what your website is all about and persuade them to click through to your site.
2. Build Citations
A citation is any mention of your business name, address, phone number or website URL on another website. The more citations you have, the better. Google uses citations as a ranking factor, so the more high-quality citations you have, the higher your website will appear in search engine results pages. You can build citations by creating profiles on directories like Yelp, Foursquare and Angie’s List.
3. Optimize Your Google My Business Profile
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool provided by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google Search and Maps. When you search for a business on Google, the information that appears in the Knowledge Graph panel comes from GMB profiles. That’s why it’s so important to make sure yours is accurate and up-to-date—otherwise, searchers might get the wrong idea about your business.
4. Get Reviews
Ratings and reviews are important signals for local SEO—they show potential customers that your business is credible and trustworthy. Encourage customers to leave reviews by making it easy for them to do so—for example, you could add a link to your GMB profile on your website or email signature. Just be sure not to offer incentives in exchange for positive reviews because that’s against Google’s guidelines.
5. Add Schema Markup
Schema markup code is HTML code that helps search engines understand the content on your webpages better—which can lead to richer results (like star ratings) on SERPs. Adding schema markup code to your site can help improve click-through rates because users will be able to see at a glance whether your site has what they’re looking for before they even click through. Plus, it can help improve your organic traffic over time as well since schema markup code tells search engines what your site is about and how it can be helpful to searchers looking for specific information/services.
6. Use Keywords Strategically
You should include target keywords throughout your website—in titles and headings, in image tags and throughout the body of each page of content—but beware of keyword stuffing (which is when you stuff too many keywords into one piece of content). Not only will this irritate potential customers, but it will also hurt your chances of ranking high in SERPs because Google will view it as spammy behavior.
7. Use Social Media
Lastly, don’t forget about social media! Posting regularly on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can help improve brand awareness and build trust with potential customers—both of which are essential for driving traffic to your website.
Conclusion
If you own a business in Texas, it’s essential to make sure your website is optimized for local SEO—otherwise, you could be missing out on valuable leads and customers. By following the tips outlined above, you can ensure that potential customers in Texas will be able find your business easily online.