Defining Local SEO
As a business owner or marketing professional, you likely have a baseline understanding of what search engine optimization, or SEO is. But what does it mean to localize SEO? What exactly is local SEO, and why is it important for your business?
At its basic definition, general SEO is a series of tactics that are implemented to boost your website’s ranking and gain favor with search engines. This is a crucial marketing practice, because with all the competition in the online space, having a prominent place in search engines spikes your chances of traffic. And increased traffic often leads to more sales and customers.
Our team at Web Daytona prioritizes local search results by regularly monitoring sources of website traffic and following a hyper-targeted approach. We keep our clients’ listings accurate and optimized for potential customers and mapping systems, and we also make sure their information and location are easily available.
SEO works best when it is customized based on the business’s goals and needs. For example, there are ways to do national SEO and local SEO. Oftentimes, small businesses focus on local SEO because it’s targeted to reach local potential customers. Local SEO is a bit different, as there are more specialized tactics in order for the business’s web presence to reach its local community.
Examples of Local SEO
Local business listings
One of the best local SEO tactics is to simply ensure that you have your business listed. This means a strong, optimized listing in Google My Business, Apple Maps, Bing Places for Business, and more. An experienced SEO agency like Web Daytona can support you in claiming your listing and optimizing to be SEO-friendly.
Local keywords
Having localized keywords on your website and in your content is a key ingredient to successfully implementing local SEO. For example, adding the city’s name into your content is a great way to localize and optimize. If you’re a family law attorney in Orlando, using phrases such as “experienced Orlando family law attorney” or “family law attorney near me” will help boost your local SEO. Since people in the area are likely looking for local businesses, incorporating local keywords is a good way to get more traffic.
Phone and address
This seems like a basic practice, but simply having your business phone number and address listed on your website, especially the front page, is a way to boost local SEO. This is part of on-page SEO strategy, which basically means optimizing the pages that you have on your website.
Backlinks from local entities
Backlinks, no matter the SEO scope, are key to establishing your website as an authority. The same is true for a local SEO approach. Having backlinks from other local organizations, like blogs, newspapers, or even other businesses, will help boost your local SEO.