How Can You Improve Your Local Ranking On Google?
In order to become successful in your local business, it’s important to understand the intricacies of search engine optimization (SEO). While there are many factors that go into determining your local ranking on Google, there are certain steps you can take to improve your rank and make your business easier to find when potential customers are looking for you by name. Here are some tips on how to improve your local ranking on Google.)
Optimize The Title Tag
In addition to those important first 2-3 words in your title tag, pay attention to including a variety of keyword phrases and long-tail keywords. For example, I would try How to improve your local ranking on Google (Tips).
This will help you with both global and specific queries when people are searching for phrases that may or may not include keywords related to that topic. Look at long-tail traffic sources and see what variations of words they use when looking for information on a topic. You can also do Google searches of potential terms and see what comes up with images as well as text.
Optimize The Description Tag
When it comes to search engine optimization, one of your best bets is to make sure you’re using an accurate and concise description tag for every page of your website. This will ensure that users who come across links from blogs or other sources find exactly what they’re looking for—regardless of what keywords are being used in those hyperlinks.
To avoid issues like duplicate content, you may even want to consider using an index within individual pages of your site. That way, you can let search engines index those pages without causing confusion.
Increase Your Backlinks
This can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. To start off with, focus on links from relevant niche sites. These will help you improve your rankings more effectively. Also, remember that quality is better than quantity – focus on a handful of links and make sure they’re of excellent quality rather than hundreds of mediocre ones.
Once you’ve built up a solid backlink profile, don’t forget to check your local ranking regularly so that you can keep an eye out for any changes. If things aren’t looking good, take action quickly before it’s too late!
The most important thing to remember when trying to increase your local search engine optimization (SEO) is that there are no shortcuts. It takes time and effort to rank well in Google Maps; if it were easy everyone would do it!
Don’t Ignore Local Listings
If you have a business and haven’t checked if it’s ranked in local search results, you are leaving money on the table. A study from Moz found that 73% of people search for a business or restaurant in their area before visiting. If yours isn’t there, you could be losing potential customers.
So, how do you get ranked? It can take months (even years) to build trust with consumers, which is why it’s important not to ignore your local listings and start accumulating reviews right away. Make sure that any listing information is up-to-date and then encourage those who visit your storefront or business location to leave reviews through Facebook check-ins and other social media platforms.
Avoid Keyword Stuffing
If you’re not careful, you could find yourself adding more and more keywords to your content in an attempt to improve search engine rankings. This is called keyword stuffing, and it can hurt more than help. Instead of focusing on which keywords make sense for a given page and how often they appear there, focus on creating high-quality content.
It’s likely that when you do that, you’ll naturally include relevant keywords in an appropriate way—and without even trying. In fact, try to avoid putting any emphasis on keywords until after you’ve written at least a rough draft of your content.
The only exception here would be if you were writing specifically for SEO purposes (which means someone else was paying you to write about certain topics). In that case, add words or phrases related to your business as needed so long as they fit with how people would talk about those topics outside of SEO contexts.
To do otherwise might turn off readers and lose them before they ever get far enough into your post to learn anything useful from it. Don’t fall prey to temptation!
Make It Easy For People To Find You
One of the first things you should do is make sure that people can find you. You want to be accessible, especially if they’re searching for information within a certain geographic region.
To improve your local ranking, make sure all of your business info—name, address, and phone number—is easy to find on any website and is consistent across those websites. Make sure it’s correct everywhere and don’t forget important details like zip codes.
Having accurate business information will also help you show up in local directories like Yelp or CitySearch which are often used by potential customers who are looking for places to shop or eat out.
Don’t panic! Most businesses rank well. And if they don’t, SEO won’t be the answer. It takes time, but it is possible. So, here are some things you can do to start improving your Google local ranking.
Improving Your Local Ranking On Google
1. Visit your potential customers online and do a web search for your product. See what comes up. Pay attention to how it’s presented (and if it isn’t presented well, offer better content).
2. Get listed in trusted directories that reflect who you are and what you do – no matter how specific (e.g., yellow pages, neighborhood sites) or broad they may be (e.g., restaurant review sites).
3. Join social networks where your target audience hangs out.
4. Create and publish useful content about things that people care about but that aren’t directly related to what you sell (e.g., tips, how-to articles, news related to topics of interest to your target audience).
5. Build relationships with others who can help get you found by more people when they look for products like yours (e.g., other businesses in your industry), bloggers whose readers might be interested in learning more about what you have to offer, media outlets that cover topics relevant to your business (and use their contact forms), etc.
6. Use Google AdWords so potential customers can find you when they search on Google…but don’t pay too much!
7. Don’t panic! If you’re not there yet, keep doing what you’re doing. The quality of your work is far more important than how many keywords you stuff into every post or how often you tweet.
8. Don’t give up! It takes time to rank high enough to drive significant traffic from Google searches; it’s not something that happens overnight—even if someone promises otherwise.
9. Don’t forget Bing and Yahoo! You can also improve your local ranking on Bing and Yahoo!. This is a step-by-step guide to using Bing Local Listing Ads. And here’s one for Yahoo Search Marketing Local Listings Ads.
10. Be patient. Be persistent. Or Be diligent. But most importantly, be good at what you do and treat your customers right—that will ultimately lead to success!
