Small businesses operate on a more concentrated and regional level. As opposed to search engine optimization on a national level, SEO for local businesses pays more attention to ranking in searches in a specified location.

This strategy relies on promoting your brands, products, and services to regional targets and leads.

Optimizing SEO for local businesses will yield higher website traffic, conversions, and leads. This approach targets your local base of customers.

A more focused targeting strategy is an effective way to put you at the forefront of your competitions.

It helps you compete using more effective methods against more prominent, national brands, which, quite frankly, have unlimited marketing funds to spend.

By focusing on a more local-SEO for businesses, you have better chances of neutralizing more prominent brands that use more brand recognition, rather than place importance on propositions to pull in traffic and conversions.

SEO for Local Businesses Tip: Go Local

Here are five ways you can utilize SEO for local businesses.

Create a Google My Business Account

Signing up for and claiming a Google My Business account is easy.  This launches your existence on Google, which is the biggest search engine today. Claiming your Google My Business account means when people search for your industry, you’ll also show up on Google Maps.

Aside from appearing on Google’s search results, you’ll also be deemed a legitimate business entity, once Google authenticates your business.

Claiming your Google My Business account is one thing; another essential thing to remember is to optimize it.

• Verify your business listing
• Make sure all information about your business is accurate
• Upload your logo
• Include your business hours, acceptable modes of payment, accepted insurance, a list of the products and services you offer
• Include well-shot photos
• Respond to customer reviews – whether negative or positive
• Create useful content on a consistent schedule

Attract Positive Reviews From Satisfied Customers

More and more customers rely on reviews and testimonials just as much as they would personal recommendations. Google strongly recommend asking your customers for reviews.

Getting your customers to share their positive experience doing business with you on the web will significantly help your online web reputation.

Ask your customers to leave online reviews for you. You can help make this happen by doing the following:

• Asking for a review in person after your transaction with them.
• Sending customers a post-purchase message via text or email asking them to leave a review
• Posting responses to your existing customer reviews and addressing any complaints

Writing Content Influenced By Local Events and Stories

One highly effective SEO for local businesses strategy is creating content that relates to local issues. These local issues are what your local customers are drawn to.

Write about local activities, stories, or events – anything that directly relates to your local clientele. You can even create videos about local causes or charities that your organization supports.

Additionally, if you’re a business with different branches around the country, dedicate a location-specific page on your site. Each of these pages should have good-quality content.

For example, you’re a restaurant owner with different branches in your home state, create one page for each of your restaurant branch. Highlight localized content on each of these location-specific pages.

Mobile-Friendly Website

Everyone has a mobile phone. And according to recent marketing studies, mobile searches are outranking desktop ones.

An SEO for local businesses strategy that should be utilized is getting your website to be mobile-friendly.

Make sure that the mobile version of your site loads quickly. If a customer has to wait more than three seconds for your website to load on their phones, chances are they’ll close out of it and move on to the next site.

In terms of design, use fonts that are easier to read. Avoid using excessive images and baseless content. Share information that you know is going to be relevant to your readers.

Focus on Local Keywords

Writing good-quality content goes hand-in-hand with using relevant local keywords. Utilize tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner to know what common keywords are based on your location.

SEO for local businesses also use region-specific hotspots, tourist sites, or landmarks in the copy. For example, you have a local restaurant in downtown Austin. You can include references such as “dining by the State Capitol” or Capitol-area restaurant.”