Local SEO is a process by which a business can make its website more visible in search engine results for relevant searches to its physical location.
By boosting its ranking, a business can increase its chances of being seen by potential customers searching for its products or services.
Ranking for area-specific terms can be a big boost to your business. Many assume local SEO doesn’t matter, but it does.
The good thing about it is that it’s usually quicker to rank for local terms. This is because you have so little competition. While there might be tons of sites for the keyword “weight loss,” significantly fewer are going for the term “Orlando weight loss.”
So how do you get ranked for local terms? Here are four tips to make it happen:
1. Use the keyword in your title and content.
This is the most critical factor in getting ranked. You should use the keyword a few times in the content and at the beginning of the title.
Google can then figure out what the page is about. It will boost your rank.
2. Use anchor text to your advantage.
Ensure the anchor text includes your keyword phrase if you get links to your site. Google pays close attention to the anchor text to determine what the linked site is about.
So if you have one hundred links pointing to your site, and seventy of them say “Houston condos,” they will be able to surmise what your page is about. Google likes natural link building. However, you want to have only some links that say the same thing. So if 100% of the links say “Houston condos, they will view this as unnatural, which may negatively affect you.
3. Get links from quality sites.
Every link is not created equal. Google puts more weight on the links from quality sites a lot more. Therefore, be sure to target legitimate sites for your link-building efforts.
4. Geotags.
This is not a new strategy, and it’s been around for a long time. However, many internet marketers need to become more familiar with it.
Basically, geotagging is where you put metadata in your HTML code. This lets search engine spiders know where your site is located. You can do the same for pictures you put on your site. This will help you rank for localized searches.
The metadata includes your latitude, longitude coordinates, and sometimes other variables like altitude. If somebody is doing a search with geotagging enabled, your site might show up.
While geotagging does work, you can definitely rank without doing it. It wouldn’t hurt to use it, so why not?
Conclusion
Local SEO helps people find your business online. Implement these four tips, and you should see results from your SEO efforts shortly. The bottom line is, getting ranked for local SEO terms is a great way to get more business.
