This article covers various areas within search engine optimization (SEO), and how to utilize different methods to create a powerful solution for achieving or enhancing your local online visibility, attracting a wider pool of qualified customers, and ultimately obtaining significant business growth alongside brand awareness. If you currently have a website, you’re off to a great start. If not, have a look at our development services or design services available to get you off on the right foot.
Optimizing Your Online Presence for Local Searches
Local SEO is fairly straightforward but can be a difficult process. It’s the process of optimizing your website and online presence to rank higher in search results for local queries, such as “Brampton SEO services”. In most cases, businesses and individuals may prefer to search for a local service within a city or region of their choice.
Here are some key strategies to consider:
Claim and Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
If your business doesn’t have a Google My Business Listing, it may be a little more difficult to drive traffic to your website. With a Google My Business listing, your business profile may appear on the right-hand side of Google searches, along with all the vital information visitors may want to know about you. Your listing should include accurate and up-to-date information such as your business name, address, phone number, website URL, categories, hours of operation, and high-quality photos of the products and/or services you provide.
Local Keyword Research
In short, local keyword research is about figuring out the phrases people search in your area to search for businesses like yours that offer a certain product or service. If you were to type a word in the Google search bar, all of the suggestions that populate are considered keywords. While targeting a local keyword, include location-specific keywords such as “best [service] in Brampton” or “[service] near me”.
By conducting thorough keyword research for your local area using free tools such as Google Trends which allows you to learn about keyword volume and more, you can optimize your website and online presence to attract such local traffic. This results in more website visits, calls, and ultimately—more customers to your door.
On-Page Optimization
After you complete your local keyword research, the next step is to begin the process of tweaking elements of your web pages to improve their ranking in search results for the relevant searches. This is considered on-page optimization, otherwise known as on-page SEO where you should implement local keywords naturally throughout your website using common tactics such as:
Content Optimization
Include the local keywords you’ve decided on by creating high-quality informative content throughout your website. Create content relevant to the keywords, whether it’s a service page or a blog post. Consider this article as an example. We’re targeting… you guessed it—search engine optimization.
Title Tag Optimization
Modify or include titles that are concise and relevant to the keywords you are targeting for each web page. It’s good to keep in mind that Google wants to present information to visitors that are easily understood. Be concise—don’t drag it out.
Meta Description Optimization
Similar to title tag optimization, you’ll want to optimize the meta descriptions of each page. These descriptions should summarize the page content and entice users to click on the link seeking more information. This is also key, and should include the keywords in a concise manner.
Tip: Most users are searching on a mobile device. Keep the description short as well, roughly between 50 and 140 characters long.
Image Optimization
Most of the images you choose to use for your page should be relevant to the keyword. With that being said, it’s a great idea to use these relevant keywords in the alt text descriptions. If you don’t believe that the keyword should be included with the image associated, just ensure that you have an alt text. Google is not a fan of images that don’t include alt texts—this hinders user experience for when the image cannot load.
Internal Linking
This is the process of creating links between the relevant pages on your website. By having internal links, users should be able to navigate and find out more information seamlessly.
Off-site SEO
The term “off-site SEO” is the process of building your website or domain’s reputation and authority. By building reputation, search engines like Google will tend to show your content and website, considering the content’s relevant and trustworthy relative to the search performed.
By creating valuable content, becoming featured on other websites, and through engaging dialogue with your target audience on social media, your reputation can grow.
Backlinks
You may have heard the term “backlink” but have trouble understanding what it really is. In short, you can consider a backlink as a referral; a vote of confidence from other respected websites. Earlier, we’ve mentioned that search engines appreciate a highly reputable website or domain. The more high quality sites linking to your domain, the more authority you gain in the eyes of the search engine.
A key note to remember is that backlinks are stronger in quality, versus quantity. It’s safe to say that going on Fiverr for do-follow backlinks via high ranking domains are appealing for the rough cost of $12, however they may be very low quality with irrelevant information surrounding the backlink, turning the what was believed to be healthy backlink into a spammy backlink.
Brand Mentions
By working with a reputable brand that has a good amount of traffic, the mention of your brand in any format of an article, forum, or social media post can be interpreted as positive signals for search engines, even if they don’t include a direct link. They become beneficial for your brand as the mention shows your brand is relevant and being spoken about in your industry. The chances are likely that those who are intrigued by the mention of your brand will end up doing a Google search of your brand, resulting in more traffic.
Social Media Engagement
Although it’s true that social media shares don’t directly affect search rankings, the social media shares do have an indirect impact in a positive manner. When people share your content on social media, it builds brand awareness and essentially increases traffic to your website. For those who find your website content or brand intriguing, it can potentially lead to more backlinks and brand mentions, which ultimately benefit your search ranking in the end.
Positive Online Reviews
Whenever you’ve obtained a satisfied customer, it’s best to always encourage them to leave positive reviews on Google My Business, Yelp, and other relevant platforms. Ask them to mention their honest feedback on the service or product you’ve provided with as much detail they are comfortable in sharing. This increases the trust factor between you and potential customers indirectly, knowing the caliber of quality you provide.
Conclusion & Overview
Mastering the art of SEO can significantly enhance your local online visibility and drive substantial business growth. By implementing key strategies we’ve discussed in this article such as claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing, conducting local keyword research, and fine-tuning on-page elements like content, title tags, and meta descriptions, you can better position your website to attract qualified leads.
By utilizing off-site SEO tactics like building backlinks, fostering brand mentions, and engaging with your audience on social media further solidify your online reputation and authority. While social media shares indirectly impact search rankings, they play a crucial role in increasing brand awareness and driving traffic to your site.
Moreover, encouraging positive online reviews from satisfied customers not only builds trust but also serves as valuable social proof for potential clients. By adopting these holistic SEO practices, you can establish a robust online presence, attract more customers, and ultimately propel your business to greater success.
Improve your SEO ranking with the help of Unrivaled
Our goal with this article is to educate you on the basics of SEO and get you familiar with the terms we use fairly often with our clients. While some of our clients are able to handle the SEO of their business on their own, others still seek our expertise to maximize their spend and visibility online. If you have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to get in touch with us. We perform one-time SEO services for those who are curious to see the potential, and offer monthly SEO service plans for continuous growth.