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Many prospect clients prefer to work with a local experts. But first, they must know that you are nearby! A well-executed local search engine optimization (SEO) campaign makes sure that your business is found early in the online research process.
Registering on Google My Business is free and remarkably easy. After you register and complete the verification process, your company will appear in local search engine results and on Google Maps, making it easy for customers to find you no matter what device they are using.
Bing Places for Business offers a similar service that is also free of charge and just as user-friendly. Since Bing is ranked third in search engines after Google and YouTube, utilizing their services can add great value to your company’s search engine optimization by reaching even more customers.
Much like with Google My Business, the process of setting up an account is as simple as claiming your business, verifying your information, and managing your account. Taking these steps in maximizing your visibility through multiple search engines provides for a powerful tool in reeling in new customers while maintaining connections with your current patrons by giving them the opportunity to provide feedback.
Once your business is listed, start asking your best customers to post reviews. Reviews have an immense influence on the buying decision. Moreover, search engines take them seriously. For example, businesses that have the most high-quality reviews tend to rank higher on Google local results.
While Google My Business posts reviews through their own platform, Bing Places for Business is linked to and features your Yelp! business reviews. This integration creates exciting potential for increasing engagement with your customers. On its own, Yelp! yields an average of about 40 million users per month and is integrated into multiple platforms across the web. In turn, customers who engage with you through Bing Places or Business are actually expanding your presence beyond Bing itself.
Legitimate online directories like Yellow Pages makes it easier for prospective customers to find you. Even Facebook which is primarily associated as a social media site can be utilized as a review site for your company if you are not interested in the social aspect. Facebook Business makes for yet another free, easy to use tool in maximizing your search engine optimization.
There exists a great need in acknowledging the power of social media as a review site tool considering that just by creating a page, users can “recommend” your business on their personal or business page, thus expanding visibility into their networks.
Other powerful local SEO marketing tips include listing your business details on professional associations and other directories relevant to your industry. If your business is listed on several directories, each one is likely to appear in the list of search results.
Set up quarterly calendar reminders to check that each one up to date. It’s important to keep contact and location information current and consistent across your website, social media pages, review sites, and directory listings.
Optimize your web content, URLs, and tags by using targeted local keywords. Even if customers rarely come to your business location(s), list your street address, city, and zip code in your footer. This tells Google and other search engines where you are so that you can be listed in local search results. Mention your geographical location frequently (but naturally) in your web content. Another simple way to add local keywords is to include your city name when you add taglines to photos such as “Our headquarters in beautiful Red Bank, New Jersey.”
Local SEO can be a powerful tool in your business development arsenal if done the right way. With these 3 tips, you can improve your search engine rank and click-through rate while helping people do business with you more easily. Find more local SEO tips here. There are some tools out there like Yext that make local SEO easier, but if you are not interested in doing it yourself, SVM is here to help. Simply schedule a free consultation and Bob DeStefano, president of SVM, will be in contact with you to set up a meeting.
Check out our essential guide to B2B search engine marketing for more insight on how to implement a strategy that produces results for your company. We explain search engine marketing’s role in your marketing mix and how to define and implement a strategy that will help your industrial company produce results.
