Knowledge of search engine optimisation (SEO) principles has become more important as search engine algorithms have become more sophisticated, especially for small or local businesses. Local SEO represents a microcosm of those broader principles, and its strategies focus on ranking your page for local searches.

Optimising your website for local SEO is an invaluable way to generate traffic to your website and helps your brand become trusted in your local industry. We’ve broken down each step of this process for you, so your business can get started ranking in local searches!

Step 1: Set Up Your Website

Your website is one of the most important aspects of ranking in local searches. You want your website to rank for relevant keywords so that your page is the one that pops up when a user searches for anything related to your business.

To set up your website correctly, use these steps:

• Have an eye-catching and visually pleasing home page, contact page, and about page.
• Add a Google Map to your contact page, along with your name, address, and a clickable phone number.
• Consistent and correct information is essential for local SEO!
• Keep your website’s loading time low. Potential customers quickly lose interest in a site that takes forever to load.

Step 2: Set Up A Google My Business Profile

Google My Business is a free tool that businesses use to manage their online presence. You have already seen the little info card that pops up when you search for a business, which quickly tells you essential information about the business.

Use these steps to set up your GMB listing:

• Claim and verify your listing, and remove any duplicate listings.
• Choose your business type and which categories you want to show up in
• Add your physical address, phone number, and website URL
• Add information about opening hours, disability access, etc.

Step 3: Optimise Your Website

Also called on-page SEO, site optimisation involves making minor changes to your website to rank higher on Google and generate more local traffic.

You can optimise your website by including keywords in the header tags and meta description of each page. To further optimise for local searches, try subtly inserting location-based keywords in each piece of content. Don’t forget to fill out your alt text with relevant keywords on your images too.

Step 4: Build Local Citations

Any mention of your business across the web is a local citation. Local citations play a massive role in local search results and usually include the following:

• Business name
• Address
• Contact details
• Website address

You can increase your number of local citations by getting your business listed in local or industry-related directories. Make sure that your information is correct in every single directory in which it is mentioned!

Customers will quickly lose interest in your business if they can’t contact you because you’ve changed your email addresses or telephone number.

Step 5: Create Locally Relevant Content

Locally relevant content tells search engines what your website is about and what it can offer users in the same area as your business. If you want your website to pop up when local searches are made for your industry, you need to give search engines something to work with!

Creating useful and valuable local content is the best way to start ranking higher in local searches. Use location-specific keywords, keep your blog posts or website copy informative and unique, and remember that Google penalises sites with repetitive content.

You can also include local photos, relevant videos, and post customer testimonials to build local site authority and trust in your brand. Another tip is to create local landing pages for the different areas in which your business operates.

Step 6: Build a Portfolio of Customer Reviews

While SEO is undoubtedly the top marketing strategy, word-of-mouth builds invaluable loyalty to your business. You can capitalise on this by creating social media profiles for your business on all major platforms, interlinking them so people can find (and follow) all of your accounts.

Once these are set up, post consistently and interact with your followers. Encourage your customers to leave reviews on the platforms they use, including GMB, and promote these glowing reviews to encourage potential customers to choose your business.

Conquer Local SEO With Ctrl Alt Create

Using local SEO to improve your business website performance requires, above all else, consistency. Here at Ctrl Alt Create, we have the experience and expertise to take care of your company’s local SEO campaigns and propel you to the top of search positions for local search terms.

There’s no need to stress about the ever-changing algorithms. Instead, you can relax and trust that your SEO work is in capable hands! Contact one of our team members today to chat about your SEO objectives.