‘Localizing’ your website means including your city, county, or region name naturally completely your site. For businesses with several locations, this could involve building separate pages or Content Hubs for different sections. Other tactics include getting involved with local community events and highlighting articles and information about them on the site.
Ensure your site features on citation sites and online business directories. Not only will this help customers find your business, but featuring your company’s name, address, phone number, and website URL on citation sites and adding extra data to business records will help develop your search rankings.
- Claiming your Google My Business listing
Claiming your Google My Business page is a step towards helping your business display beneficial Google services, such as local search results and Google Maps. GMB (and its Microsoft equivalent, Bing Places for Business) should always be the first online index you take possession of.
- Managing reviews and ratings
Genuine, honest reviews are crucial both for showcasing the quality of your service and for sending signals to search engines that your site and service are entrusted and useful. The number of reviews you receive, the overall quality of the reviews, and the power of the review sites themselves are all essential factors for local search rankings.
- Getting quality, relevant backlinks
Naturally obtained backlinks from well-regarded websites help search engines understand your site as a trusted source of information and promote the ‘prominence’ features of the local search algorithm. Links from local newspapers, bloggers, and business organizations, as well as citations, can all help enhance your search visibility.