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If your website doesn’t rank well on Google, you’re missing out on business. This isn’t because you aren’t great at what you do or because you don’t serve your customers well, but simply because your ideal customers cannot find you where they’re looking for your products or services.
In fact, 97% of people use Google when they’re in need of a local product or service. As a result, if you can get your website and business to rank among the top Google search results, you can get your information in front of prospects who are actively searching for—and likely ready to purchase—exactly what you have to offer.
Now, there are a lot of moving parts to a successful SEO strategy, but on this episode on The Priority Pursuit Podcast, Victoria discusses the five most effective things you can do to improve your small business’s local SEO—which includes both how your site ranks in organic Google search results and Google’s local pack.
Why Victoria is Passionate About SEO
In case this is your first time listening to Priority Pursuit, SEO is a marketing tactic that Victoria is particularly passionate about because it played a HUGE part in her marketing strategy when she was a wedding photographer and because she’s witnessed it help Treefrog’s agency clients and coaching students reach their goals.
When she was a wedding photographer, 40% of her clients found her through Google every year. In other words, SEO was responsible for nearly half of her income. She’s also witnessed SEO help her coaching students build businesses they love, meet their sales goals, break into new markets, and meet various business goals.
She firmly believes that SEO (in addition to the rest of the flywheel marketing strategy and offering a great client experience) was why she was able to meet her booking goals year after year.
Basically, Victoria has experienced the power of SEO firsthand and witnessed its effectiveness again and again. As a result, she is super passionate about teaching SEO and helping small business owners with their SEO strategies.
Again, there are a lot of moving parts to a successful SEO strategy, but if you’re willing to put in the work to understand SEO, which likely isn’t nearly as complicated as you think it is, it can do big things for your business.
5 Most Effective Ways to Improve Your Local SEO
1. Optimize the main pages of your website with location-based keywords.
The first thing you should do is optimize the main pages of your website with location-based keywords.
Now, in case you aren’t familiar with keywords, keywords are simply the ideas and topics that define what your content is about. In terms of SEO, they’re the words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines.
And, when you put these keywords in the correct places on a webpage or in a blog post, you can increase the chances that your page or blog post will appear when Google users search for something similar.
When you choose keywords for a webpage or blog post, the most important factor to consider is search intent. In other words, if potential customers want to find products or services like yours, what will they Google?
Location-Specific Keywords
More often than not, when people are in need of a local product or service, they search by location.
For example, people may use the following search phrases when Googling:
- Indianapolis wedding photographers
- Lafayette, Indiana lawn care services
- Downtown Indianapolis bookstores
As a result, when you own or operate a local business—meaning you have a physical location or a service area—it’s strategic and beneficial to optimize the main pages of your website (so your home, about, product, and service pages) for location-specific keywords.
Optimizing your website with location-based keywords helps Google understand where you serve your customers and mirrors what your ideal customers are likely searching for, making your website much more likely to rank among top Google search results.
If you serve multiple areas…
If you have a brick-and-mortar location or a strict service area, this probably sounds easy enough. But, what if you offer a service where you go to your client? For example, if you’re a photographer, you likely travel for weddings or shoots. Or, if you’re a contractor, you probably serve several towns or cities. In that case, how do you choose what location to optimize for?
Let’s use a photography business as an example. One of the beautiful things about being a photographer is the fact that you have an opportunity to work and shoot anywhere. However, when it comes to SEO, you are MUCH more likely to rank well on Google when you get specific and you keep your keywords specific to a location—usually a city.
With this in mind, Victoria recommends optimizing the main pages of your website for the area you want to work most often. This might be where you live, the city closest to you, or wherever it is you want to do most of your work.
That said, again, it’s very important to think about your ideal client’s search intent. In other words, what would they Google if they wanted to find products or services like yours?
If you work in a large city . . .
It can be very hard to rank among the top Google search results in a large city simply because you likely have a lot of competition. As a result, you’re going to need to get more specific than, for example, “photographers in Chicago” or “bookstores in Chicago.”
To determine how to get more specific, think about your ideal client’s search intent. As they search the Internet for the perfect photographer or bookstore for them, what are they typing?
Perhaps they’re looking for a photographer with a particular style and typing in something like “editorial Chicago wedding photographers.” Or, maybe they’re looking for a bookstore in a particular neighborhood like “book stores in Lincoln Park” or with specific values like “women-owned bookstores in Chicago.”
Essentially, it can be difficult to get your site to rank well on Google for more general searches in a large city. As a result, to get your website in front of your ideal customers, you want to choose more niche keywords that are specific to your ideal client’s search intent.
If you live in a small town . . .
There’s nothing wrong with small-town living! However, chances are, there aren’t many people—if any—Googling “photographers in Remington, Indiana”.
With limited people in small towns to serve, few to no Google searches, and likely few locations where you can even take photos in the first place, you’ll likely be better off optimizing your website with keywords for the closest city where you regularly work or the city you want to work in most often. For example, when Victoria lived in a small town, she optimized her website for “Lafayette, Indiana.”
Now, you might be hearing this and thinking, “That’s nice, but I don’t want to work in one single area.” And, we get it. One of the many magical things about being a small business owner is getting to work where you want to work.
But, here’s the thing. It’s VERY difficult—if not impossible—to get the main pages of your website to rank for multiple locations. As a result, Victoria highly recommends creating your SEO keyword strategy around your “bread and butter” city or area where you’d like to work consistently.
Then, from there, you can use your blog, social media, ads, and referrals to book work in other areas.
If you’d like to learn more about how to choose keywords and where to put them on your website, check out our guide “How to Use Keywords to Improve Your Small Business’s SEO.” This guide walks you through exactly how to choose and use keywords according to your business goals.
2. Get a phone number with an area code specific to the area you want to rank well for.
Something else you can do to improve your local SEO is to get a phone number with your target location’s area code. This helps Google see that your business is local to your location.
Changing your phone number can be inconvenient, especially if you use a single cell phone for both personal and business use. But, an easy way around having to change your phone number entirely is to register for Google Voice, which is a phone service that will connect to your current cell phone but allow you to have a business number.
Basically, when you sign up for Google Voice, you can choose your phone number. Then, when you download the app, you can make and receive calls and send texts from that number.
At the time of this episode, Google Voice starts at $10 a month, so it’s an affordable option. It’s certainly more affordable than getting an entirely different business phone if your current number doesn’t match your service area’s area code.
Also, Google Voice isn’t only great for SEO; it’s also great for setting boundaries. Google Voice allows you to set office hours and send all calls made outside of your office hours to voicemail. Plus, all voicemails and texts for your business number will be stored within the Google Voice app, allowing you to keep business and personal phone use more separate.
3. Use Moz Local to create consistent online directory listings.
Another way to improve your local SEO is to create consistent online directory listings. Online directories are websites or anywhere business information is listed online—think Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc.
Now, online directories are beneficial for improving your SEO in two ways. First, backlinks—which are links that go to your website from other websites—are one of the most effective ways to improve your SEO—local or otherwise.
Basically, when Google sees that other websites link to yours, the search engine takes this as a sign of credibility, which can improve your SEO. Google more or less sees these links and says, “Hey. People are linking to this website or content. This must mean it includes good stuff. We should rank it higher.”
Utilizing online directories is by far the easiest, fastest way to earn backlinks to your site, making it one of the most effective ways to improve your SEO.
In addition to helping you earn backlinks, consistent online directory listings help give you more credibility in general. When Google sees that your business’s name, phone number, hours, email, and other information are consistent across online directories, Google will be certain of your location and service area and more or less say, “Wow. That business must be legit because all of their information is consistent.” And, this consistency will make Google more likely to rank your website well.
How do you create consistent online directory listings?
So, yes. Online directory listings are very helpful. But, how do you create them?
You have two options for creating online directory listings:
- You can create your listings manually
- You can invest in a service—like Moz Local—to update and maintain your listings for you.
Now, your time is valuable, and while you could spend hours manually listing your business information all over the Internet or have a VA do this for you, Victoria highly recommends utilizing Moz Local. For less than $20 per month, you can give Moz Local your business information one time, and it will then consistently list your business info on 1000+ online directories.
Plus, if any information about your business changes—such as your address if you move your office to a new location—you can use Moz Local to update all of your directory listings within just a few minutes—as opposed to manually updating every online directory, which would likely take days.
So, again, we highly recommend Moz Local. In fact, we use it for all of our agency clients.
4. Utilize your Google Business Profile.
Another effective way to improve your local SEO is to utilize your Google Business Profile.
First of all, if you don’t have a Google Business Profile, you most certainly need one. And, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, we can promise you that you’ve seen other businesses’ Google Business Profiles appear in your own Google searches.
A Google Business Profile is essentially an online storefront where you can display and share updates, photos, videos, your hours, your policies, and more about your business.
Then, when people search for products or services you offer or for your business specifically, Google uses your Business Profile to provide its users with a snapshot of your business. If they’d like to learn more, Google users can then visit your website or even contact you for a quote through your Google Business Profile—if you have this setting turned on.
Benefits of Using Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile will put your information in front of your customers faster thanks to Google’s local pack feature. The local pack is the group of three business listings that you see when searching for products or services provided by local businesses.
We’re sure you’ve noticed and used this section on Google before, but these listings are actually Google Business Profiles. And, the more you utilize your Google Business Profile, the more likely it is to appear in Google’s Local Pack, which is ideal because it’s usually the first thing Google users see when searching for local products and services.
Another reason to utilize your Google Business Profile is simply because Google is the leading search engine; Google wants you to use this feature; and it’s important to play by Google’s rules. So much of SEO is making Google happy, and this is an easy way to do that.
Last but not least, your Google Business Profile is kind of a magical tool simply because few businesses take advantage of theirs. As a result, there isn’t much competition, making utilizing your profile a highly effective SEO tactic.
Now, many small businesses assume that simply registering for a Google Business Profile is all they need to do with their online storefront. However, that is not the case. If you want to improve your SEO, you need to actually utilize your Google Business profile. And, by “utilize” Victoria means you need to do three things.
1. Make sure all information displayed on your Google Business Profile is accurate and up to date.
First, make sure all information displayed on your Google Business Profile is accurate and up to date. For instance, make sure your contact information is correct, make sure your business description is accurate, and fill out every applicable box and option Google gives you to make sure your Business Profile is complete.
Then, as information changes or needs to be updated, simply make adjustments. For example, if your address changes, change the address. If you’ll be closed for a holiday, change your hours for the holiday.
Just making sure your business information is up to date is a great way to show Google that your business is active and responsive, which will make the search engine more likely to rank both your website and your Google Business Profile well.
You can do all this through Moz Local, by the way, which we just discussed.
2. Post to your Google Business Profile regularly.
Next, you want to start regularly posting to your Google Business Profile. Google specifically recommends posting announcements (such as special promotions), sharing events, sharing customer testimonials, posting behind-the-scenes content, sharing educational content, and highlighting community involvement.
Now, this might sound stressful and feel like one more thing to add to your to-do list, but if you’re already developing social media content, chances are, you can adjust the posts you’re already creating to work for your Google Business Profile.
And, honestly, so few businesses take the time to post to their Google Business profiles that even if you just post to yours once a week, you’ll likely still be posting drastically more than your competitors. And, so much of ranking well on Google is simply doing more SEO work than your competitors are.
For the record, we’re all about community over competition over here, but facts are facts.
Basically, posting to your Google Business Profile will not take much time or effort, and you’ll likely see big results.
3. Ask for Google reviews.
Another way to optimize and get the most out of your Google Business Profile is to make sure you’re accumulating Google Reviews.
Recent reviews help Google see that your business is active and relevant. So, if asking your clients for reviews isn’t already part of your workflow, you’re going to want to change this ASAP.
If you go to your Google Business Profile, you should find a button that says “Get More Reviews.” Click the button, grab the link, and make sure that asking for reviews is part of your regular protocols.
It’s important to ask for reviews because more than 70% of consumers will leave reviews when directly asked. However, you’ll likely find that few to none of your customers will take the time to leave you a positive review without being prompted. That isn’t to say that your customers don’t appreciate you, but with busy lives of their own and because they don’t necessarily realize how helpful reviews can be to small businesses, it likely won’t occur to them to leave you a Google review unless you specifically ask them to.
So, again, Victoria highly recommends making asking for reviews part of your workflow. However, if you’re short on Google reviews now, you can reach out to past customers and ask them for reviews.
Remember, 97% of people utilize Google when they’re in need of a local product or service. Therefore, the longer it takes for your business to appear among the top Google search results, the more business you’re missing out on.
5. Create niche, location-specific blog posts or content on your website.
Last—and often the most effective way to improve your local SEO—is to create niche, location-specific content that can be consumed on your website, such as blog posts or videos.
Outside of trying to find products or services like yours in your area, your ideal clients are likely Googling other questions related to or adjacent to your products, services, and location.
As a result, if you create content (e.g. blog posts) that answer your potential clients’ questions, your ideal clients will likely find your content when they Google their questions—which will, then, encourage them to check out the rest of your website. And, your website as a whole will likely rank better because your location-specific content will help Google further associate you with the area you’re targeting.
For example, let’s pretend you’re a wedding photographer in Indianapolis. You could write blogs like:
- “Best Places to Take Engagement Photos in Indianapolis”
- “Elegant Wedding Venues in Downtown Indianapolis”
- “Where to Take Your Wedding Photos in Indianapolis”
- “Bridal Boutiques in Indianapolis”
- “Best Wedding Planners in Indianapolis”
This kind of content will both help you serve potential clients well and help Google see that you are a local expert at whatever it is that you do.
SEO is the key to getting your information in front of potential customers who are ACTIVELY looking for your products & services.
Again, there are a lot of moving parts to implementing an effective SEO strategy, but the fact of the matter is that when people need a local service, they go to Google to find it. As we discussed, 97% of people use Google to find local businesses.
As a result, if your website doesn’t appear on the first page of Google, you’re missing out on business because your ideal customers simply can’t find you.
However, when your site ranks among the top Google search results, people who are actively looking for what you have to offer can easily find you. And, marketing doesn’t get any more strategic than that!
Basically, you likely can’t afford not to rank well on Google. So, utilize these five SEO tactics, check out the keyword guide and other resources we talked about in the show notes, and please make SEO a top marketing priority.
Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- Episode 145: A Marketing Strategy that Increases Sales: The Exact Strategy I Used to Meet My Small Business’s Booking Goals
- Free Guide “The Most Effective Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses: The Flywheel Marketing Method”
- Free Guide “Keyword Guide: How to Use Keywords to Improve Your Small Business’s SEO”
- Episode 042: Why Backlinks Matter for SEO & Six Ways You Can Get Backlinks as a Creative Entrepreneur
- Receive 50% Off Your First Year of HoneyBook
- Learn More About Treefrog’s Small Business Marketing Resources & Services
- Join the Priority Pursuit Facebook Community
- Follow or DM Treefrog Marketing on Instagram
- Follow or DM Kelly Rice on Instagram
- Follow or DM Victoria Rayburn on Instagram
The Priority Pursuit Podcast is a podcast dedicated to helping small business owners define, maintain, and pursue both their personal and business priorities so they can build lives and businesses they love.
You can find The Priority Pursuit Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Stitcher, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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