Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for online marketing. Without it, you are at a severe disadvantage. By optimizing your website with keywords and other tactics, you increase your chances of ranking well in search engine results, which puts your content in front of more people. There’s a lot of work that goes into optimization, and it starts with local SEO.
Local SEO Optimization
Local search engine optimization refers to optimizing a website for local searches on search engines like Google, Bing, and others. Most of this optimization is focused on Google since that’s where the majority of traffic comes from, but it shouldn’t be the only concern.
Here are some ways to optimize your site for all the local SEO it might need:
Optimize Your Listings
Listings refer to Google My Business, Bing Places, and Apple Maps. These listings are the most important part of local SEO. Make sure your Google My Business listing includes the following:
- Business name
- Physical address (you can use a home address if you work from home)
- Exact location on a map if Google is unable to accurately pinpoint your location from your address
- Category/Industry
- Phone number
- Website
- Photos
- Business hours
- Services
Your Bing Places listing is very similar to its Google equivalent. It should include the following information:
- Business type
- Business name
- Address (there’s a box you can check to hide the address if it’s a home address)
- Website
- Business segment and category
- Phone number
- Social media links
- Review site links (Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc.)
- Photos
Apple Maps is not as popular as Google or Bing, but there are still many Apple users who use it. This is because it’s the default maps application on iPhone, so it is used by the millions of people who use iPhones. You should claim your listing on Apple Maps and optimize it with the same information you entered for your Google and Bing listings.
Optimize for Mobile
Most searches are now conducted on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. If you’re not optimized for these devices, your site will appear disorganized and difficult to navigate. This will make users quickly click away and look for someone else to provide what they need. The best way to keep these visitors on your own site is to install a theme with a responsive design.
Research Keywords
Keywords are the one aspect of SEO that you can’t leave out. Without keywords, your content won’t be seen by the people that matter. Take the time to research the questions that your audience may be asking. Target long-tail keywords – these are keywords that consist of several specific words rather than just one. Once you’ve done your research and have a list of your keywords that you want to rank for, make sure you include them in all the appropriate places, including:
- Blog content
- Headlines
- Meta tags and descriptions
- Image tags
- URLs
Build Links
The act of building links is very good for SEO and helps you appear as an authority in your industry. These strategies will help you build relevant links:
- Guest posting: Write a blog post for another highly-ranked site in exchange for a link back to your site.
- Improve on popular content: Find a piece of content that is ranked well, but could be better. Write that better post.
- Create an ultimate guide or “best of” post.
Perform Ongoing SEO Maintenance
Once you have the various aspects of your SEO strategy in place, you don’t want to neglect or forget about it. You need to constantly maintain your online presence. You can do this by:
- Staying active on Google My Business, including responding to customer reviews
- Publishing new content regularly
- Correcting inconsistent information on listings, reviews, and mentions online
Benefits of SEO
Besides the obvious benefits of allowing you to rank highly in search results, there are other benefits to developing an SEO strategy, including:
- Lower cost than paid ads and Adwords
- Brand credibility, since everyone trusts Google
- Better return on investment than paid ads
- The ability to stand out from the crowd
BionicWP Can Help You Make the Most of Your SEO Strategy
BionicWP provides secure WordPress hosting for your business website. We offer several features that can help improve your site’s SEO. Real-time uptime monitoring keeps your site fast, which can affect search engine rankings. Security features, such as backups, updates, scans, and protection from hacks and viruses, will keep your site running without fear of crashes and shutdowns. We can connect your site to Google Analytics and Google Search Console, which helps you determine your best sources of traffic and optimize for them. Monthly hosting and SEO reports keep you on top of everything going on with your site, and we will even provide you with SEO advice every month. Contact BionicWP today to find out how we can improve the SEO of your website.
