Small businesses need SEO especially locally. For example, if someone is looking for a restaurant, they will first search in their local area. Local listings improve your visibility and help you rank higher in search engines, even if your core business may attract larger searches.
Is your business listed in local online search engines?
It must appear in the following directories: Yellow Pages Online, Yahoo Local, Bing, Google+ and the local online directories of your cities. When your business is linked to local directories, it’s much easier for people to find you. You can increase your ranking on these sites by asking happy customers to post reviews below your business listing and click the thumbs up like +1 etc.
Link Building is another way to position your business in search engines.
You can do this by adding reviews and links to other businesses similar to yours. You can also cross-promote with other companies and offer to exchange links. Make sure you build your links slowly and naturally. Regulate them by doing a few one day and a couple the next. This way search engines won’t penalize you and think you’re spamming.
Promote your business on social media platforms.
Use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and they should reflect the location of your business. It’s nice to have a lot of followers, but they mean nothing if these people don’t convert into customers. Direct your posts towards your local community. You can post specials, videos, and images to grab the attention of your followers.
It could be something as simple as mentioning that you saw this post or tweeting today and get 20% off your next purchase. You increase the reach of your business and encourage more customers to visit it. It’s a great way to do business again and build relationships with your customers.
Online advertising
Pay per click advertising is one of the most powerful ways to target your local community. Use geo-targeted PPC for your online campaigns. For example, your business is in Denver, Colorado. You can post ads that are targeted to specific areas of Denver. People who are not in this geographic area should be excluded.
It’s about getting the right kind of traffic to increase your sales and keep your customers coming back again and again. These are just some of the ways you can use local SEO for small businesses to increase their online presence.