Optimizing a website to rank for a specific keyword or phrase isn’t an easy task, but it’s even harder to rank for local keywords. You may spend thousands of dollars on “link–building packages” and other dubious services, all to no avail. If this sounds like a familiar scenario, keep reading for some helpful tips on how to boost your site’s ranking for local keywords.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is exactly what it sounds like: optimizing a website to rank for geo-targeted keywords. If you operate a retail apparel store in Atlanta, GA, for instance, you may want to target keywords such as “Atlanta clothing,” “where to find clothes in Atlanta,” “Atlanta apparel store,” etc. The obvious benefit in doing so is that you’ll receive traffic from people who can feasibly visit your store, whereas generic Internet traffic probably won’t convert.
On-Page SEO
To rank for local keywords, you’ll need to include those keywords — or at least parts of those keywords — in your website’s content.
Now here’s where many webmasters fail. They assume the best approach is to simply stuff keywords into their site’s content for the sake of trying to rank. This practice may have worked a few years ago, but Google has since updated its algorithm to deter keyword stuffing. Doing it today will likely have a negative effect on your site’s ranking, so only include local keywords when appropriate and relevant.
Google My Business
If you haven’t done so already, set up an account on Google My Business and add your listing. This allows your business to be found on Google Search, Maps and Plus. Google My Business is completely free with no strings attached.
Once you’ve created your listing, fill in as much information about your business as possible, such as your business’s name, phone number, street address, hours of operation, etc. And if you really want to go the extra mile with your GMB listing, consider setting up an interactive tour.
Other Local SEO Tips:
- Diversify your backlinks with local anchor text.
- Tag photos on your blog with Meta data containing the local keyword(s) for which you are trying to rank.
- Connect with other local businesses and organizations in your area.
- Always include the address of your business when promoting.
Have any other local SEO tips that you would like to share with our readers? Let us know in the comments section below!
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