Local Search Engine Optimization

Local search engine optimization (SEO) is a strategy that is hand-crafted for local businesses looking to increase their visibility in search engines, reach more customers, and of course — earn revenue.

Similar to traditional SEO, local SEO services focus on boosting your business listings in online search results.

When potential customers search businesses like yours in their area, you want to appear at the top of results.

Ultimately, local SEO helps achieve top rankings so more people can find and contact you — and visit your local business.

Wondering how you rank at the top of search results? Keep reading for our list of local SEO services, designed to boost your online rankings.

7 local SEO services for earning top search rankings
If you want to rank at the top of search results on search engines like Google, you’ll need to focus on these local SEO services for your business.

Hallmarks of local search, Google My Business listings contain key information about businesses — and they appear when people search companies near them.

If you want your business to appear in Google’s local SEO 3-pack, at the top of results, you need to claim and optimize your Google My Business listing. You’ll also want to keep your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) information consistent across your online listings to improve your chances of earning a top spot in results.

In addition to claiming your Google My Business listing, you’ll also want to build local citations.

These citations contain information like your company’s name, address, phone number, and website.

Citation building campaigns can help you earn local listings on sites like Bing, Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook, Apple Maps, TripAdvisor, and more.

To rank at the top of local search results, you’ll also need to target local keywords on your website and in your site content.

Let’s look at an example. If a dental practice in the Harrisburg area wants to rank in more local search results, they could optimize their page titles, meta descriptions, and site copy to include the keywords “Top Harrisburg Dentist” or “Award-winning Harrisburg Dentistry.”

In addition, the practice may consider creating some location-specific pages on their site. For instance, they could create a page for “Harrisburg Dental Services,” and highlight various dental services they offer to Harrisburg residents.

Targeting location-based keywords can help your business appear in more local searches so people in your area can find and contact you.

For local businesses, it’s extremely important to monitor and respond to online reviews.

Ratings and reviews can appear on your website, as well as third-party sites like Google My Business, Yelp, and Facebook. Positive or negative, it’s important that you reply to all reviews in order to show customers you take their needs seriously.

People look at reviews before visiting local businesses, so keeping your reviews updated and responding to questions and comments will encourage more people to visit your business.

Earning backlinks from other reputable, local businesses can also help to boost your local search rankings.

How do you earn links?

Start by creating valuable content that targets local keywords related to your business. If other sites like what they see, they can link back to your site in their own content.

Search engines like Google consider both the number and quality of backlinks when ranking sites. This means it’s important to have a strong backlink profile, complete with links from authority businesses in the local area.

It’s also important to provide a great user experience (UX) on your site if you want to attract more local traffic.

If your website doesn’t provide a positive UX, visitors will waste no time hitting the back button — and your bounce rate will soar. High bounce rates signal a poor user experience, and search engines won’t rank your site highly if it provides a less-than-desirable UX.

Here are a few quick fixes for improving your site’s UX:

Streamline your navigation and internal linking to make it easy for visitors to find the information they need. Speed up your site with page speed optimization services. Include visual and interactive elements to engage users.

The final local SEO service you’ll want to invest in is making your site mobile responsive.

More than half of online searches — nearly 60 percent — occur from mobile devices. Often times, searchers need information while on-the-go, especially when it comes to finding local businesses.

This makes it crucial for local businesses to adopt mobile responsive site designs. When your site is responsive, it will look great and perform well, no matter the device someone uses to access it — a desktop computer, mobile device, or tablet.