Last year was hard on all of us, and we’ll undoubtedly need some time to recover fully. The global pandemic has reshaped our future and changed our lives in a way we never thought was possible, and although the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is coming, some businesses still struggle to find their way back and enter the market. In addition, the global pandemic has accelerated shifts to e-commerce, which means that many businesses have no other choice but to sell their goods online.
With that being said, business owners have to find a way to develop an effective digital marketing strategy because that’s one of the best ways to increase traffic to their website. But, to rank higher in result pages and increase the visibility of your online content, it’s essential to learn how to utilise effective SEO solutions in your digital marketing strategy. So, let’s talk about how you, as a small business owner, can dominate local search in 2021.
What is local SEO?
In simple terms, Local SEO is an SEO strategy that helps business owners become visible in local search results on Google. As a small business owner, you’re probably trying to reach a local audience before expanding your customer base. Therefore, local SEO can help you promote your business and increase your online visibility. If you want to stand out from the rest of the crowd and increase traffic to your website, be sure to stay with us and learn how to dominate the market without spending a fortune on developing a new marketing strategy.
Set up Google My Business
Setting up Google My Business (GMB) account is vital for your business because this account is the first thing your clients and customers see when trying to find your business online. When setting up your business account, you can include essential information related to your business, such as the address, working hours, pictures of your products and reviews.
Therefore, Google My Business helps your local audience find your business faster. If you’re a small business owner, it would be best to set up a Google My Business account because it will undoubtedly help you in the long run. In addition, Google My Business has Google Maps integration, meaning your customers will always be able to get to your store, even if they’re not locals.
Once you set up a GMB account, be sure to respond to your customer reviews and address the issues if you notice negative feedback. By responding to your reviews and keeping the essential business information up to date, you’re making it possible for other people to find you and learn about your business in a matter of seconds.
Engage on social media
Producing engaging content and responding to your customers on social media is as important as ranking higher on Google. For example, if you want customers to visit your online store or website, it’s essential to give them a good reason to click on that link. Luckily, there are many ways to build your social media engagement. You can do that by starting Question & Answer sessions and inviting your customers to express their thoughts about your brand. In addition, be sure to post frequently and create polls and surveys that will help you learn more about customer satisfaction.
Next, if you want to increase traffic to your website, you can collaborate with other business owners, invest in promotions and run contests and giveaways for your audience. More importantly, your posts should be visually appealing, and if you include hashtags, you’ll most certainly manage to improve your site’s ranking.
Ensure your website is mobile-friendly
A mobile optimised website will improve user experience and mobile SEO. In addition, having a mobile-friendly website is a lot cheaper than app development. In case you didn’t know, we should remind you that people spend more time on their mobile phones. So, if they can’t access your website’s content on mobile, they wouldn’t want to spend more time on your website or purchase your products.
Since more than 50% of Google searches are performed on mobile, developing a mobile-friendly website is essential for your business. Not only will you be able to reach a wider audience, but you’ll also rank better on search engines.
Become a pro at keyword research
If you want to develop successful SEO for your website, you have to learn how to find keywords for your SEO strategy. In simple terms, by selecting the most suitable target keywords, you can rank higher in search engines. We all know that higher rankings drive traffic to your website and help you promote your products and services online, which is why it’s essential to become a pro at keyword research.
Trying to find industry-related keywords can be tricky if you’ve never done it before. You can do that by creating a list of relevant topics to your business and research related search terms. In addition, think about how you’re trying to find a specific service online. “Hair salon near me”, “Fancy restaurants”, and “Nearest cafe” are some of the great examples of industry-related keywords. Once you create a list, make sure to include your keywords in page titles, meta descriptions and URLs, and more importantly, use them when creating content for your blog.
Create high-quality local content for your audience
Optimisation is an essential aspect of your marketing strategy, but you shouldn’t focus all your attention on SEO. The best way to dominate local search is to create a balance between optimization and the quality of your content. For example, if you have a blog, make sure to write articles related to your local events or holidays and use that platform to promote your products. So, if you want to promote your restaurant or cafe, it would be best to create a blog post with the title “Your guide to holiday dining” and then mention your restaurant once or twice in the article.
Of course, as mentioned before, don’t forget to include location-specific keywords in your article because that’s one of the best ways to attract people interested in buying your products.
Hire a good SEO agency
If you’re a small business owner who’s trying to recover from the impact of the global pandemic, you probably don’t want to spend all your resources on developing a new marketing strategy or building a new high-performance website from scratch. Truth be told, you don’t need to invest in these opportunities to improve your site’s ranking. However, it wouldn’t be bad to hire someone who can help you improve rankings and become more visible online.
Local SEO services will help your website get on the first page of Google and generate sales leads for your business. In addition, hiring SEO experts will save you a lot of time and energy. While some tasks, such as submitting your site to search engines, don’t require a lot of time or experience, other tasks require professional assistance. Moreover, it’s difficult to keep up with changes in today’s world and find the best way to optimise your website and boost your site’s organic rankings all by yourself. So, is hiring an SEO expert worth the investment? Yes, you can benefit from an expert’s experience, which is why it’s recommended to consider this opportunity for your business growth.
Participate in your local community
Partnering with a nonprofit on a campaign or even sponsoring an event is one of the great ways to increase brand awareness and earn press and inbound links. In other words, if you give something to your local community, you can expect to get something in return. So, be ready to invest in local campaigns or events, and invite hundreds or even thousands of people to visit your website.
Another reason why local SEO is important is that you can use it to promote a virtual event. If you don’t want to become a sponsor, but believe that hosting an online event is a great opportunity for business growth, be sure to create a list of keywords and hashtags that will help you promote your event and use it the next time you’re creating content for your audience.
Using local SEO for post-COVID-19 recovery can help you reach your business goals faster. If you’ve never tried to optimise your website for SEO and conversions before, we advise you to learn as much as you can about this topic or hire professionals who will help you boost your site’s rankings. Of course, there are other ways to improve SEO rankings and become more visible to your target audience, but be sure to consider these strategies because they’re the foundation for advanced SEO techniques.
We understand that site optimisation often isn’t a priority, especially if you’re trying to get back on track after the global pandemic. However, these tips will help you beat the competitors and reach a wider audience, which is why we suggest you dedicate more time and energy to your site’s optimisation.
Mianna Korben
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