SEO takes businesses on a never-ending roller coaster ride. If you are not ranking too well on all the search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Aol, DuckDuckGo, etc), your goal as a company using digital marketing tactics is to achieve the top spots on the SERPs while getting ahead of the competition and staying there in 2017!
If your website has already managed to get the top Google ranking in your industry, well then, you must continue to “water” your garden and nurture the ongoing SEO process.
A champion does not stop training when they become the champion
A subset of the SEO paradigm, Local SEO Marketing is the optimization of your business online for geo-specific searches. It involves getting listed in local business listings/directories, attracting links from local sources, opt-ins from local subscribers, optimizing your Google Maps, social media marketing, etc.
Here is a set of things you need to know about Local SEO Marketing in 2017:
1. SEO, it’s an on-going process
SEO is a very time-consuming process done properly. You or your digital marketing agency must be prepared to keep updating and checking the relevance of what you are putting out there for your audience.
Take help from guides like Google’s Checklist and competitor analysis strategies to compete on the ground level but also using tools like SEMRush, Citation Trackers, or an enterprise solution like SearchMetrics will help improve your data research.
2. Optimize Google My Business Listing / Directory Listings
One of the best and quickest ways to increase your websites SEO visibility locally is to get listed and fully claim your business listings on Google My Business, Bing Local, Yahoo local, and data aggregators for example.
Also, make sure your N.A.P also known as your “name, address, phone” is consistent and accurate. Using a consistent NAP will help Google and other search engines learn and understand that your business is located at your address through Geo-Coordinates and other local data.
It is important to also make sure you add photos and the proper industry categories so that the search engines know what your business is all about. This helps greatly with Local SEO.
3. Make maximum use of your social media channels
Nearly everyone today uses a smartphone in the United States. If you are still behind on connecting with your target market via social media marketing (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn), you’re are not connecting with how the current population is absorbing information especially when it comes to local businesses.
Social media marketing is a free way of staying connected with your customers but also time-consuming and rewarding. Maintaining your social media channel will enable you to keep an active eye on your brand locally but also foster a relationship with your customers and community.
Social Media is the marketing way of the future!
4. Welcome Online Reviews
It’s always nice and at times necessary to see what your customers have to say about you and your business brand. It is important to equally welcome both positive and negative reviews about your business and making it a habit of responding to reviews when possible.
Take note of the negative and respond accordingly and keep the positive as a reminder to continue delivering the best quality. Posting positive feedbacks and reviews on your website or social media sites will increase your brand trustworthiness and customer retention, and make way into the grapevine, attracting potential customers through word-of-mouth as well as through social media.
First impressions do count, especially in the digital world. Also look into injecting review schema code to your website to help search engines know how awesome you are and future customers too!
5. Keeping an updated blog
Blogging about the latest trends, news relating to your industry, providing valuable information to clients helps to keep them updated but also keeping them engaged. By keeping a consistent content calendar and writing, this will help you create more authority on the web but also be generating more organic SEO traffic.
But make sure that the blogs you post contain high-quality content and deliver good value to your readers, that is, your customers, both potential and existing. The blogs should be able to generate opinions such as comments and reviews; otherwise, you are just wasting time and money.
6. Focus on user experience
Human-oriented content ranks best on Google. If you want to do well in the search engine results, make sure you are doing everything in line with your website and publish quality content that Google values.
One way to do that is by making sure that your website (responsive design) is multi-platformed i.e. it supports mobile, tablet and PC etc. browsing. If users are unable to find you on the go through their smart phones, you are definitely losing potential clients and daily revenue!
SM Digital Partners can help your business whether small, medium, large or enterprise level, we have a customizable Local SEO Marketing solution that will deliver online results but also work around your digital marketing budget. Call us today at 561-404-9787 for a free complimentary digital audit of your website.
601 N. Congress Ave. Suite 430
Delray Beach, FL 33445
561-404-9787
