1. Optimize Your Google Business Profile(s)
This is a simple exercise, but you need to be thorough. There are several good articles on this subject across the web.
This article outlines the basics of Google Profile optimization for local SEO. Optimizing Google Business Profile is an essential first step to begin local SEO for small business.
2. Embed Your Google Business Profile Map on Your Contact Page
Adding your business listing’s map(s) to your company contact page can help to solidify to search engines the relationship between your company website and the world’s largest business directory, Google Maps. As you can imagine, this is typically a healthy local SEO ranking signal.
This can easily be done by copy/pasting the HTML snippet provided by Google Maps into your website’s code.
How to embed your Google Business Profile map on your website:
a. Find your profile(s) at https://business.google.com/, and click “View on Maps”
b. Click “Share”
c. Select the “Embed a map” option and copy the HTML by clicking the “COPY HTML” button.
d. Paste the HTML in the desired location on your company’s contact page. You may want to ask your web developer for assistance.
3. Ensure NAP Consistency with Citations
Your company’s NAP (name, address, phone number) data is monitored by search engines. Having consistent NAP data is always a healthy local SEO ranking signal. This is because search engines are programmed to avoid poor user experiences. And companies with inconsistent or outdated contact information listed online tend to provide poor user experiences to the users trying to contact them. Thus, having a consistent and accurate NAP data listed online is rewarded with more visibility by search engines.
How do I see and repair my NAP profile?
Use a citation listing service to see and repair your NAP profile data across the web. They will typically crawl and let you see your company profile for free. They only want you to pay, if they run their citation sync services. We use SEMrush’s Local service, which is powered by Yext, one of the world’s most popular citation syncing services.
4. Add NAP Data to the Website Footer, Globally
Adding your most important NAP data to your website’s footer is another great idea. Information such as:
- Business Locations (if applicable)
- Business Address(es)
- Primary Business Phone Number(s)
- Hours of Operation
This offers another fantastic local SEO ranking signal that (in many cases) can easily be implemented without your web developer.
Not only is this a great way to appeal to the search engines, in terms of your relevance locally, but this is also a great addition to the UX (user experience) of your website. Finding NAP data at the bottom of any page is often a great way to improve the user experience for local users.
Users may be convinced they are ready to do business after consuming the content of any given webpage, thus having the phone number or address easily clickable in the footer is a great way to improve UX and thus CVR (conversion rates).
5. Post Weekly Keyword-rich Updates to your Google Business Profile
If you want to optimize your website for Google search results, then it will behoove you to use their products. Google loves when you use their products. Google rewards you for using their products. If you don’t believe me, make weekly posts to your Google Business Profile for a couple of months, then stop. Was your business more visible on Google Maps during that time? The answer is likely, “yes”, if you dig into the analytics.
You don’t need to do much when posting, just post regular weekly updates about your business or your offerings. In my experience, one or two sentences is all each post needs to be to reap the benefits of this local ranking signal. Always include media (picture or video), a call-to-action, and use the keywords most important to your SEO goals.
Don’t “leave local SEO on the table”. Take advantage of this easy local SEO for small business hack. Post weekly to Google Business.
6. Consider Local SEO Services from a Reputable Agency
This article provides some very powerful quick local SEO tips for small businesses. However, always consider the fact that there are organizations that can drastically exceed what articles like this provide.
Great SEO agencies are a must for small businesses in highly competitive local markets. Quick tips and fixes will only get those businesses so far.
SEO is a science, and it has been mastered by experts. If you need assistance with local SEO for small business, reach out to seasoned SEO experts.
