Ranking locally on Google in 2023 can be difficult, especially if you are in a competitive business with competitive keywords you are trying to rank for. Here are some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tips to get you started.
Understand How to Find Good Keywords
- First, make a list of important, relevant topics based on what you know about your business. Then take those topics and find relevant keywords. If you already have a website, you can use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to find keywords that you already rank for.
- Second, discover new keywords by using a keyword research tool like Moz, ahrefs, or Google Keyword Planner I use Google Keyword Planner and Rank Tracker from SEO PowerSuite.
Develop 2 or 3 Main Keywords for the Home Page
If you are a moving company in El Paso, Texas your main keyword may be “Moving Company in El Paso, Texas.” Always add the city where you are located in the keyword phrase. A secondary keyword may be “mover.” That would translate to “El Paso mover.”
Develop Keywords Around Your Services
Let’s say you are a dentist and you have many services available. One of them may be implants. The term “implants” could have different meanings. That term could refer to breast implants or pacemaker implants. To obtain correct results in the SERPs (search engine results pages) you want to use the term “dental implants.”
Create Pages for Your Keywords
Once your service keywords are nailed down, create separate pages for each service keyword.
Optimize the Content for Each Page
I use Page Optimizer Pro (POP), which is an on-page SEO tool that helps produce perfectly optimized pages for Google. Based on your competition, this tool will help you pinpoint areas on your page that you need improvement.
Internal Linking
Internal link all service pages to other relevant pages, such as blog pages, with exact name anchors and variations of your keywords.
Blog Posts
Blogs are a great way to show you are an expert in your field. You can write a blog weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Just be consistent.
Create a Google Business Profile Listing
Fill this out completely with the exact name of your business, address, and phone number. This should exactly match what is on your website. Add all your services, which should exactly match what is on your website. Create your own Q&A section and create 6 GBP Posts, then post 4 to 5 times a week using your top 5 keywords. Use an app like Local Falcon to track your progress.
Add Citations
Add at least 60 high quality citation sites with your NAP (name, address, and phone number) exactly the way it is listed on your website and Google Business Profile listing.
Create Videos
Create YouTube videos for your local keywords and services and include links to the relevant pages on your website. it’s also a good idea to make a video based on your blog posts and embed the video in the post. Include a Google review link in the YouTube description.
If you do all these things correctly you will outrank 75% of your competition.
What about the other 25%?
If you are a dentist, doctor, lawyer, electrician, plumber, or any other business that is very competitive in a large population city, here’s what you do to get to the top.
1. Press Release – By disseminating an excellent press release in the form of an article, you are not just spreading the news about you and your business, you are gaining authority and relevance. Submit a new press release every 3 months.
2. Branded Social Media – Create social media accounts for your business and brand them with your business profiles which links back to your website. You may already have some of the well-known social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Those are certainly important to have, but I don’t create those social media platforms for our branded social media accounts. We create 50 social profiles for our clients, such as About.me, Gravatar, Buzzfeed, and Tumblr.
3. GEO Networks – GEO Networks is a series of properties and web 2.0 accounts built for a business location rather than a brand. If you have a Google Business Profile listing, you want to add all the location and geographical relevance that you can for better ranking. Create geo-relevant articles for your business location on properties such as Google Sites, Wix, and Strikingly.
Backlinks
So, what about backlinks? If you can afford to hire a service to create high DA (Domain Authority) backlinks for you, then they will help.
Personally, I don’t actively acquire backlinks for my clients. I recently ranked a new lawyer with a new website and GBP with their main keywords in a city of 680,000 people with over 200 competing lawyer websites and GBPs. I ranked their GBP #1 for their main keyword in a little less than 6 months.
