No matter what industry you’re in, and how large or small your business is, you’ll always have at least one competitor who’s been around longer and has allocated more budgets and resources to increase visibility on the internet and in search engines. It may seem pointless to try to compete with them in the realm of SEO.
Low-Cost Strategies for Local SEO to Thrive on Google Business Profile and Local Search
Local SEO, unlike its organic counterpart, is not a game of funds or links. It’s about understanding the unique features of local SEO and applying simple strategies. You don’t need a hefty budget or hundreds of links to be visible and relevant to a local audience. This accessibility empowers you to take control of your local SEO and thrive in your community.
In this article, we’ll explore six cost-effective strategies that small and medium-sized businesses can use to give themselves the best chance of ranking locally.
1. Optimize Your Google Business Profile (GBP)
The first step is to fully complete and verify your business listing via the Google Business Profile (GBP). The GBP (formerly Google My Business) enables local businesses to update their information on Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Posts simultaneously, ensuring that potential customers can find them on any device they use to search for the products and services they offer.
Local buyers tend to buy more than non-local buyers. Verifying and optimizing your GBP allows you to associate search keywords related to your products directly to your business location.
As a business owner, you must realize that anyone can suggest changes to your business listing, including competitors. After updating your GBP with all your local business details, it’s essential to sign in to your dashboard regularly to make sure no one has attempted to make unwanted changes to your listing, and that all the information is up to date and accurate (Name, Address, Phone—NAP consistency is critical).
Take advantage of the many important GBP features, such as Google Posts (for updates and events), Click-to-Action buttons, Messages, and questions and answers. The possibilities are limitless. Get started!
2. Host User-Generated Reviews
Google considers reviews an important factor in ranking local businesses in their local search results; however, more than anything, your reviews are for potential customers who see your company in search results. Customer reviews are compelling because they provide potential customers with a good idea of what it’s like to use your products or services. Positive reviews from customers on Google Reviews or third-party review websites, such as Yelp, have proven to attract new customers to businesses.
User-generated online reviews have revolutionized the digital landscape for small businesses. They not only level the playing field but also provide a powerful tool for SEO. Search engine crawlers love unique and frequently updated content, and user reviews are an easy way to create more of it. Each user posts reviews unique to them, improving the freshness and uniqueness of your website content. This, combined with the fact that the keywords and phrases used by reviewers are often similar to those used by other users, significantly boosts your SEO efforts.
Customer reviews, combined with the fact that the keywords and phrases related to your products and services used by reviewers are often similar to those used by other users, improve the chances of your products ranking higher for the keywords frequently used by real potential customers.
Research shows that 91% of shoppers read product reviews before making any purchase, so it makes sense that a large number of consumers search for your product name along with keywords like “review” or “ratings.”
To tempt your visitors to leave a review, you can:
- Add a ‘Review’ button to your web page to make it easier to publish a review.
- Invite visitors to leave a review after purchasing by sending them pop-up messages or notifications, or by emailing them.
- Speak with people face-to-face in your store or company and ask them to leave a review.
3. Create a Link Strategy (Link Building and Citations)
One of the most crucial aspects of any SEO strategy is creating a plan to acquire backlinks that direct traffic to your website.
For local businesses, this includes obtaining Local Citations (mentions of your NAP—Name, Address, Phone—on local directories, such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and industry-specific sites) explicitly. These citations are crucial for local search ranking signals.
Additionally, you should not overlook the internal links strategy or the link structure of a website, as the most linked pages are usually the most important ones, provided they are oriented towards keywords and optimized correctly.
4. Optimize Images on Your Website and Google Business Profile
Optimization for local SEO is not limited to the text description of your business. Due to Google moving towards streamlining its search results, you can now view images on the organic search page, so it’s important to optimize images for search engines.
Optimize Image Name.
When it comes to optimizing the images for search engines, it all starts with the image name. Don’t use a generic image file name like ‘image12345.jpg’. Instead, it’s beneficial to use something descriptive to make your images stand out in the leaderboard.
Optimize Image Alt-tag
Search engines can’t read images, so it’s up to you to use alt tags to help describe your image to make sure it appears during relevant queries. Write a concise and relevant description that contains the appropriate keywords related to your business or product. Don’t forget to write the content above and below the images on your website, using keywords where applicable; the more the text is related to the image, the better.
Most importantly, if you want Google to categorize your images by localized keywords, be sure to add local keywords wherever possible. For instance, if you’re a coffee shop in Chicago, you could use keywords like “best coffee shop Chicago” in your image descriptions. Additionally, compress the file size to ensure fast loading and optimal mobile performance.
5. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Devices
Mobile-friendly, responsive websites are a requirement in today’s digital landscape, as users spend most of their time on smartphones. It has become an essential feature in Google’s core algorithm for ranking webpages in both general and local search results. Websites with responsive layouts score higher than those that do not follow mobile-friendly requirements. This emphasizes the importance of responding to mobile trends to provide a fast and user-friendly mobile experience for local clients on the go.
You can use the Google Mobile-Friendly Tool to check if your website is mobile-compatible or not, and adjust your website’s structure and layout accordingly. Ensuring a fast, easy-to-use mobile experience is paramount for local customers searching while on the go.
6. Complement SEO with Local Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Note: This is a paid advertising strategy that complements organic Local SEO efforts.
Launching your website is just the first step. Implementing a marketing strategy that includes Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a crucial component of achieving success in the digital landscape for small businesses.
Virtually every small business can benefit from implementing a PPC marketing strategy to build its web presence. The idea is to identify targeted and relevant keywords, understand your target audience, and develop a plan that drives the right types of leads.
Many local searches with a high degree of purchase intent occur on mobile devices, as consumers seek an activity or service “near me” while they are out and about. Because PPC advertising dominates a higher percentage of screen space on mobile devices, the presence of paid search ads gives you the best chance of appearing in front of consumers at these times.
By learning to combine the strengths of organic search and social media, PPC will effectively complement the paid advertising strategy of all small businesses. Understanding the difference and when to use each platform will increase visibility and reduce costs.
Conclusion
In short, there is no elevator to climb to the top of the search engine rankings, especially when a big competitor is lingering on the scene. But with a strategy that leverages your geographic location, you can selectively outperform your competitors in specific key areas.
Give yourself an edge by narrowing your topic, focusing on keywords, and increasing the specific relevance of your position. You may not rank for as many keywords as the great players, but you’ll be able to surpass them based on the focal points you choose.
