Welcome to a Local SEO Guide for Small Business

This guide was created for local businesses looking to improve their search engine rankings. Effective local SEO can help you bring in new prospects, grow online sales, and get the phones ringing. Get started with the following six steps.

Full guide below

Claim and optimize Google My Business (GMB)

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that’s built to help you manage your online presence. It’s easy to use and is step 1 to improving your appearance in local searches. If someone searches for your business online, your Google My Business listing is what they’ll see first.

• Let’s Set Up Google My Business (A Guide for Small Business)
• How to Optimize Google My Business

 

Build Local Citations

Local citations are online listings of your business that include basic references of your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP). You can create citations on a variety of platforms including your local chamber of commerce, Facebook, Yahoo Local, Yellow Pages, and potentially hundreds more.

• How to Get Your Business Listed on Local Directories

 

Focus on Online Reviews

Getting more online reviews from happy customers is one of the most important business-building strategies you can employ. Online reviews can build trust, impact sales, and help improve your local online presence. And you can start today!

• 6 Ways to Get Reviews for Your Business

 

Write Content with a Local Focus

If you’re trying to improve your local presence, you need to write local content. Without it, it’s going to be more difficult to improve your rankings and beat your competitors at the local SEO game.

• Improve Your Local Presence by Writing Local Content

 

Master On-Page Local SEO Basics

On-page SEO is basically everything you can optimize on your website — the underlying code, copy, and your website structure. Use these basic strategies to improve your local search engine ranking.

• Master On-Page Local SEO Basics with These 7 Tips

 

Local Link Building Strategies

Local links are links to your website from other local sources. Getting other local sources to link back to your site is an effective Local SEO strategy. If done correctly and not forcefully, search engines and potential customers will see your company as an active community member and ultimately, THE local option for your area of business.

• 10 Tips to Build Your Business with Authentic Local Link Building