SEO isn’t only for large businesses. SEO isn’t just for big businesses. There are many things you can do to improve your search results. This guide will walk you through all the steps to successful small business SEO.
What is the difference between SEO and local SEO?
SEO is different from local SEO in that you choose which search results you wish to appear in. SEO refers to ranking in search results that aren’t dependent on a particular location (i.e. Search results can be either national or international. Local SEO, on the other hand, is optimizing pages or sites for specific results such as “near me” searches. These searches allow users to locate products and services in their local area.
Optimizing your website for local search requires many of the same steps as regular SEO. This guide will show you how to optimize your website for local searches.
This guide targets small/medium-sized businesses with limited budgets and specific regions. You might also want to read our article on creating a local landing page if your business has multiple locations.
Local search rankings and SEO for small businesses
There are four factors search engines consider when deciding where to rank a local search result.
- Is your website in good shape?
- Is your store/services or you located where you are? Is it close to the person searching?
- What can you offer, and how relevant is it to the individual’s needs?
- Are you able to build a positive online reputation?
You might be interested in a free SEO course if you want to optimize your website to improve its ranking. We’ll be covering the key factors that will make your local SEO successful in the remainder of this guide.
Step 1: Create a great website
Your site may not be the ‘Mona Lisa of websites’. While it doesn’t have to be perfect, it should meet certain standards. Site structure, loading speed, security, and user experience are important for SEO. To ensure your website meets expectations, look at our What makes a great website article.
WordPress is a great way to get started if you don’t have a website. There are other options, but the best SEO plugins for WordPress work.
Low-budget branding
We have discussed this time and again: branding is very important for SEO. Your logo and tagline are examples of branding. Are they representative of your company? What do your tagline and logo say about you and your expertise? It all comes down to recognition. This is just as important for small businesses as for large companies.
It is possible to work on branding without spending a lot. Yes, low-budget branding is possible, even if your organization is not for profit. One tip for branding is to share your expertise. This can be done in blog posts or on social media. This will be discussed more later.
Step 2: Allow Google to know your location
It’s crucial to have accurate contact information. This will help Google find your business and place you in the correct local results. It is important to ensure that your information is consistent across all platforms. Search engines will double-check and verify your information to ensure it adds up.
