SMB: 50+ Business-Building Local SEO Tactics

The world of business is constantly evolving and adapting to new technologies and consumer behaviors. In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for the success of any business, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

This is where local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes into play. Local SEO is the process of optimizing a business’s online presence to improve its visibility in local search results. It is a powerful tool that can help SMBs reach their target audience and drive more traffic to their websites.

However, with the increasing competition and ever-changing algorithms, it can be challenging for SMBs to keep up with the latest local SEO tactics.

In this article, we have compiled a comprehensive list of over 50 business-building local SEO tactics specifically designed for SMBs.

These tactics will not only help improve your search engine rankings but also attract more customers and ultimately boost your business’s success. So let’s dive in and discover how you can use local SEO to take your SMB to the next level.

Challenges Involved

Are you an owner of a small to medium-sized business (SMB) in your local area? If that’s the case, you are aware of the challenges involved in achieving visibility and distinguishing yourself amidst the growing competition in search engine results.

To remain successful in local searches, it is crucial for local SEO strategies to constantly evolve and adjust to the latest advancements and algorithm updates introduced by leading search engines.

A Range of Effective Strategies

Local search engine optimization (SEO) encompasses a range of effective strategies that can greatly enhance your online presence within your local community. These strategies can be broadly classified into three main categories:

Enhancing local listings and citations: Elevate your visibility by optimizing your business listings on various local directories and citation websites. This involves providing accurate and consistent information such as your business name, address, phone number, and website. By ensuring the accuracy and completeness of these listings, you can enhance your chances of appearing in relevant local search results.
Improving website optimization: Maximize your website’s potential to attract local customers by optimizing its structure, content, and keywords. Ensure that your website provides valuable information about your products or services, targeting specific locations and relevant keywords that potential customers in your area are likely to use in their search queries. By aligning your website with local search intent, you can increase its visibility in local search results.
Strengthening incoming links: Establishing a strong network of incoming links from reputable local websites and directories can significantly boost your local SEO efforts. Seek opportunities to collaborate with local businesses, industry organizations, and bloggers to earn valuable backlinks. These incoming links act as a vote of confidence from other credible sources, signaling to search engines that your business is a trusted and authoritative entity within your local market.

Within each of these categories, there are over 50 specific actions you can take right away to enhance your visibility in local search results. By implementing these strategies diligently, you can improve your chances of reaching potential customers in your local area and driving more relevant traffic to your website.

Optimizing Local Listings & Citations

The first step is to provide your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) information. This is crucial when aiming to be featured and ranked on Google Maps.

It is important to establish your legitimacy as a business and in certain regions, acquiring a business license may be necessary, depending on your specific industry.

It is vital to ensure that your NAP remains consistent and uniform across all platforms. Any inconsistencies or discrepancies may lead to complications down the line.

In order to begin with local listings and citations, it is essential to gather the following information:

NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) of your business.
Website URL, and if you have multiple locations, provide a list of internal location pages.
Craft a succinct description (within 50 characters) that includes your primary city name and the type of business you operate.
Develop a longer description (up to 250 characters) that effectively portrays your identity and services. Don’t forget to mention the city name and areas served, if applicable.
Gather recent photographs showcasing your business.
Determine the specific category that best represents your business.
Compile a list of keywords that you wish to rank for. These keywords typically follow the format of “city name keyword.”

Maximizing The Number of Listings

An effective approach to optimizing local listings and local citations involves maximizing the number of listings within the appropriate category, while ensuring the consistency of vital information like your business name, address, and phone number (NAP data).

Local citations refer to the mentions of a business within the local community, comprising of vital NAP data (name, address, and phone number). While some local citations may incorporate a link to your website, it is not always the case. Typically, there are two distinct approaches to obtaining local citations:

Engage in acquiring local listings independently, taking charge of the process yourself.
Opt for the assistance of a professional, delegating the task of acquiring local citations to a hired individual or agency.

Obtaining local citations personally can be an extensive undertaking, particularly if you operate in a highly competitive sector within your region.

Rival businesses may possess an extensive array of local citations, making it nearly impracticable to accomplish such a task manually.

A Relatively Less Competitive Market

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) operating in a relatively less competitive market, there exists a beneficial approach to boost their online presence known as acquiring a few local citations manually. If you find yourself in this situation, it is worth considering a non-competitive local SEO strategy that involves obtaining the following listings:

Google Business Profile: Create and optimize your business profile on Google to increase visibility in local search results.
Facebook: Establish a presence on Facebook by creating a business page and engaging with your local community.
Yahoo! Local: Although currently requiring payment to Yext, having a listing on Yahoo! Local can still contribute to your online visibility.
Apple Maps: Ensure your business details are accurately listed on Apple Maps, as many users rely on this platform for local searches.
Bing Places for Business: Claim and verify your business on Bing Places to enhance your visibility on Microsoft’s search engine.
MapQuest: Register your business on MapQuest to improve your chances of being discovered by local customers.
Yelp: Having a presence on Yelp can significantly impact your business, as it is a popular platform for customer reviews and recommendations.
BBB.org: Consider joining the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and having your business listed on their website, which can enhance your credibility.
FourSquare: Create a listing on FourSquare to attract customers looking for recommendations and local businesses in your area.
TripAdvisor: If your business falls within the travel or hospitality industry, having a presence on TripAdvisor can greatly influence potential visitors.

A Trusted Platform

Angie’s List: Join Angie’s List, a trusted platform for home service professionals, and showcase your business to potential customers.
TrustRatings: Boost your reputation and gain credibility by obtaining ratings and reviews on TrustRatings, a reputable online review platform.
YellowPages: Registering your business on YellowPages can increase your online visibility and help customers find your services easily.
Home Advisor: If your business is related to home improvement or maintenance, having a listing on Home Advisor can connect you with potential customers.
Thumbtack: Create a profile on Thumbtack, a leading online marketplace for local services, and attract customers searching for your expertise.

By actively securing these local citations, SMBs in less competitive markets can enhance their online presence and attract more customers within their local area.

Consider Specific Industry Directories

In order to maximize the online visibility of your local business, it is important to consider specific industry directories. These directories cater to various sectors and it is essential to search for the ones that are relevant to your local business.

Locating these directories is generally effortless as they tend to appear within the top 10 search results on the first page of search engines. To simplify the process, BrightLocal maintains a comprehensive list of top local citations specifically designed for businesses in the United States.

By submitting your business information to these directories and getting listed, you can take advantage of a strategy known as “barnacle SEO.” This approach allows your business to be featured on pages of other websites that are well-ranked for a particular keyword you are targeting. For instance, if you are a carpenter in Dallas, Google will display sites like Yelp.com, homeadvisor.com, thumbtack.com, houzz.com, and angi.com when users search for [Dallas carpenters].

Being listed on these prominent sites can generate valuable leads for your business, as they have already established a strong presence on Google’s search results.

The Major Data Aggregators

After successfully securing and verifying your local listings, the subsequent step in your local SEO strategy involves listing your business with the major data aggregators. These include:

Data Axle (formerly InfoGroup) – Ensure you submit your business details here.
Acxiom – Register your business and then submit it on this platform.
Localeze – Complete the registration process and submit your business information here.

The role of data aggregators is to gather the information of local businesses and consolidate it, making it readily available for countless websites to utilize.

It is crucial to ensure that you provide accurate NAP data (Name, Address, Phone number) and website URLs. Once the data aggregators receive your information, rectifying and updating any errors can be a challenging and time-consuming process.

Therefore, it is imperative to double-check and verify the accuracy of your data prior to submission.

Using A Third Party For Local Citations & Listings

An effective approach for optimizing local search engine rankings involves delegating the task of managing local citations and listings to external professionals.

Numerous independent entities offer services that enable you to effortlessly submit your local business information to them, including essential data such as the name, address, and phone number (NAP), as well as concise and comprehensive descriptions and website URLs. These third-party providers possess extensive networks and partnerships, enabling them to seamlessly propagate your information across various online platforms.

Moreover, many of these service providers have established affiliations with prominent data suppliers, granting them the capability to effortlessly secure an extensive number of local citations. This can range from a substantial quantity in the hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, thereby significantly enhancing your local online presence.

Notable External Services

Here are some notable external services that can greatly assist businesses in managing their online presence and optimizing their local search results:

BrightLocal: This service offers comprehensive solutions for local search optimization, enabling businesses to enhance their visibility and attract more customers within their target geographic areas.
MozLocal: With MozLocal, businesses can effortlessly manage their online listings across various platforms, ensuring consistency and accuracy in their business information. This service empowers businesses to establish a strong online presence that resonates with their local audience.
Yext: Yext provides a powerful platform for businesses to control and update their business information across a wide array of online directories. By maintaining accurate and up-to-date information, businesses can enhance their credibility and attract more customers.
Advice Local: This service specializes in local search optimization, helping businesses increase their visibility in search engine results and online directories. By utilizing Advice Local, businesses can strengthen their local search presence and effectively reach their target audience.

Offering a Comprehensive Suite of Features

SEMrush Listing Management Tool: Offering a comprehensive suite of features, SEMrush Listing Management Tool enables businesses to streamline their online listing management process. This tool assists businesses in maintaining accurate business information and improving their local search rankings.
Whitespark: Whitespark offers a range of services focused on local search optimization, including citation building and local rank tracking. By leveraging Whitespark’s expertise, businesses can improve their online visibility and attract more customers within their local market.
Synup: Synup provides businesses with a unified platform to manage their online presence across multiple directories and platforms. With Synup, businesses can easily monitor and update their business information, ensuring consistency and accuracy across the digital landscape.

These external services offer businesses an array of valuable tools and features to enhance their online presence, optimize their local search rankings, and ultimately attract more customers within their target areas.

The Agreements They Establish

There is a variation in the quality of services offered, primarily due to the agreements they establish with other websites and the technological resources they possess.

Certain services limit their submissions to a mere 30 websites, whereas others, such as Advice Local, can secure numerous local mentions for a local business, often accompanied by a link to their website, resulting in thousands upon thousands of citations.

It is advisable to exercise caution when dealing with third-party websites that create local listings on behalf of a local business but withhold the login credentials and passwords for those listings.

Reviews Are Key

Obtaining reviews for your local business, particularly on Google, can significantly improve your rankings and attract more customers. Online reviews hold significant influence, especially for service-oriented enterprises like hotels, resorts, carpet cleaners, home inspectors, carpenters, and even car dealerships.

For businesses operating in the service industry or any other field where reviews hold weight, developing an effective strategy to handle reviews is crucial. Local businesses must actively request and encourage their customers to share their experiences through reviews.

There are numerous methods to incentivize customers to leave reviews. Some businesses display plaques at their establishments, kindly requesting patrons to leave a review. Other small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) motivate reviews by offering monthly prizes to random reviewers.

For instance, I personally know a local business that gives away an Apple iPad every month to a fortunate reviewer.

By implementing these strategies, businesses can actively engage with their customers, promote positive feedback, and ultimately enhance their online reputation.

Prioritize Timely Responses

It is crucial for local businesses to prioritize timely responses to all types of reviews, whether they are positive or negative. When a positive review is received, expressing gratitude to the customer for taking the time to leave feedback is essential. Conversely, negative reviews should be promptly addressed, aiming to resolve the issue and offering to discuss it privately to prevent further complications and the escalation of negative sentiments.

Even if a review was missed initially, it is still permissible and advisable to respond, even if it was posted several months ago. It is important to acknowledge and respond to reviews that are easily visible to the public eye. Unfortunately, many local businesses tend to focus solely on verifying their local listings, neglecting the crucial aspect of effectively managing and responding to customer reviews in a timely manner.

Allocate Dedicated Efforts

It is crucial for local businesses to allocate dedicated efforts towards formulating a comprehensive plan to promote reviews, effectively communicate this strategy to employees, and appoint specific individuals to actively engage with and address these reviews.

Several Effective Strategies

Managing reviews can be crucial for the success of your business. Here are several effective strategies that you can implement:

Delegate the responsibility of reading and responding to reviews to dedicated employees. This ensures prompt and personalized responses to customer feedback.
Actively encourage customers to leave reviews by incorporating it into their checkout or payment process. A gentle prompt can go a long way in increasing the number of reviews received.
Utilize traditional mail by sending personalized letters or postcards to customers after providing services, kindly requesting them to share their experience through a review.
Consider outsourcing the task of monitoring and responding to reviews. Your social media or SEO company might offer this service, or you can hire a part-time professional to handle it for you.
Make it easy for customers to leave reviews by adding links to various platforms on your website. For example, you can provide a direct link to your Google Maps listing, facilitating the review process.
Implement a review form on your website that allows customers to provide feedback anonymously or leave their contact information if preferred. Plugins are available to help you display these reviews on your website, which is especially advantageous for businesses selling products directly online.
Create a comment box at your physical location, equipped with pens, pencils, and forms. Include a space for customers to provide their email address and ask for permission to post their review or testimonial online. Alternatively, if you have their email address, you can directly request them to leave a review.

By adopting these diverse approaches, you can effectively manage and leverage customer reviews to enhance your business’s reputation and attract new customers.

It Is Important To Note

The company’s website allows for direct submission of reviews, subject to customer consent, which can then be published on the website. However, it is important to note that reviews posted on external platforms such as Google or Yelp cannot be replicated and displayed on the company’s website.

Recently, Google has placed increased significance on reviews found on external websites. Consequently, websites that allow customers to share their experiences and provide feedback have the potential to positively impact local rankings on Google. These third-party platforms include:

Yelp (yelp.com)
Trip Advisor (tripadvisor.com)
Yellowpages (yp.com)
Better Business Bureau (BBB.org)
Manta (manta.com)
Angie’s List (angieslist.com)
Foursquare (foursquare.com)
Facebook (facebook.com)

Can Enhance Their Online Presence and Potentially Improve Their Visibility

By leveraging these platforms, businesses can enhance their online presence and potentially improve their visibility on Google’s local search results. These websites serve as valuable resources for consumers seeking honest and unbiased reviews, making them influential in shaping a business’s reputation.

Consequently, it is essential for businesses to actively engage with these review platforms to establish credibility and potentially boost their local rankings on Google.

In order to enhance the number of local reviews, an alternative approach involves developing a postcard or handout specifically designed for customers. This clever tool serves as a request for their valuable feedback, which plays a crucial role in further improving your business.

You can kindly ask them to share their experience and opinions by leaving a review on your website or utilizing various third-party websites (enumerating the platforms where you deem their reviews significant). By implementing this strategy, you encourage customer engagement and gather valuable insights to elevate your business to new heights.

Optimizing Your Local Website’s Content

When it comes to enhancing the performance of a local website, it is crucial to take into account a range of on-site local SEO strategies. Here are a few valuable tactics to consider:

Prioritize optimization for “Near Me” search queries: Ensure that your website is optimized to appear prominently when users search for products or services near their location. This can significantly boost your visibility and attract potential customers nearby.
Emphasize local optimization: Pay attention to local SEO techniques by incorporating location-specific keywords, creating location-based landing pages, and optimizing your website’s metadata with relevant local information. This will help your website rank higher in local search results.
Establish yourself as a local content authority: Regularly create and share high-quality content that is relevant to your local target audience. By providing valuable information and insights specific to your locality, you can position your website as a go-to resource for local users, thereby increasing your credibility and attracting more visitors.
Consider acquiring a local website or blog: If feasible, purchasing an existing local website or blog can provide you with a ready-made platform to enhance your local online presence. This can accelerate your local SEO efforts and help you tap into an established local audience.

By implementing these on-site local SEO strategies, you can optimize your website for better visibility, increased traffic, and improved engagement from your local target audience.

Enhance the Visibility of Your business By Targeting Search Queries Related to Local Proximity

Historically, there has been a noticeable rise in the usage of search queries containing the phrase “near me,” such as searching for nearby restaurants or pharmacies. These queries assume that the search engine possesses knowledge about the user’s location.

While the popularity of “near me” may not be increasing as rapidly as it did five years ago, it continues to be widely utilized in search queries. To make informed decisions regarding your online presence, I suggest conducting your own keyword research and specifically analyzing the prevalence of “near me” in search queries within your specific region.

If there is a substantial number of searches containing this phrase, it might be worthwhile to optimize at least one page on your website with keywords related to “near me.” This can enhance your visibility and improve the chances of attracting potential customers who are seeking local establishments or services.

Factors that Influence Local Rankings

According to the recently published 2021 Local Ranking Factors by Advice Local, it is highly recommended to delve into their findings. Notably, the local SEO specialists who actively participated in compiling this comprehensive list emphasized the significant influence of the following factors on local rankings:

Google Business Profile Signals: These signals, pertaining to your Google Business Profile, hold immense importance in determining your local search visibility and credibility.
Reviews: The feedback and reviews received from customers play a pivotal role in influencing your local rankings. Positive reviews can greatly enhance your online reputation and attract potential customers.
On-Page Optimization: Implementing effective on-page SEO techniques, such as optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, and relevant keywords, can greatly contribute to improving your local search rankings.
Links: Building high-quality and authoritative links from reputable websites in your industry can significantly enhance your local search visibility and boost your website’s credibility.
Behavioral Factors: User behavior, including click-through rates, bounce rates, and the time spent on your website, can impact your local rankings. Ensuring a positive user experience and engaging content can encourage users to explore your site further.
Citations: Consistent and accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) information across various online directories and platforms can help search engines establish your business’s legitimacy and improve your local visibility.
Personalization: Customizing your online content and offerings to cater to the specific needs and preferences of your target audience can contribute to higher local rankings, as search engines strive to provide personalized search results.

By understanding and implementing these crucial factors, you can optimize your local SEO strategies and improve your chances of achieving higher local search rankings in 2021.

A Well-Optimized GBP Listing

The key to achieving a high ranking on Google is to have a well-optimized GBP listing. This is the most crucial factor that determines your online visibility. Therefore, it is imperative to prioritize optimizing your Google Business Profile listing.

In addition to optimizing your GBP listing, it is equally important to pay attention to customer reviews. Responding to these reviews demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction and can positively impact your online reputation.

Another emerging factor that plays a significant role in boosting your ranking is the optimization of your website’s pages, commonly known as “On-Page” optimization. To effectively optimize your web pages, it is essential to ensure that they incorporate the appropriate Local Schema markup code.

Furthermore, the NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) data on your website must match the information provided on your GBP, particularly the name.

To further enhance your online presence, focus on acquiring backlinks specifically for your individual location pages. These backlinks should contain the combination of your city name and relevant keywords in the anchor text.

This strategy will help search engines recognize the geographical relevance of your business and improve your ranking accordingly.

Be A Local Content Machine

A recent effective local SEO strategy that has caught my attention is the concept of becoming a prolific producer of local content. This involves adding a blog to your local business website and generating articles that focus on local news and events.

By doing so, you are not only providing valuable content that residents within your city will be interested in reading and sharing, particularly on social media platforms, but you are also establishing a strong local brand presence.

Although the articles may not directly relate to your specific business, they contribute to the overall branding of your local business. Consequently, when individuals are in need of a particular product or service, your business will be at the forefront of their minds due to the frequent online exposure.

To illustrate this strategy in action, consider the case of a local auto accident and personal injury attorney. They hired a skilled writer to produce daily articles about accidents occurring within their city. By focusing on the incidents themselves rather than targeting the actual victims, the attorney managed to significantly increase social media shares and gain widespread recognition within the community.

Furthermore, these social media shares inadvertently generated valuable links to the attorney’s website, thereby positively impacting their local search rankings. This demonstrates how the creation and dissemination of local content can have a dual benefit of enhancing brand visibility and improving online rankings, ultimately leading to increased business opportunities

Purchasing a Website or Blog with Regional Focus

If you’re seeking to enhance the content on your local business website in a short span of time, it may be worthwhile to consider purchasing an existing local website that already possesses the content you require.

This could be a local hobby website featuring local news and articles, or even a local blog with relevant content. Sometimes, the website owner may no longer have the drive to maintain the content as they once did, or they simply see the opportunity to make some financial gains.

You can approach the owner of a local website or blog and discuss the possibility of acquiring their site, thus facilitating the transfer of their content to your local business website.

Additionally, implementing redirects from the previous domain name to your local business website will aid in preserving any link authority and history associated with the former site, benefitting your local business in the process.

Optimizing And Working On Links

The presence of links pointing to your website has always played a crucial role in determining its ranking on search engines. This importance is expected to persist in the future as well.

Google’s algorithm has consistently prioritized websites with a significant number of links directing users to them. However, in 2016, Google’s Possum algorithm update placed an even greater emphasis on the value of links.

For years, local links originating from nearby businesses and organizations have been vital for enhancing local search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Today, they continue to hold a prominent position in boosting local SEO efforts.

To identify simple opportunities for acquiring links, Greg Gifford, Vice President of Search at SearchLab.com, suggests exploring the relationships you already have. Local sponsorships, involvement in volunteer programs, and participation in offline local groups can all lead to valuable local links.

If you require additional ideas for securing local links, you can utilize Majestic.com to analyze the link profiles of similar businesses in other cities. This analysis can help you identify potential link-building opportunities.

Another effective local SEO strategy for acquiring local links involves obtaining links from your competitors. By employing a web crawler like the Screaming Frog SEO Spider, you can examine your competitors’ websites and review all the outbound links they utilize.

This process enables you to identify potential sources from which you can acquire links.

Ultimately, by obtaining links from websites that your competitors are already linking to, you can benefit from the link credit or PageRank that these competitors pass on to those websites, which in turn passes it on to your own website.

Useful Suggestions for Optimizing Local SEO

Here are several effective techniques for improving local search engine rankings through the use of local SEO strategies. In addition, consider exploring a plethora of lesser-known local SEO tips and insights that might not have crossed your mind yet.

Local Listings

The proximity of a business to the point of search is undoubtedly the most significant factor influencing local search rankings. It pertains to the distance between the business and the individual conducting the search, which can be accurately determined by platforms like Google, particularly on mobile devices.

When a business is located closer to the searcher, it is more likely to appear prominently in the search results, specifically in Google Maps and local listings.

In an attempt to exploit this ranking factor, some businesses have employed the use of “virtual office” locations, or even multiple ones, solely for the purpose of improving their local SEO. This tactic is often employed by businesses that do not require customers to physically visit their premises.

Although I do not endorse this strategy, it is worth acknowledging as it may be implemented by a company’s competitors.

Keep Your Local Online Listings Up To Date

In order to ensure accurate and up-to-date NAP data, it is highly recommended to promptly modify any changes online when you become aware of them.

If You’re Moving, Start Updating Your Local Listings

Once you acquire the new address, it is crucial to promptly initiate the process of updating your local listings on various online platforms. It is essential to bear in mind that websites sometimes take a considerable amount of time to reflect these modifications, hence initiating the update as soon as possible is highly recommended.

Similar to how you inform the US Postal Service about your change of address for traditional mail, it is equally important to ensure that your local listings are accurately updated. It is advisable to ensure that the address provided to the USPS matches exactly with the one used in your local listings.

It is worth noting that search engines typically have access to USPS data, and any inconsistencies in your address can potentially hinder your local search rankings. Therefore, paying attention to these details is of utmost importance to avoid any local ranking issues.

Maintaining a steady flow of accurate NAP data is crucial for your business to achieve a prominent local ranking

It is imperative to ensure that the information provided in your local listings aligns consistently with that displayed on your website.

Audit Your Local Citations

An ongoing challenge frequently encountered is the presence of inconsistent NAP data across various websites. Taking proactive measures to audit your local citations and ensure the uniformity of your NAP information can greatly benefit your local SEO efforts.

It is not uncommon to come across multiple phone numbers, varying versions of your address, or even divergent addresses listed on different websites that display your NAP data. By eliminating duplicate listings and rectifying any inconsistencies, you can witness a significant positive impact on your overall online presence.

Add updated photos on a regular basis to local profiles

Maintain a consistent routine for capturing fresh photographs of your establishment and its surroundings. Regularly update your Google Business Profile, Facebook page, and various other platforms that allow photo submissions, like Yelp, with newly captured images.

Add a budget for local ads

Google AdWords can be utilized to effectively reach out to customers in specific locations, allowing businesses to strategically target their local customer base. An exciting development is that Google now offers the opportunity to display ads on Google Maps listings.

Therefore, it is highly recommended to allocate a dedicated budget for these ads, as the returns on investment are expected to be significant.

Work on getting more reviews

Obtaining a higher number of online reviews compared to your competitors can be a challenging endeavor. However, the benefits it brings in the long term make it a worthwhile pursuit.

To gather reviews, employ various strategies such as requesting them from customers physically present at your establishment, including email requests for those whose addresses you have obtained.

If you operate a hotel or resort, encourage customers to leave reviews specifically on platforms like Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor.

Maintaining a prompt response to every review, irrespective of it being positive or negative, is crucial. This practice showcases your commitment to customer satisfaction.

On-Site Local SEO

Add marked-up schema.org code to your NAP on your website

It is highly recommended to utilize the appropriate code to mark up the name, address, and phone number displayed on your website. Although it may not visibly impact the appearance of your site, implementing schema.org code will effectively communicate to search engines that this information represents your official NAP (name, address, and phone number).

Additionally, Google can be informed about your NAP by incorporating the markup in JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data) code. This practice serves to enhance search engine understanding and recognition of your key contact details.

Add the proper link to your telephone number

By incorporating a “tel://” link into the phone number displayed on your website, you enable mobile users to effortlessly initiate a call by simply clicking on the link. Moreover, this implementation can significantly enhance the visibility of your phone number in the phone call extension section of mobile search results, thereby facilitating easier contact with potential customers through search engines.

Speed up your website’s load time

Enhancing the mobile compatibility of your website is an effective strategy to swiftly improve its search engine rankings. Notably, I have observed instances where Google significantly increased the traffic directed towards a website solely due to its enhanced loading speed.

This could entail various measures such as switching to a different web hosting service, revamping the website design, or implementing a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

It is highly recommended to associate the relevant location details and keywords with every image representing your business

Enhance your photo collection by utilizing an EXIF editor to effortlessly incorporate location details, keywords, and captivating descriptions to each image. Seamlessly update every individual file with this valuable information, encompassing geotagged location data for an enriched visual experience.

Multiple locations? Create a section on your website for each location.

When designing your website, it is essential to avoid the common mistake of creating only a single page for each location. Instead, seize the opportunity to enhance your online presence by providing additional content whenever possible.

Every location possesses its own distinctive allure, influenced by its unique geographical position and the individuals who work there. Embrace this diversity and consistently incorporate relevant and captivating content tailored to each specific location.

For instance, consider incorporating a blog that delves into the local highlights, insider tips, and fascinating stories related to each place. Additionally, enrich the experience for your visitors by including visually appealing photos that not only beautify your website but also establish a strong connection with the respective locations.

By adopting this approach, you will not only elevate the overall quality of your website but also foster a deeper engagement with your audience. Embrace the power of multiple dimensions and ensure that each location shines with its own distinct personality, leaving a lasting impression on visitors.

Use the proper syntax and keywords in your URLs

Ensure that every location on your website is accompanied by a distinctive format, such as www.domain.com/location/. Include a link to each location in the primary navigation of your website, while refraining from linking to sub-pages within each specific location.

Consolidate separate websites for each location to one main website

In order to enhance the effectiveness of your online presence, it is advisable to consolidate the separate domain names and websites you have set up for each location. This can be achieved by transferring the content of these websites to dedicated sub-sections on your main website, while utilizing 301 redirects to seamlessly redirect the domain names.

By doing so, you are able to leverage the authority of your main website, thereby strengthening the online influence of each location. Additionally, it is crucial to update the local listings of your locations, ensuring that they now direct users to the new URL on your main website.

Some local search queries can trigger featured snippets

To enhance your website’s online presence and attract more visitors, it is crucial to consider the specific topic you are focusing on. By aiming to secure the coveted “position zero” on search engine result pages, you can significantly boost your website’s traffic and visibility.

Referred to as the “featured snippet,” this prime spot is displayed by Google above all other search engine listings. To identify whether any of the keywords you currently rank for can potentially secure a featured snippet, utilize the comprehensive analysis tools offered by SEMrush.com.

Once you have determined the keywords that may trigger a featured snippet, take the necessary steps to optimize your content accordingly. By doing so, you increase the likelihood of your website being showcased as the featured snippet for those particular search queries.

In addition to the featured snippet, it is important to note that other search queries may also activate various forms of information display such as the knowledge graph, instant answer, local pack carousel, or images. Therefore, it is wise to optimize your content to cater to these different formats as well, ensuring maximum visibility and accessibility to a wider audience.

Make sure you’re using HTTPS

Did you know that even if your website doesn’t handle credit card transactions or collect personal information, migrating it to an SSL secure server can provide you with a significant advantage? This is because Google now considers the use of HTTPS as a ranking factor in its search engine.

Surprisingly, numerous local businesses have yet to make the switch to HTTPS.

By transitioning your website to HTTPS, you can stay one step ahead of your competition. Furthermore, it is crucial to ensure that any long-standing links, such as local citations, direct users to the HTTPS version of your website.

Add a blog

In order to establish a consistent online presence, it is advisable to generate a steady stream of blog posts focusing on matters pertaining to the local community. These posts should delve into the latest news, prevalent issues, and upcoming events within the vicinity.

Subsequently, it is recommended to disseminate these posts across various social media platforms and incorporate links redirecting users to the original blog content. Additionally, it is worth noting that local residents tend to exhibit a fondness for visual content, particularly photographs, which often results in their frequent sharing.

Local SEO Audits

Perform an audit of your website

A diverse range of audits are at one’s disposal, encompassing link audits, on-page audits, and local citation audits.

Local citation audits are good for identifying duplicate listings and inconsistent NAP data

In the realm of local listings, a concerning surge of negative SEO tactics has caught my attention lately. Competitors, in an attempt to harm other businesses, have resorted to creating inaccurate listings under their names.

Regrettably, this unfair practice can adversely impact businesses’ online presence. However, there is a solution at hand. By conducting a thorough local citation audit, you can effectively identify and address these problems, ensuring that your business maintains a strong and accurate online presence.

Link audits are important, as local maps algorithms are increasingly relying on link data

The presence of inferior and irrelevant links directed towards your website can adversely impact its search engine rankings.

On-page audits are also important to identify areas for improvement on your website

Enhancing various aspects such as layout, data description, section titles, and even the loading speed of a webpage can significantly enhance its visibility in search engine rankings.

Off-Site Local SEO

Get your customers’ email addresses and use that data to target them on Facebook or for an email newsletter

One can effectively utilize the feature of uploading customer email addresses and phone numbers onto Facebook’s platform, enabling the opportunity to precisely target them with tailored advertisements.

Additionally, an efficient approach would involve generating a lookalike campaign on Facebook, thereby expanding the reach to a wider audience possessing similar demographic characteristics as the existing customer base.

Optimize for voice search

The utilization of voice search for discovering local businesses is on the rise. This technology enables users to conveniently locate nearby establishments by simply asking their virtual assistants.

An illustrative query would be, “Could you please guide me to the closest Italian restaurant?” To delve deeper into this subject, I recommend referring to the Local SEO Guide study on the influencing factors of local SEO rankings, particularly focusing on the analysis of “near me” queries.

This resource provides valuable insights worth exploring.

Use the barnacle SEO strategy

When examining your primary keywords that you wish to improve your ranking for, it is essential to observe the current leaders in the search results. Surprisingly, your own website may not always be among them.

However, there is still a chance to generate traffic and attract potential customers by optimizing your listing or ensuring visibility on other websites that are presently ranking for your keyword. For instance, if platforms such as Yelp, Home Advisor, Thumbtack, Angie’s List, or BBB have attained a higher ranking, it is highly recommended to ensure your local business is listed on these platforms.

By doing so, you can secure a significant portion of the traffic and potential business associated with these popular sites.

Participate and sponsor local events, organizations, and non-profits

Enhancing your local presence is crucial, and a valuable approach to accomplishing this is by leveraging opportunities that frequently provide a hyperlink to your website. This can greatly contribute to boosting your search engine rankings in the long run.

In Conclusion

To enhance the visibility of your small and medium-sized business (SMB) in local search results, a comprehensive strategy is employed to optimize your website. This entails a synergistic combination of on-site enhancements and offsite listings and links, effectively improving your online presence in local searches.

Implementing local SEO tactics is crucial for SMBs looking to grow their reach and attract more customers. With over 50 strategies to choose from, businesses can easily tailor their approach to fit their specific needs and goals.

By optimizing their online presence and leveraging local directories, businesses can boost their visibility and attract a local customer base. It’s important to regularly assess and adjust these tactics to stay ahead of the competition and continue driving growth for your business.

With the right approach and consistent effort, implementing these local SEO tactics can greatly benefit SMBs in the long run.

If you want to stay updated with a wide range of Local SEO trends, actionable insights, and innovative solutions, please subscribe to our blog.

Moreover, if you looking for a Local SEO and Marketing Company to help you rank locally, we at Brian Zenarosa Digital can help you out. Book a discovery call today.

50+ Business-Building Local SEO Tactics For SMBs