If you are a business owner or contractor, SEO may seem like one of the most daunting tasks. It's true that SEO can be confusing and complicated at times, but once you get it down SEO is an essential tool to help your local business rank on the first page of search engine results. This blog post will give you some helpful hints and tips so that you can start ranking for keywords related to your industry!
What is SEO and why does it matter for your local Philadelphia business?
Before we get started, let's define SEO: SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the process of getting your website to rank on the first page of Google search results by optimizing your site with keywords that people are searching for related to your industry or service offering.
Good SEO brings you targeted traffic that wants to buy what you sell. This one-on-one connection with your customer base is essential if you want to grow your business. SEO helps you get a leg up on your competition by getting more leads and customers for your business!
There are two main types of organic SEO:
On-Site SEO - This strategy involves optimizing individual web pages so their content matches relevant keywords. In order to rank well for SEO, you need to make sure your pages include the keywords and phrases that people are typing into Google when they search for something related to your industry or service offering. You also need to ensure that all your site's metadata is correctly completed so that the search engines can index your content properly.
Off-Site SEO - This strategy is all about getting links from other sites pointing back at yours. The more quality links (links from high-ranking websites) you can get pointing back at your site, the better your own ranking will be.
Why you need a Google My Business listing
What if there was a simple to use local marketing tool that made it simple for your clients to discover you? What if it also had the ability to improve your local SEO rank? How much would you be prepared to pay for such a service?
Luckily, this free-to-use tool is ready and waiting for you! It’s called Google My Business.
Claiming your Google My Business listing is one thing that every local company should do. It's easy to do, but we frequently speak with local business owners who haven't completed this critical step in their digital marketing plan.
With a Google My Business listing you get:
Google Maps listing. This is a great feature for local companies with a physical presence, such as businesses, coffee shops, restaurants, and accountants. Customers will now know where you are and how to get directions to your place. You'll also appear in local search results.
Better ad options. make your PPC advertising even more effective by connecting your Google My Business account to your Google Ads account, allowing you to run ads with location extensions that include your address and a map of your physical location in the description of your ad.
Customers can follow your business and receive updates and offers from you.
Google business reviews. Positive reviews are one of the most effective ways to establish trust with new customers. Customers are far more inclined to choose your business over a local competitor with a lower rating or no testimonials if they can see positive evaluations on your Google listing. Positive reviews also help you feature higher in local searches.
For all local businesses, but especially those with a physical location, optimizing your Google My Business profile is an essential part of your local SEO strategy.
Should you DIY your SEO?
First things first: whether you DIY or bring in professionals, SEO takes time to work. SEO is a marathon, not a sprint! With a strong strategy, you can see results over the course of months as you begin to rank higher and higher on Google search engine results pages (SERPs).
If you have the time and willingness to learn all about SEO, you can definitely do it all yourself. However, for most business owners, doing their own SEO is time-consuming and not an area where they have a lot of expertise. In these cases, working with a local agency skilled in local SEO is the best option for seeing results.