Our first five tips for supercharging your local SEO rankings put you in the driver’s seat. Now it’s time to hit the gas!
As we tell all our clients, effective local SEO comes down to strategy. It is never one single thing that is going to place you higher in the SERPs or bring you better quality traffic. Local search all comes down to the intent of the searcher, and with over 80% of local search being made with “local intent,” you want to understand every possible angle that will give you an edge over the competition.
When those customers pull out their phone to search for a solution, you want every online signal pointing at you – the trusted authority.
That being said, let’s dive into local ranking secrets 6-10 of our three-part series. From uncovering ranking opportunities that are hidden throughout your website to capitalizing on users’ behavior on each site page, we continue to peel back the layers to help you significantly improve your local ranking.
Five Local SEO Ranking Secrets
Secret #6: Improving Site Structure for Better Rankings
Your website has all kinds of nooks and crannies that the search engines look at when ranking your site. For example, having your business name and location in your website’s title tag gives you another shot at being picked up by the SERPs, both for your name and location.
There is also the information on your site like video content, testimonials, and site schema. All of this works together to help capture more local search traffic.
While some of these improvements are more technical than others, they all boil down to this: showing that you are a local authority.
Ready to improve your site structure? Download the full Site Structure Improvement guide for more details.
Secret #7: Fuel Growth with Google Knowledge Panel
You know those top-tier results that Google decides are THE best answers to your search? The ones that show up BEFORE the user even sees an actual search result? You can thank the Google Knowledge Panel for these. Google’s main goal is to provide the most relevant information by pulling from websites, Google My Business profiles, FAQs, and other online sources. Did you know you can actually take advantage of this valuable “position zero” in the search results? It all comes down to adding the right site schema so the search engines know what to look for.
Start marking up your site with structured data by downloading the full Fuel Growth With Google Knowledge Panel guide.
Secret #8: Use Internal Links – The Missing Links
We talk about linking – A LOT. But many often overlook the undeniable value of internal linking. The way your site is built and how everything is “linked up” will help Google understand the true value of your site pages. Your homepage will link to certain high-value pages on your site, including main service pages, product pages, etc. From there, those pages may link to individual products, services, etc. that provide more detailed information. Kind of like a big game of Plinko from The Price Is Right, the way your site is linked represents the various pathways that site visitors can take.
Build out your internal linking structure with the help of our Missing Links guide.
Secret #9: Focus on Geo Relevance
Going local means getting laser-focused on the local audiences that matter most to your brand. Think about what information is important for anyone needing your product or service, and more specifically, what information is most valuable for your local audience. For example: While winters in Los Angeles can be cold, winters in Detroit are an entirely different beast – so they require different content strategies surrounding form and function of winter clothing. LA winters are more about wearing layers and staying dry from all the rain, while Detroit may be more about heavier, warmer clothing to protect from the harsh snowstorms.
Including this type of geo-relevant content on your site helps you not only with the search engines but also helps make a bigger impact on your core local audience.
Ready to create local content? Follow our Focus on Geo Relevance guide to get started.
Secret #10: Create Relevance and Higher Authority
The magic of SEO and local SEO used to revolve around the amount of content you had on your site and how many times those precious keywords were scattered around. But times have changed. Google is smarter – and trying to game the search engines is just not worth it. Have you ever searched something and had Google respond with “Did you mean ______?” What may have seemed like a helpful little search feature is something much more interesting: Google’s understanding of intent.
You might have searched for “Kanye West’s Shoe” but Google knows you meant “Yeezys.” This is machine learning and artificial intelligence at work. The quality, context, relevancy, and value of your content is far more important than trying to stuff those keywords. More relevant content gives your site a higher authority and more prominence in the search results.
Download our Create Relevance and Higher Authority guide to become a leader in your industry.
Take Action
If you didn’t see the local ranking secret you were looking for, check out part one of the series here! It’s important to remember that local SEO is an ongoing strategy. Like maintaining your vehicle, it needs ongoing care and check-ups to make sure things are running smoothly.
If you need a little help, feel free to contact one of our experts at National Positions for a free site audit – so you know the best place to focus your local efforts.
COMING SOON: Part Three