Ranking on the first page of Google is crucial for local businesses to drive website traffic and sales. But with increasingly intense competition, what steps can you take to improve your local SEO and gain first page visibility?
This comprehensive guide will show you proven strategies to start ranking your local business higher by optimizing on-page and off-page factors tailored for Google’s local algorithm.
Optimize Your GMB Listing
Your Google My Business listing has huge influence over local rankings. Strengthen your GMB profile:
- Completeness – Fill out all fields like website, address, hours, photos.
- Accuracy – Double check details like phone, map location, and categories.
- Uniqueness – Avoid duplicate GMB listings for the same business location.
- Contact Options – Enable messaging, calls, and bookings for better user experience.
A complete, accurate GMB profile signals you’re an authoritative local business to Google.
Build Quality Local Citations
Citations are directory and listing mentions of your business name, address, and phone number across the web. The more citations you have, the stronger your local SEO foundation.
- Create your core citations on directories like Yelp, Yellowpages, Mapquest.
- Expand to niche/industry directories relevant to your business type like Avvo for lawyers.
- Build citations on review sites like Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor.
- Automate citation building by using Moz Local and other local SEO software.
Ensure all citations and locations match your official business details and GMB profile. Inconsistent NAP (name, address, phone) data hurts credibility.
Optimize On-Page Local Signals
Your website needs on-page optimization to convey locality. Tactics include:
- Add your city name in page titles and content where relevant.
- Have a contact page with complete business NAP and schema markup.
- List your full service area – city, county, state, zip codes.
- Include natural local keywords like “near me” in content.
- Showcase your physical location through photos, videos, and maps.
- If you serve customers locally, state it explicitly along with the geographic zones.
Thorough on-page signals tell Google your focus is local customers.
Generate More Local Links
Earning local backlinks helps prove your relevance in the community.
- Request links from local business partners and vendors.
- Guest post on city news sites and blogs.
- Get featured in local print publications.
- Sponsor local events, charities or organizations and ask for links.
- Submit press releases to local media outlets.
Quality local links indicate your business actively supports and engages with the surrounding community.
Encourage Customer Reviews
Positive local customer reviews build trust and social proof for Google.
- Add review widgets to your site for easy submission.
- Email customers asking for reviews through channels like GMB.
- Offer incentives like discounts to motivate happy reviews.
- Respond publicly to all reviews highlighting your customer service.
The more reviews accumulated on your GMB listing and around the web, the better.
Get Active on Google Posts
Google Posts let you publish content directly on your GMB listing visible to searchers. Take advantage through:
- Regular posting to inform customers of news and offers.
- Local focus creating posts about community involvement.
- Multimedia use of photos, FAQs, store milestones.
- Engagement – reply to all user comments.
Well-optimized Google Posts keep your business top of mind for nearby searchers.
Claim and Optimize Local Listings
Expanding visibility across key sites strengthens local SEO:
- Google Business Profile (your GMB listing)
- Apple Maps
- Facebook Business Page
- Yelp Business Page
- TripAdvisor Business Listing
- BBB Business Profile
- Industry-specific sites and directories
Complete and update info on additional platforms where customers find you. Be consistent across all local listings.
Advanced Tactics to Increase Local Authority
Once you’ve built a strong local SEO foundation, move to advanced tactics:
- Acquire more local citations and links through outreach.
- Update content for seasonal terms like “summer camps” or “tax prep”.
- Guest post on highly authoritative local sites.
- Run limited local PPC ads to assess keyword difficulty.
- Optimize Google Business Profile categories for visibility in more searches.
- Encourage customers to share location on social media for local social signals.
- Register for Google Suggest local listing to get assistance from Google My Business experts.
Gaining local authority requires consistency over time across signals, citations, reviews, links, and content.
Measure and Monitor Local Rank Tracking
Track keyword rankings in your target regions:
- Use Google Search Console to see rankings by city.
- Check SERP features like knowledge panels, map packs.
- Compare against competitors on key phrases.
- Set up rank tracking through tools like Moz, SEMrush, or Ahrefs.
- Check rankings incognito while browsing from different locations.
Analyze and expand on terms driving growth. Optimize for searches you’ve gained visibility on.
Leverage Local SEO Experts
If tackling local SEO in-house isn’t feasible, seasoned local SEO specialists can custom-build an effective strategy leveraging software automation and best practices tailored to your business goals.
The right local SEO expertise makes the difference in gaining a competitive edge when trying to rank locally.
Now You’re Ready for First Page Local Rankings
With this comprehensive local SEO guide, you have the key steps to start increasing your local search visibility and earning coveted first page Google rankings.
Be patient. Local SEO requires diligence over months to build citations, reviews, and authority indicators.
But by optimizing your website and Google My Business listing, you will steadily improve search presence and impressions in your geographic region.
Let’s connect to discuss how my local SEO services can develop the winning strategy your business needs to capture local customers and grow revenue.