3 Key Elements of Local Small Business SEO

The web and search engines are constantly evolving. Google has been working on making “search” a personalized experience for each individual person, so based on search history you and I see the results most relevant to us.

Small Business SEO Elements

Keyword Analysis + Quality Content

One of the most important factors today with ranking well on search engines is quality content mixed with the best keywords (or keyphrases).

First, there are tools out there (such as AdWords Keyword Planner) that not only share with you a list of words related to what your product or service is about, they also show the average number of times per month those words are typed into Google by someone, and how competitive it is to get onto the first page of Google for that search phrase.

Once you pick the keywords you want for each page of your website, then you must create good content/descriptions of each thing that you do, and include those words in the most natural-sounding way possible. Theoretically, this shouldn’t be a problem if you picked words that are relevant to your business. Also, you don’t want to put everything on just one page, because search engines won’t know which phrase to rank you for.

Google My Business

If you haven’t already done this, claim your business listing at google.com/business (it’s free). No matter if you have a physical storefront or not, enter the address you do your business from. There’s a box for service providers to select so your address will not be shown if you don’t accept customers at a physical business location. Then to verify you are who you say you are, Google will mail a postcard with a code to that address. Enter this code into the listing once you receive it in the mail.

Once this is all done and ready to go, complete your profile with your logo and photos of your location or service, as well as important info like:

• Phone number
• Website
• Business hours
• Menu (for restaurants/bars)
• List your services

Encourage clients to leave reviews here too.

There’s a newer feature that allows people to ask questions, which you can then answer. Currently, to know if someone has submitted a question, you must have the Google My Business app installed on your phone and be logged into the account that manages the listing. This may change in the future, perhaps sending an email notification or something like that.

• Avoid answering questions with just a “yes” or “no”. Not only can people go back and edit their questions, making your answer completely irrelevant, or even bad for your business, giving a detailed answer looks better on your part as an expert in your field.
  • For example: If someone asked if a restaurant has vegan options, and the business owner replies “yes”, the person can edit the question to say
• When a question is upvoted, it will appear in order of the number of upvotes, seen as an important question.

Other Important Steps

There are some other things that directly affect your local SEO ranking such as relevant directory listings, on-page optimization, off-page optimization, and link building. Check out our blogs on how to do local SEO the easy way to learn more about these important strategies!

 

When your business is ready for a long-term boost to your bottom line, contact K-Kom, a local business SEO expert, serving local businesses from Menomonee Falls and Milwaukee WI, all the way to California.

 

“OK Google: local search engine optimization experts near me!”