Whether you’re a larger business or a smaller start-up, you want your name recognized throughout your community and surrounding areas. Local success is the key that unlocks the door to making your brand nationally renowned.

Many search engine optimization (SEO) strategies focus on the big picture and let local success come as it may. However, focusing directly at a local level can do a lot for your business’s bottom line.

Here’s a closer look at some of the reasons why you should always include a focus on local SEO and how you can start building a name for yourself in your business’s home city.

Why Does Ranking Locally Matter?

Ranking in your local territory is critical for your business. People that perform local searches are often in immediate need of services.

If you’ve focused on local SEO best practices, your business will appear on relevant searches and allow you to meet your potential customer’s needs.

Excellent local SEO practices improve your brand authority, keep you at the top of Google’s search engine results page, and above all, keep your bottom line healthy.

6 Tips to Getting Local Recognition on Search Engines

So, what does it take to make your site a local SEO powerhouse? Aside from a lot of patience and perseverance, these 6 tips should get your brand on the right track.

Get Listed on Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool that helps you keep all of your business’s listing information on Google up to date. GBP is easy to use and with the right optimization and content promotion, your site’s business profile will appear in relevant search results and lead local customers straight to your doorstep.

Some of the vital information a GBP displays to users includes the following:

Full business name
Location
Phone number
Services
Photos of your location, and more!
GBP lets you expand your online presence and make essential updates when your details change. It’s free, user-friendly, and the best first step to conquering local SEO.

Optimize Headers for Local Keywords

Saying that you need to optimize your site for relevant keywords is just beating a dead horse. Everyone knows keywords are essential, but strategically placing local keywords throughout your site is the ticket to local online recognition.

Your first step towards optimizing for local keywords is knowing what people are locally searching for and placing these keywords and long-tail phrases within your content’s headers.

Headers are some of the first pieces of content crawlers find and use to determine the information on a site and its relevance for specific searches.

When it comes to the bulk of your site’s content (especially blog posts), don’t be afraid to remind your audience that your brand is the hometown hero that can help them in their time of need. Keywords like “best plumber in Atlanta” or “Atlanta digital marketing agency,” peppered throughout your site’s content lets Google and your audiences know where you serve and why your brand is the best choice for specific solutions.

Make All Business Listings Act as One

If your business is listed one way on GBP but has a different spelling or name on other listings, audiences can easily get confused, and show up at the wrong site, only to move on to the next site that could help them out.

If your name, address, and phone number aren’t consistent throughout your presence on the web, search engines can also hold this against you. As Google crawlers dig through your site’s information, if they find inconsistencies, these are red flags that your website may not be legitimate.

This severely damages your quality score and prevents your site from being in the spotlight.

Encourage Reviews

Nothing convinces a customer to try out a new brand like reviews from genuinely satisfied clients. If you know that your brand offers quality services, don’t be afraid to ask each client to review your services.

Keep in mind that if you use incentives to gain reviews, you are putting yourself out there to accept both the good and the bad.

No matter the type of review you receive, this is the best chance to respond, get involved with the community, and use essential keywords in the process.

Whenever you reply to reviews, you show that your brand cares about its image and the quality it brings to each customer interaction. Remember, even bad reviews can lead to a positive outcome. So, always encourage your customers to speak their mind about their experience online.

Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly

Most people that conduct local searches do so from a mobile device. Even if your site appears at the top of a relevant search, if it isn’t optimized to appear on a mobile device, it becomes difficult to navigate, looks horrible, and ultimately turns users away.

If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, it could be the main reason why you aren’t gaining any local traction. A team of experienced SEOs and developers can help you get your site back on track bringing in new customers who gain a clear impression of your site after an organic search.

Get Local With Your Content

Sometimes keywords aren’t enough to push your audience towards interacting with you as a local authority. Using your content to prove that you’re an active member of the community can bring the vote of confidence you need.

Writing about local events or news that recently took place in your community helps ground your brand and build trust with local customers.

The more locally involved your content is, the more you have the chance to use relevant local keywords and rank for the searches you are most qualified for.

Strategize Your Local Marketing With Atlantic Digital Marketing Today

If you’re ready to make your brand a local legend, you’ll need a well-planned SEO strategy behind your ambitions. The team at Atlantic Digital Marketing specializes in helping businesses from all industries build a local SEO strategy that helps bring community shoppers to their doorstep.

Between content creation and backend SEO practices, Atlantic Digital Marketing can help you reach your search goals.