What is Search Engine Optimization?
With 93% of consumer experiences beginning with an online search, search engine marketing is crucial to the health of any business. A strong web presence combines aesthetically pleasing design that captures the character and tone of your business, easily accessible content that is informative and current, social media campaigns, and behind-the-scenes elements of search engine optimization.
Search engine optimization (SEO) encompasses a number of elements and tools that improve your business’s visibility on a search engine results list. When people are searching for a service provided in their geographical location, you want your business’s web site to rank high on the results list. With optimized visibility, you increase your chances of visitors to your website, which in turn translates to clients visiting your brick and mortar store – or if you conduct your business solely on the internet, then your online store.
It’s important to keep in mind that local SEO practices are particularly useful for businesses that have brick and mortar locations and serve clients face to face, such as a bakery, an optometrist’s office, or a mechanic, and so on.
Location, Location, Location
In the same way that location matters when you’re setting up a brick and mortar business – physical accessibility and heavy foot traffic in a central part of town – location matters when it comes to SEO.
Major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, to name a few, utilize a number of algorithms based on keywords and web design to rank your website in the results list. An important element of your ranking is determined by your geographical location.
Let’s say you’re running a bakery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that specializes in artisanal, organic products. If someone’s searching for gluten-free breads or pastries made with local, organic dairy, we incorporate keywords and industry SEO strategies to help boost your website’s visibility in a web search.
It’s important to keep in mind that search engines do track the location from which a person makes their search, which is why we work to ensure that geographic location is a key part of your SEO strategy, both on-site and off-site. This is especially helpful when it comes to ranking against local competitors.
Increase Marketing’s Strategies for Local SEO
If you’re looking to boost your website’s visibility, we’re happy to work with you. The first step is to conduct an audit of your website. This will allow us to review the content on your site, track the traffic you receive, and analyze the keywords that people use to get to your site. It’ll also give us insight on areas that require more work.
In terms of basic SEO strategies, our team at Increase Marketing will begin to establish your web presence in a number of major areas: setting up a Google My Business account, ensuring consistency of your company’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) across different directories and websites that may link to you, selecting categories relevant to your business for Google, and including a personal touch with photos of your team, your products, and your business.
We’ll also make sure that your business is listed in the relevant directories and other search engines, such as Bing Places, Yahoo Small Business, Yelp, Apple Maps, Facebook, LinkedIn, and social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. When it comes to social sites such as Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter, we want to make sure that testimonials reflect your business positively. We encourage you to collect reviews from your regular customers and that negative reviews are addressed in a professional manner. Another element is making sure that your business appears in industry directories and in citations such as the Better Business Bureau and your local chamber of commerce directories.
A Search Engine Optimization Strategy Tailored to Your Business
It’s important to keep in mind is that SEO is an on-going process. It requires continuous tweaks and updates to make sure that your website is up to date and that your headlines and keywords continue to be relevant to potential customers in your geographic location.
When you choose to work with us at Increase Marketing, our team knows the ins and outs of your website and provides personal care and attention to your business. Are you ready to increase your business’s web presence through local SEO? Contact us at Increase Marketing to schedule a consultation and to brainstorm strategies that work best for your business.