You want to get ahead of your competitors – we get that. Which business owner doesn't?
This task can sometimes prove extremely difficult, even though we can now access digital tools such as Google and social media to promote our businesses and reach new customers. Providing excellent services is no longer enough – you need to make sure people searching for your products can find them.
To be found, you need SEO and here's how:
Utilise Google's secrets.
Use Google My Business and the correct category associations, the top 3 ranking factors in local SEO.
Another Google feature to make the most of is creating Google My Business listing. Again, this is a very straightforward process – there's no excuse for not having your business listed on Google in this day and age!
And remember to make sure that your address is consistent everywhere – if you're abbreviating "road" to "rd", make sure you keep it this way across all platforms. This will improve the trustworthiness of your business and make it easier to find by potential customers.
Focus on getting positive Google reviews.
Over 90% of consumers look up online reviews when looking for local businesses, and four in five people trust online reviews just as much as they trust their friends' recommendations. This is why being positively reviewed on Google is so important.
There are many ways to do that, but the one we love the most is personally encouraging your customers to leave a review on your Google listing after they've had an exceptionally positive experience. This will not only most likely get you a Google review but also foster another great relationship with a happy customer.
Also, remember to reply to all reviews you receive – this will show Google you care about your customers and will help you boost your SEO. This is also an important strategy to utilise if you ever receive a negative Google review.
Improve the mobile friendliness and speed optimisation of your site.
Making sure your website is mobile-friendly has never been this critical as mobile searches overtook desktop in 2015. This means people are five times more likely to leave a site if it's not mobile optimised. So get ahead of your competitors by making sure you are mobile-ready.
Optimising your site for mobile doesn't have to be complicated. Many website builders such as WordPress, Squarespace and Shopify have plenty of tools and plugins that will allow you to make your site mobile-ready without any help from developers.
Wrap up:
Utilising these 3 top SEO tips will help you get ahead of your competitors, especially if you're a local business. This is because many companies still overlook optimising their digital presence.
Making sure you have a visible, trusted, and mobile-friendly website optimised for today's users will help you stand out from the crowd.