If you’re a small business in the modern-day, it’s more important than ever to generate traffic to your website. It’s no longer enough to have a small advert in the local newspaper or rely on word of mouth to grow.

We’ve mentioned the importance of local search engine optimisation in a previous article, and how it can help increase traffic to your pages. Here are a few more ways you can improve local SEO and rise to the top on search engine results.

Optimise Your Contact Page

Having a contact page on your website is important in itself, but it’s crucial to ensure it’s optimised.

60% of smartphone users have contacted a business by clicking on their phone number, so make sure the option is available for visitors to your website. You can follow this guide by Google on how to implement this on your page.

Try to make sure you’re as easy to find as possible. Consider adding a map of your local area to your contact page pinpointing your location exactly. If your website is made with WordPress, there are plenty of free plug-ins you can use.

Create Local Content

Blog posts are hugely beneficial when it comes to improving SEO. If you rank well in search results, you should see an increase in traffic to your website.

If you want to generate traffic, you need to be posting engaging content that’s relevant to your business. By writing about things happening in your local area, like an event, you’ll generate interest from members of your community.

So include local search terms in your articles, such as nearby town and street names or even nearby landmarks. This will ensure you’re ranking in local search results.

Online Business Directories

As well as using Google My Business, you can create a business profile on directories such as Yelp and Yell to increase visibility and improve local SEO.

All you need to do on these pages is ensure you’ve written a high-quality description of your business with a few keywords (read more on keyword research in our Copy Creation blog), use correct contact details, and a backlink to send people to your website.

Both of the mentioned directories above are free to use at the most basic level, which is all you really need. Customer reviews can be left on these pages too, which can help generate traffic away from your competitors.

Tools For Local SEO

Moz Local is one of the most popular Local SEO tools available. It ensures all your local business listings online are correct. You only have created a single listing, and Moz will tailor it to fit each directory you want to use.

Moz will also alert you when you receive a review, so you can reply in a speedy manner.

SEMRush is a popular SEO tool that supplies you with web traffic data, keyword research help, and competitor information. It’s used by many global brands such as eBay and HP.

It includes listing management, which works in a similar fashion to Moz Local. You can also see how well you’re ranking for local keywords with their position tracking tool.

Yext is similar to Moz by way of offering multiple Local SEO tools for you to use. It manages directories, provides you with data analytics, and gives customers ways to learn more about your business.

Its best local SEO feature is the Knowledge Manager. This is where you can supply answers to many common questions customers ask. The software will often fill this information for you automatically.

Conclusion

For any small or medium-sized business, focusing on local search engine optimisation is important. You’re probably fighting against many other competitors for the same marketplace. Make sure you’re doing everything you can to stand out.

If you’re looking to improve your marketing efforts with a great Local SEO Marketing Campaign, get in touch with us today at Be My Social to see how we can help!