Optimize Your Local SEO: The Top Six Strategies for Small Businesses in 2023

With up to 98% of consumers using the internet to find local businesses, there’s no denying the critical role online presence plays for local enterprises. SEO is a potent tool for any business to appear online, often offering some of the best returns on investment in the long run.

But with limited resources, local businesses often wonder, “Where should we focus our SEO efforts?” Let’s explore six key areas where small businesses can make substantial progress on their own or with a small budget.

The Local SEO Foundations

For your business to rank in search results, you need to pay attention to these key areas:

• Google Business Profile
• Reviews and Ratings
• Quality Content
• Internal Linking
• Webpage and Website Optimization
• Inbound Links

Local businesses need to optimize their presence in two areas of search results: The Google local pack / local finder or Maps, and Google organic listings.

Tactics for Local Pack Rankings

1. Google Business Profile

Creating, verifying, and optimizing a Google Business Profile is one of the most critical tactics for ranking in the Local Pack. Consider doing the following:

• Choose the most relevant primary category for your business.
• Fill in the Google Business Profile as completely as possible.
• Ensure your business’s name, address, phone, and website (NAP+W) are accurate and consistent across all online sources.

2. Ratings and Reviews

Ratings and reviews significantly impact your business’s rank. Encourage customers to leave reviews, respond to their feedback, and consider displaying third-party reviews to add value to your listing.

Strategies for Organic Rankings

3. Quality Content

Quality content is crucial to your on-page ranking factor. Demonstrate expertise in your field through your content, ensure key pages are helpful to visitors, and contribute to the community with your content.

4. Internal Linking

Internal linking helps search engines discover more related content and understand what your site is about. SEO siloing, a technique that groups related webpages in hierarchical categories, can be particularly effective.

5. Webpage and Website Optimization

Begin by optimizing local webpages with key terms in the meta tags, webpage content, heading tags, and anchor text. Implement local business-type schema on the webpages, ensure your site performs well on mobile devices, and is secure.

6. Inbound Links

Quality, local links show you are a trusted local business. Earning these links can be achieved through quality content targeted to your community, local organization membership, local event hosting, or local press interviews.

The world of SEO offers a myriad of strategies to help local businesses rank higher in search results. However, focusing on these six foundational areas can provide significant results, whether you’re going it alone or bringing in some external expertise. Prioritize the right SEO foundations and watch your local business rise to the top.