Online visibility isn’t something that happens magically. It’s the result of building a web presence that people want to visit. If you want to increase your local business’s online visibility, there are a few strategies you can use to accomplish this.
There is some old and outdated SEO (Search Engine Optimization) advice that if you want to be recognized in your own town and/or area, you are supposed to create content and backlinks with your location keywords in them. You will be happy to know that this information has been useless for around ten years now.
Here are the real ways you make your business more visible locally.
1. Get on Google Business
When you type in the name of a business, it comes up on Google with some added information if the company is signed up with Google Business (also known as Google My Business). Get yourself on there and enter your business location, and you get more visibility locally. This is especially good when people search for products and services and they add the phrase “Near Me” after their query. Your service will come up in a small text box, and you will be highlighted on Google maps. Unless you are building a location-based app or are building a local guerrilla marketing campaign, then there is no better way to promote your business locally.
2. Use a Link Discovery and Generation Service
We all want backlinks from local news outlets, from suitably industry-relevant websites, and from bloggers and local forums. Sadly, few of us have the sort of connections that allow us to get links from local online influencers and such. That is why, if you want more online visibility for your business, especially locally, then you need to use a company like Outreach Links Today. It is the job of link-building services to create the sort of connections, relationships, and friendships with local publishers so that links can be swapped, shared, and reciprocated in a fair and white-hat way.
3. Participate in Location-Based Social Media Groups
There are plenty of local social media groups that you can join. Facebook is loaded with them. Steer clear of Twitter because it is not a safe place for businesses, but many of the social media networks have local groups where people from your area congregate. Plus, the search engines notice your attendance within these groups, and it pays off (albeit slowly) over the long term as your online reputation improves.
4. Write Guest Posts and Contribute
Some people make the mistake of writing guest posts about their local area and/or about a location, and there are very few occasions where that is the correct thing to do. For example, if you are building houses and a new bypass is going to damage property prices, then by all means you should write guest posts for local websites and news outlets. However, in most cases, you need to write about your specialty.
If you are selling a certain product or service, then it means you are an expert in that field at least. You need to be writing about it, and when you do, slip in the fact that you are based in a certain area. Or, when they allow you to add your guest-post profile, give your name, your business name, and your location. It is only a small thing, but it helps over the long term.
5. Put Your Location into Your Social Media Tags
When you create a short demonstration video of your new product and upload it to the various video websites and social media platforms, add in your location tags (most of them ask you to add in your tags). When you take images of your business, your people, or your products, then add in your location into the location tabs. It is simple but is very effective over the long term.
