Reserve with Google
As a small business owner, you need to have a well-rounded local SEO strategy starting with Google. Letting Google know where you are located and what you have to offer, helps you show up on Google search engine results pages (SERPs) more frequently and, more importantly, helps you show up in front of a very relevant audience.
So, what are must-have SEO strategies when it comes to local SEO?
1. Booking Pages
What’s the sense of investing in local SEO, if your customers can’t book online? If a web savvy customer searches for a local business online, they are also likely the same kind of person that’ll book an appointment online. So, start by thinking about converting eyeballs to booked appointments wherever you are listed. Set up a local booking page on Yocale.com and make sure to link to it from every local page and listing you create.
2. Create Local Pages
The second step is making sure that you have a local business page for all three major search engines: Bing, Yahoo, and Google. Verifying your listing on search engines tells search engines that your business is real. And, filling out the info and adding photos, hours of operation, descriptions, etc. adds an extra layer of credibility. Remember to add your Yocale bookig page to these local listings so customers can immediately book an appointment.
3. Accurate Business Citations
Get lots of citations. Citations are mentions of your business name and contact info on the web. Citations are very important in search engine algorithms, and both quantity and quality count. In general, more citations signal that the business is more established. Good quality citations come from trusted data sources such as YellowPages and Superpages, government records and public registries, data aggregator services, business directories such as BBB.org, as well as industry and association directories and media mentions. Make sure all of your information is filled out and you have consistent NAPY (Name, Address, Phone) data for your company across all listings. We added the Y to NAPY. Y = Yocale. Add your Yocale booking link to every citation to get more appointments.
4. Online Reviews
While social media activity and user-generated content associated with your business location (such as check-ins or geo-tagged photos) may have a negligible effect on your local search ranking, Google users expect to see ratings and reviews in results. While a couple of negative reviews will probably not affect SEO placement, generally positive reviews and ratings should help bolster your standing.
5. Quality Photos
When people are searching for local businesses, they want to see photos. Most local accounts allow you to upload pictures. Your goal should try to be to have that many photos uploaded. It’s also important to have photos of your building, both inside and out, and even take pictures of your staff and services. Your logo does work, but it’s always best to have an actual picture as your main image.
6. Optimize Your Website
Part of local search is your actual website. Make sure you have your contact information, your online booking links and a phone number somewhere on your website. It’s also important to try and include city or regional keywords wherever possible. And, again, don’t forget – it’s all about turning eyeballs into booked appointments. So, the more people you can connect with and share your booking page with, the better chance you have that they book an appointment!
