Some people believe that local SEO hurts your website. But then, why do it at all? There are a couple of good reasons for it. Local SEO can attract foot traffic, and it can rank your site in a higher place in Google searches. Some time ago, when SEO was still in the early stages, these city pages used to stuff local keywords to get a better ranking in Google. But Google noticed this spam technique and has started penalizing these sites since the Panda update. City pages may hurt your local SEO, but if you can do it right, there are many good advantages. Let’s look at how to optimize for multiple locations.
1. Using a Google Business Profile: Keep in mind that the main target of Google is organizing and delivering the most reliable and relevant content out there to online searchers. They are looking to provide people with exactly what they are searching for. So, if you can verify your small business, there is a higher chance of getting ranked in Google SERPs. Enter your Google Business Profile for this and register. This will tell Google exactly what you are offering and where you are located. Google Business Profile is simple to use and free. Enter customer reviews and photos about your business to optimize the account.
2. Enter the Local Map Pack of Google: When you do a Google search, you get featured suggestions. The small businesses featured here are extremely lucky as there is a real chance that the searchers will pick one of the businesses and look no further for their requirements. This is the Local Map Pack, and it is extremely useful to be on this list. There are three things you can do to improve your chances of making it on this list.
- Signing up for the Google Business Profile.
- Provide all your details to Google.
- Leverage the reviews.
3. Develop internal linking structure: Are you aware that tweaking the internal linking structure can boost your local SEO? Of course, having external links that point to your site is terrific, but it is not possible to control them. It is also a good deal of work to try and get them. If it is not possible to get external links, these internal links are helpful. They not only improve the navigation of your site; they show Google which pages are more significant. This also means your website has good architecture.
4. Develop NAP citations: NAP shows your business info over the web. It stands for Name Address and Phone Number. One of the first things you want on your website is this NAP information. It is a good idea to place this information right at the bottom of the “Home” page, where it is easy for the visitors to find. It is also a good idea to enlist your info on data aggregators such as Data Axle, Factual, and Acxiom. It is tedious to list your website over all the top aggregators, but it is worth the effort.
5. Make the city pages unique: In case you are looking to list the cities from a region where you are serving, you can enlist them on a single page. There is no need to have an independent page for every city to get the coveted ranking. Write unique content for all the areas in a city, or just list the cities where your serve. You can develop a page for every city, making sure that the content on it is unique. You will have to perform additional research for this and then write this helpful and specific info for the people living in that area.
Keep in mind that local SEO is significant, and as you are running several locations from different cities, it doesn’t mean you cannot get it to work out for you. If you are looking for expert help in Clearwater, FL area, you can get in touch with I SEO U Company for assistance.