It still amazes me how many local businesses don’t put the minimum effort into local SEO and content marketing. We work with quite a few of small and local businesses on local content and SEO and for every client or potential client that we speak with would say that local SEO and content marketing is too complicated.

The truth is that local SEO and content marketing is complicated at the advanced level, but at the basic level, anyone can do it.

For those that own a local service or business or some sort, we’ve put together a simple guide for local SEO that you can literally implement in less than a hour to boost your rankings.

Think about it…

If most businesses in your area aren’t producing content, then you might be the one of the only business in your area that’s stepping up your marketing game.

That will put you a step ahead of your competitors and you’ll rank higher in Google searches.

Basic Local SEO Setup

Start off by submitting your business info into the following sites:

Google Business

Bing Local

Yahoo Local

Yelp

Almost all of those sites will require the following:

Business Name

Address

Photos & Videos

Contact Info

Description

Category

Keywords

Hours of Business

Reviews

Make sure you have all of these handy and make sure you ALWAYS showcase your best pictures and videos.

Reviews for Local SEO and content

Believe it or not, reviews are king for Local SEO and content.

Would you visit a restaurant that you found on Yelp with a 2 star rating? I don’t think I would..

Before I choose any service, I always look for reviews. People trust other people and this is why review is so powerful.

Try to gather as many reviews as you can from your current customers or offer customers deals in exchange for a review.

All of the sites mentioned above allows users to submit reviews.

Another popular site for consumer brands is TrustPilot. Take a look at your competitors and see what they are lacking.

Local directory submissions

Next up would be to take all those information that you gathered about your business and Google local directory listings. For example, if you are a personal trainer, Google “find local fitness trainers”, and you’ll see a list of directory sites.

Head over to those sites and submit all the necessary information. If done right, Google will index those pages and when someone types your business name in Google, your profile will show up.

A good trick is to search for where your competitors are listed. Google their business name and find the directories that they are listed in and then list your business on there too.

Local SEO best practices

At the minimum, you should have your social profiles set up (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest). Ensure that you’re posting regularly so people know that you are still active.

Also, you must at least have a website. You don’t need to make it pretty, even though it helps attract more customers. Just having a basic one set up will help Google understand what your business is about.

Here are some of the best practices for Local SEO.

List Every Product / Services you offer

Create a unique page for every product or services

Identify Target Keyword for every page

Create UNIQUE Metatags (Title, description) for EVERY Page

Create Keyword Rich URL’s for EVERY Product or Services Page

Add Keywords to Headings H1,H2,H3

Add keywords to text +/- 2 to 3%

Link to other pages from within the text

Optimize Images

To take it to another level, make sure you have Google Analytics and Google search console set up.

Content is king for Local SEO and rankings

If you’re not putting any effort into creating content, then you’re going to be a step behind your competitors.

People need to build trust before purchasing a product or using a service. They need to learn the industry and understand the value that they’ll get behind it. That’s when good educational long-form content works really well.

Don’t have time to do content creation? We’ll do it for you! Check out what we have to offer.

But if you want to do it yourself, here are some of the basics.

Set Up a Blog

Check Competitors Blogs for Ideas

Identify Leading Blogs in your Niche

Create a Schedule of 10-15 Blog Posts Based on Your FAQs

Blog content check

Is Your Content Optimized for SEO & Sharing?

Attention-Grabbing Headline

Identify Target Keywords

Include Keywords in Meta Tags

Keyword in Title and Headings

Keyword in URL

Optimize Images

Add related Keywords in Text

Link Internally to Other Posts

Link Externally to Authority Content

Add Social Sharing Buttons

Check Mobile Ready

Check Load Speed

Make sure most content have at least 1500-2500 words

Ok..so what type of content should I be writing?

Any type of local content related to your industry that would work well is local event and attraction guides. People are always searching those up as well.

Using your blog to take about community, customer, and employee-related local news is a great way to spice up your local content in very authentic ways.

Here are some ideas:

Local event write-up and coverage.

Local news coverage.

A story behind your local business

Content centered on your industry and unique to your area, such as “How San Francisco’s Minimum Wage Laws Affect Retailers.”

Answering local questions, such as “What are the Best Places to Shop in Washington, D.C.?”

Of course, the list goes on and on..

Start small and expand the area slowly.

Looking for more content marketing tips for local SEO? Check out our other blog post on content marketing for Local SEO.

Content marketing for local SEO can get more advanced, but this is a basic do-it-yourself checklist and guide that any business owner can accomplish in very little time.

Hopefully, this helped all small business owners and local business.

If you’re looking for a fully managed content strategy, marketing, and creation for your local service/business, then don’t hesistate to reach out to us anytime. We’ll come up with a custom plan for you, implement it and bring you more customers.