It’s crucial to establish a strong online presence for any local business to be able to succeed and for this Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important. Your local target market looks for the services/products you provide via search engines and you don’t want to be missing out on any customers, especially the ones that are walking straight into your door. You need to create an effective local SEO strategy for your Louisiana business to ensure that your customers find you when they need to. Doing so is an easy task and here are a few tips to help you out!

1. Have a strategy

We recommend that before staring you must have a proper and effective SEO strategy in place. A good strategy can be a make or break your online presence and it is like having someone working for you without having to pay them.

2. SEO titles and descriptions

It’s a common mistake that small or mid-sized companies make to forget about the backend search engine optimization, also called ‘technical SEO’. It is still a concept in 2020 to include meta titles and descriptions and a lot of websites have an interface that is very easy to operate. It is a long-term investment to take the time to write your page titles and descriptions so that you appear not only to the search engines but also to the reader.

3. User-friendly URLs

Most companies make the mistake of overlooking the fact that URLs have to be easy to use. This typically tends to punish that website in terms of search rankings that it could be receiving. Search engines are friendlier towards clean, well-written URLs that are related closely to the content of the page it is covering. It’s easier for your website to be found if it is easy to find it!

4. Get reviews

The success of a company depends on how much importance it gives to the customer reviews. When was the last time you made a major purchase without conducting a preliminary search on the service and reviews? Customers are constantly surfing the internet to learn about your company, the products, and services you have to offer and will be willing to spend money only if there are trustworthy reviews. Make sure to reach out to satisfied customers and ask them to put in a good word for you.

5. Utilize social media

Social media is now a proven tool for businesses to achieve real results. It also helps to generate a pool SEO- friendly backlinks to your website, thereby doubling your search rankings.

Networks created via profiles on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest are ideal to get individuals in your area to follow you since all social channels have the facility to suggest followers based on the location of your business.

6. Google My Business Listing

Google My Business (GMB) is a lifeline that feeds the search engine results with websites your audience is looking for. It is a useful tool that helps local customers reach local businesses. It is heavily integrated for people to use on different browsers and devices and is often overlooked by companies. It is very easy to set up and will guarantee a heavy income of visits and phone calls.

7. Go mobile

Make sure your website can be accessed on mobile browsers and devices. People tend to do most of their internet surfing on their cells or tablets and it would be very damaging to not have an easily accessible website.

8. Know your sites local rankings

As a local business, you need to be aware of how search results vary from location to location. Local SEO and ranking are very different from general SEO and ranking. Search engines, like Google, change their search results based on physical locations and you should be aware of where you stand locally.

9. Don’t overdo it

Be aware of the keywords and phrases for your website and make sure it is naturally included in your content. Present-day search engines are equipped to recognize keyword. It also gets to know when you use a word over and over again to increase your rankings and can penalize you for the same.

10. Don’t forget NAP

Most companies think that the NAP is not important anymore; name, address hours, and phone number. It refers to the consistent use of your business name, contact details, and address. Consistency makes it easier for search engines to recognize and rank your site.

However, customers are still looking for that information and actively transfer it from your app or website to their phones.

11. Use Google Maps

Include a Google Map of your business’s location(s) on your page to help search engines recognize you as a local business. This also helps your customers to get an idea of where you are placed with respect to them.

12. Outbound and internal links

Outbound links are links included in your website’s content that direct customers or readers to a different website.  Search engines give your website a higher ranking and more credibility if you include more outbound links. Internal linking is when you include links in specific pages of your website that will take you to different pages on your website itself. It creates a more positive experience and increases credibility too.

13. Get backlinks

Backlinks, also called inbound links are very important for any SEO strategy. It increases your relevance on Google and thereby increases your rankings. The number of websites with different domains that have content that is linking visitors back to your website increases your relevance automatically.

14. Don’t forget Schema

It is a structured data mark-up that is still relevant to local SEO, especially for businesses with physical locations.  It is simply an addition to the code of a script on your website that is designed for search engines.

15. Backend and Frontend SEO

These SEO elements are called technical SEO elements and ensure that you’ve done the detailed work on your website. It includes making sure you have a proper sitemap or that your pages are indexed regularly.

16. Create local content

With Google in place, content creators can truly write for users, and not search engines. But while writing about general topics will attract a huge crowd, sometimes it’s more vital to hone your attention and curate content about local and industry news to attract the local Louisiana audience.

Be the local guide for your industry by endorsing local industry gatherings, employees, news, and other informative content on your website. Think of top-of-the-funnel content that travels beyond what your business sells.

17. Make use of citations

Citations can be regarded as partial or complete references to your name, address, contact details, and website online. We recommend that you must add automatic or manual citations. The benefit of manual citations is that you can effectively control them, but handling them can become cumbersome. Automatic citations save time and effort, but you ultimately have lesser control over the business listings.  

18. Register your initiative with local directories

We recommend that you register your local businesses with trusted local directories but always remember to be consistent in the address details you are using. Never overdo it but only submit the businesses in quality local directories with enough value,

19. Follow brand mentions and links from the local press

Any kind of mentions you fetch via trusted websites in Louisiana as your business is a sturdy signal for your local SEO.

20. Run a website audit

A website audit will offer you a detailed look into your site’s health so that you can keep making routine improvements for better results and audience.

If you are looking for some help in this department or if you need help putting your business in limelight, Eyeconic Marketing Solutions is your best friend. We’re a results-driven digital marketing company in Baton Rouge and we are focused on supporting businesses and making them successful!