As a small business with an e-commerce site, one of the most important things you can do to get noticed is to advertise locally. Whether you’re the only pet shop in the city or town, it is important that you do everything in your control to attract the most desirable customers- your neighbors. To do this, you must make sure that you optimize your site so that it is relevant to your audience. Here are some ways that you can practice Local SEO with great content:
Update And Create Your Store’s Location Pages.
This includes social media pages and business websites. Make sure that you have a local business landing page for all search engines (think: Google, Bing, and Yahoo). This takes almost no time at all and simply requires you to input your address information, phone number and hours. It also ensures that people can contact you easily when they are searching for local pet stores on their phones. Note that the number you input must be a local number, or your results may not come through! After this, just claim your listings online. This will help put the power in your hands when it comes to visits and reviews.
Be Sure To Create A Google My Business Page.
Within the settings of your account, choose 2-3 categories that your shop encompasses (like e-commerce, pet food, grooming). This will help to get search engines to display your business first over others in your area. It will also get you to appear more often when people search for your specific products or services.
Optimize Your Website.
Make sure that search engines favor your site by adding quality content, photos, and navigation systems to the platform. Find a few “geo-optimized keywords” or local keywords, that you can include in your ‘About us’ page or blog post meta-titles or descriptions (what comes up in search results). This could be something like “Best Grain Free Options in Boston.” By implementing these strategies, your site will be more likely to show up in search results when someone searches for “grain free Boston.” Please refrain from putting too many keywords in your content because Google notices and may penalize your website if they feel it sounds too much like an advertisement and is no longer user-friendly.
Be Sure To Network!
Join organizations and associations with like-minded business owners. By developing relationships with these members online and on social media, you could advertise for and link to each other’s sites through blog posts or reference pages. Links from these sites will help to encourage a local trust and bond among customers. It will also help Google see that you are a quality site and thus boost your rankings in search results.
We hope these tips were helpful in getting you started with local Search Engine Optimization. Learn more about social media by reading our article, Building A Social Media Presence.