Don’t worry, though. We’ve got some easy ways you can boost your visibility. With consistency and a little bit of knowledge about key factors affecting rankings, you’ll be attracting more customers in no time!

Key Factors Affecting Google My Business Rankings

Understanding the key factors that influence your Google My Business ranking is essential to optimize your online presence and attract more local customers. These elements play a crucial role in how your business appears in search results, directly impacting your visibility and engagement.

Business Relevance, Proximity, and User Experience

You’ll find that the relevance of your business, its proximity to customers, and the overall user experience all significantly affect your Google My Business ranking. User feedback plays a crucial role in determining this relevance. Customers’ reviews and ratings reflect on your business reputation.

Ensure your website is mobile-friendly because most searches are done on handheld devices these days.

Advanced geo-targeting helps position your business closer to potential customers by targeting specific locations. Incorporate relevant keywords into your profile for better visibility in local searches.

Lastly, forge local partnerships with neighboring businesses or community organizations; they can boost your credibility and enhance customer trust.

Review Quality, Quantity, and Engagement

Review quality, quantity, and engagement are crucial for enhancing online reputation. Your review solicitation strategy should aim at both volume and authenticity.

Quantity significance lies in the fact that a higher number of reviews can boost your visibility and trustworthiness. But don’t overlook quality control; strive for positive, detailed feedback over generic praise.

Engagement tactics involve acknowledging all reviews, whether positive or negative. Responding shows commitment to customer satisfaction and can help mitigate any potential damage from less-than-stellar ratings.

Negative Local Search Ranking Factors

It’s important to understand that inconsistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) details, poor reviews, and inaccurate business category are among the negative local search ranking factors that can harm your online visibility. This is further aggravated by duplicate listings on different platforms. Incorrect citations only add fuel to the fire.

Spammy behavior, such as stuffing your Google My Business profile with irrelevant keywords, can lead people to distrust your brand. You also need to ensure your business hours are accurate; misinformation can lead customers astray and cause them to leave negative reviews.

Enhancing Your Google My Business Listing

In enhancing your Google My Business listing, there are several key aspects you’ll need to focus on.

Firstly, it’s crucial to claim, verify, and ensure the accuracy of your business information.

Secondly, you must carefully choose the right category and attributes that best represent your business. Additionally, crafting a compelling description of your services or products is important.

Lastly, consider adding quality photos and videos to entice potential customers. It is also essential to manage customer reviews by responding promptly and professionally.

Claiming, Verifying, and Ensuring Accurate Information

You’ll notice a significant improvement in your Google My Business ranking once you’ve claimed, verified, and ensured all information is accurate. The verification process plays a crucial role in legitimizing your business online. It’s vital to regularly perform information updates; this not only enhances accuracy but also bolsters customer trust.

Be wary of duplicate listings, as they can confuse potential customers and dilute your visibility on the platform. The importance of accuracy cannot be overstated; it directly impacts how customers perceive your business.

Lastly, don’t forget about beneficial attributes – features that make your business stand out, like free WiFi or accessible parking.

Choosing the Right Category and Attributes

Choosing the right category and attributes for your listing isn’t just about ticking boxes. It’s about understanding what potential customers are looking for and ensuring they find it with you. Category Importance cannot be overstated in this process. It’s crucial to accurately classify your business under a category that best describes what you do. This is where Business Classification comes into play.

On the other hand, Attribute Selection provides specific details about your business that can set you apart from competitors. Don’t overlook Attribute Relevance when choosing these details – they should directly relate to your business and its offerings.

Crafting a compelling business description and showcasing services/products

Having chosen the right category and attributes for your business, let’s now focus on crafting a compelling business description and showcasing your services or products.

Your description should be rich in keywords that accurately represent your business. These are your ‘Description Keywords.’ They play an important role in improving your Google My Business ranking.

Equally crucial is identifying and articulating your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). This highlights what sets you apart from competitors.

Understand the Importance of Branding – it helps customers identify with you. So, create Customer focused Content that resonates with their needs and expectations.

Adding Quality Photos and Videos to Entice Potential Customers

Let’s not forget that adding quality photos and videos is a crucial step in enticing potential customers. Photo optimization and video marketing are key strategies to enhance your visual appeal, ensuring multimedia engagement. You’re speaking volumes about your business through effective imagery.

It’s not just about having images but ensuring they’re optimized for SEO – tagged correctly, sized appropriately, and visually appealing.

Invest time in creating high-quality visuals and using video marketing techniques to effectively promote your offerings. Remember, the goal is to engage viewers while accurately representing your brand.

Managing and Responding to Customer Reviews

Managing and responding to customer reviews isn’t just about damage control. It’s an opportunity to engage with your audience and show them you’re invested in their experience. Review platforms like Google My Business are crucial for feedback solicitation.

Negative feedback management is integral too. Don’t shy away from criticism; address it head-on and use it as a chance for improvement. Show that you value all input by promptly responding with solutions or explanations.

Boosting Google My Business Activity

Boosting activity on your Google My Business profile is pivotal for maintaining a dynamic and engaging online presence. Regular updates and interactions enhance your visibility and foster trust and loyalty among potential customers.

Sharing Updates, Promotions, and Events

Sharing updates, promotions, and events on your Google My Business profile will keep your customers informed and improve your ranking. Integrating social media into this strategy can multiply its effectiveness.

When you post these updates, encourage user-generated content by inviting feedback or reviews. These SEO strategies are vital not only for global reach but also for local partnerships.

Being in tune with the community isn’t merely about goodwill—it’s about boosting visibility too. Collaborate locally and mention these partnerships in your posts to further optimize your profile.

Lastly, ensure all elements of your profile are mobile-optimized so smartphone users have no trouble accessing information. Remember, a well-managed Google My Business account is an accessible one.

Leveraging Insights and Analytics for Continuous Optimization

Leveraging insights and analytics for continuous optimization is crucial in understanding customer behavior and enhancing your overall strategy. You can discern patterns that may influence your SEO strategies by analyzing customer behavior. This is where utilizing predictive analytics comes into play. It can help foresee trends, allowing you to align your marketing efforts effectively.

Monitoring traffic sources will give you an idea of which platforms drive the most engagement, enabling you to tailor your approach. Once this is done, employ A/B testing to compare different versions of a single variable like ad visuals or headlines—to see which performs better.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, climbing the Google My Business ladder isn’t rocket science. Just spruce up your listing, keep your online presence consistent and vibrant, and stay active on Google My Business.

These simple steps will pave the way to top rankings, boosting your visibility like never before. So don’t miss out – start polishing that profile today!

The post Easy Ways to Improve Your Google My Business Ranking appeared first on SiteProNews.

The key to creating local content that ranks in search engines is understanding your target audience and what they’re looking for. This article will explore everything about creating local content that is designed to rank in search engines.

Why Is Creating Local Content Important for Businesses?

Creating local content is important for businesses because it can help to increase their visibility in local searches. It’s also an effective way to engage with local customers, as local content offers value, credibility, and relevance to the readers.

Local content is also important for search engine optimization (SEO). Local content can help to boost a website’s rankings for local search terms, improving visibility and increasing leads. As the majority of customers rely on search engines to find local businesses, high rankings will give you a competitive edge.

Through local content, you can deliver better value to users, make your business stand out from the competition, and promote brand loyalty. Whether you have an in-house team or you’re planning to opt for local SEO packages, creating local content is the ultimate way to stand apart from the crowd.

How to Create Value-driven Local Content for Robust SEO Benefits?

Understand What Customers are Already Searching For

Before you start creating content, you must understand what your customers are already searching for. This will help you create content that is tailored to their needs and interests. To do this, use keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner and Moz’s Keyword Explorer to identify the most popular search terms.

Along with these tools, you can simply use Google to find what people are searching for. By using the “Searches related to” section, you can find which keywords and phrases your audience is typing in. With this information, you’ll be able to create content that is relevant and valuable.

Find and Use Local Keywords and LSIs

Local keywords are words and phrases that contain location-specific information. It can be your city, state, or country name, along with other related words such as “near me” or “local.” Using local keywords in your content will help to boost your SEO rankings and make it easier for search engines to find your website.

To find local keywords, you can use the Google Keyword Planner or other keyword research tools. Once you’ve identified the keywords, incorporate them into your content in a natural and organic way.

You should also use Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) keywords to boost the SEO ranking of your content. LSI keywords are related words and phrases that help search engines understand the context of your content. By using these keywords, you can improve the quality of your content and make it more relevant to local audiences.

Produce Both Evergreen and News-based Content

Creating evergreen content is the best way to ensure that your website remains relevant for months or even years. Evergreen content should be comprehensive and timeless, with topics such as tips and tricks, how-to guides, and industry trends.

On the other hand, you can also produce news-based content related to local events, developments, and news stories. This type of content is timely and can help you gain exposure in a short period of time. However, it’s important to keep your audience engaged by updating the content regularly.

By producing both evergreen and news-based content, you can ensure that your website remains relevant to local audiences and search engines. The more updated and relevant your content is, the more likely it will be to rank in search engine results.

Add Relevant Questions to Content for Winning Featured Snippets

Featured Snippets are short answers that appear at the top of search engine results. To get your content featured in Featured Snippets, you must add relevant questions to your articles that match the user’s search query.

You can also use tools such as AnswerThePublic to find questions related to a specific topic. Once you’ve identified the questions, add them to your content in a natural and organic way. This will give users instant access to the answers they’re looking for, which can help boost your SEO rankings.

You will easily find many tricks and tactics to improve your local SEO rankings. However, it’s important that you focus on creating value-driven local content that is tailored to your audience’s interests.

Make the Landing Pages’ Content Very Specific and Local

When you create landing pages for your website, make sure that the content is very specific and localized. Local audiences are more likely to engage with content that is relevant and tailored to them.

For example, if you’re targeting customers in a specific city, use local keywords in the title and throughout the content. You should also include images or videos of your location to give visitors a better idea of what they can expect when they visit your website.

Furthermore, by leveraging local SEO services, you can also ensure that your website appears in local search results. This can help to increase traffic to your website and boost the visibility of your business among local audiences.

Wrapping Up!

Creating content that is tailored to local audiences can be a great way to boost your SEO rankings and make your website more visible in search engine results.

By using the right keywords, producing both evergreen and news-based content, adding relevant questions to your content, and making sure that landing pages are optimized for local audiences, you can ensure that your content is up-to-date and relevant.

Consider opting for local SEO packages, as they can help you further increase the visibility of your website among local audiences. With the right strategy and implementation, you can make sure that your content resonates with local audiences and ranks high in search engine results.

The post How to Create Local Content that Ranks in Search Engines appeared first on SiteProNews.

But did you know that your Google Business Profile can do more than just provide basic information about your business? With a few simple tweaks, you can turn it into an ROI generating channel. Whether you opt for Google map marketing services or perform local SEO in-house, there are some tips that will help you boost your business’ ROI.

Google Business Profile Components to Optimize for Higher ROI

There are several components of your Google Business Profile that can be optimized to help generate more leads and sales:

Choose the Right Category

The right category plays an important role in improving your visibility. It’s important to choose a relevant and specific category so that customers can easily find you. While creating a new Google Business Profile, you will see a long list of categories to choose from. Be sure to select the one that best describes your business.

The direct benefit of choosing the right category is that it will show your business in the right searches. This helps customers quickly and easily find you, which can result in more leads and sales.

Complete All the Fields

Google provides several fields to complete in order to create a great Google Business Profile. It’s important to fill out all the fields with accurate and up-to-date information. This includes details like your business name, address, website, contact number, opening hours, and more.

By providing this information, you make it easier for customers to find your business. Moreover, you can also use the profile to communicate key messages to your target audience. If you’ve multiple profiles for different shops, then make sure to update all the information for improved visibility.

Add High-quality Photos and Videos

In addition to completing all the fields, it is also crucial to add photos and videos to your profile. According to Google, businesses that include photos on their business profiles are twice as likely to be considered reputable by users than those without them.

Include photos and videos that accurately represent your business and its offerings. This helps customers get a better idea of what to expect when they visit your business. Moreover, photos and videos can also help you stand out from the competition.

Reply Actively to Reviews

Customer reviews are an important part of any business’s online presence. Not only do they help customers make informed purchasing decisions, but they can also significantly influence your ROI. It is important to actively respond to customer reviews, both positive and negative. Acknowledge positive comments with a thank you, and address any complaints with an appropriate solution.

This helps build trust and also shows potential customers that you value customer feedback. If you don’t have an in-house team, it’s better to hire a local SEO agency to take care of your online reviews.

Keep Updating Your Products Regularly

It’s important to keep updating your Google Business Profile with fresh content. Whether you offer products or services, make sure to regularly update them on your profile. This helps customers get the latest information and also increases your chances of appearing in relevant searches.

Moreover, you can also use the profile to announce any special offers or discounts. This can be an effective way to draw attention to your business and entice customers into making a purchase. Moreover, list your products on other platforms like Facebook and Twitter to reach a larger audience.

Publish Local Posts

Google allows you to publish local posts through your business profile. These posts can be used to share any updates or announcements related to your business. You can use this feature to promote any upcoming events, offers, or discounts.

Local posts are also a great way to interact with your followers and build relationships. Make sure to post regularly and use relevant keywords to ensure your posts appear in the right searches. The local posts should solve problems that your customers are facing or provide them with valuable information.

Wrapping Up!

By following these tips, you can optimize your Google Business Profile and turn it into an ROI generating channel. Taking the time to complete all the fields, choose the right category, add photos and videos, and respond to reviews will help you maximize your business’s visibility and get more leads.

Additionally, if you don’t have the necessary expertise or time to optimize your profile, you can go for Google map marketing services. These services will help you optimize your profile and get more customers. By following these tips, you can ensure that your Google Business Profile is optimized for maximum visibility and ROI.

The post How to Turn Your Google Business Profile into an ROI Generating Channel appeared first on SiteProNews.

That’s not it. 38 percent of online users in the US first read online reviews and then make a decision.

Data shows us that Google My Business (GMB) reviews matter, which is why you need to encourage your customers to leave reviews more often as a business. The better reviews you gather, the higher your rank on Google and the more traffic you’ll get. Eventually, it’ll lead to higher revenues and recurring leads.

If you want to learn more about GMB optimization services and how to use them to get more Google reviews, keep reading.

Why are Google My Business Reviews Important?

Google reviews are a game changer for businesses. They bring an abundance of benefits, including increased visibility and higher ranking, without spending any money.

Here are a few benefits of GMB reviews:

Increased Transparency

People value transparency, and Google reviews provide just that. Consumers are still a little skeptical about online shopping. Knowing other people have bought the same product and service as they’re seeking gives them peace of mind.

That’s why users tend to search for a business and read its reviews before purchasing anything from them. Research shows that positive reviews create trust, increase confidence, and persuade the consumer to take action.

Increased Online Visibility and Improved SEO

Google My Business reviews have an impact on search results. Google’s current algorithm goes over customer reviews and checks their posting frequency, quantity, and diversity.

A business with all three elements will have a higher chance of landing on the first page of local search results. This increases your chance of being discovered organically, especially if you use other SEO practices like GMB optimization, keyword use, and SEO content development.

When done right, Google reviews will show your business on the location map and display your content information, site, ratings, and reviews for the customers.

Allows You to Improve

Google reviews give you direct input on what customers think of your product and service. You get insights about your customer experience, where customers were happy and when they were not, and what products and services they’ve been opting for.

Monitoring this can tell you which areas need improvement and what you’re doing right.

Higher Conversion Rates

Consumers who see positive reviews about your business on Google are more likely to trust you. This will, in turn, give them the confidence to buy from you and leave a positive review themselves.

How to Get More Google My Business Reviews

Now that you know the importance of Google reviews, you may wonder how to increase them. Here’s what you can do:

Focus on Providing an Exceptional Customer Service

Need to compel your customers to leave a review? Make them love your product or service. If they’re blown away by the service you provide and see that their needs matter to you, they’ll become loyal customers who want to leave a positive review about their experience with your company.

Ask for a Review Directly

Want to increase your chances of getting a Google review from your customers? Ask them! Customers might not think of leaving one, so a reminder can encourage them to leave one. You can direct them to the review page by sending them a link.

You can also ask your employees to ask the customers for a review every time a purchase is made. However, make sure you aren’t too pushy.

Respond to Negative and Positive Reviews

Don’t ignore the negative reviews you get. When you respond to the positive and negative reviews you get, you’re showing the customers that their voice matters. It also builds a lasting customer relationship where they are encouraged to post more reviews because they know they won’t be ignored.

Leave Something Behind

It’s also a great marketing tactic to give your customer a little something to contact your business if they need to. With their product, leave a business or feedback card or a phone number to contact you. If you’re an online business, you can do this digitally.

Don’t Lose It at Bad Reviews

You won’t always get positive reviews. If your first reaction is to attack the customer, stop! Don’t come up with excuses; instead, tell them you’ll make things right.

When your customer can see that you read the reviews and work on them, they’re more likely to choose your business over the competitors.

Use CTAs to Encourage People

Sometimes customers just need a reminder to go write that review. For that, you can add Calls to Action (CTAs) in multiple places on your website or physical store. A simple “Like something? Leave a review!” will give them a nudge.

Let Them Know It’s Simple

Customers can be lazy. So, let them know it’s easy to leave a review and takes little to no time at all! You can ask them to leave a star rating and write a sentence or two about what they think of your product or service.

Try Email Marketing

Need more reviews? Try email marketing! Be straightforward. Ask them to write a review for you, and if they’re happy customers, they will be encouraged to do so. Since the process of writing a Google review is pretty simple, you’re very likely to get a response.

Use Social Media Platforms

Have a social media following? Don’t ignore them! Social media platforms are a great way to build a communicative relationship with your customers. You can include a link to the Google My Business reviews section and ask your followers to add in what they think of your business and the experience they’ve had with you.

The post The Easiest Way to Get More Google My Business Reviews appeared first on SiteProNews.

In a saturated market, it’s really difficult to have your business stand out among many others. However, SEO companies in Boston can help you come up with a strategy to improve your regional SERP rankings.

But keep in mind that a content strategy has an in-depth link with local SEO. If your content is not relevant or isn’t optimized properly, even the SEO companies in Boston won’t be able to help you. Thus, it’s important to ensure that your content is optimized for the keywords searched on the search engine; that’s the only way SEO experts can help you increase the traffic. 

Let’s take a look at how you can work on your content strategy to improve your rankings for the local SEO. However, before getting into details, let’s go over some important terms.

What’s Local SEO?

Local SEO is an SEO strategy that helps your business become more visible and easily findable on Google’s local search results. If your business is physically present within a geographical location, then it can benefit from local SEO.

Moreover, if the search on Google matches your keywords, local SEO services in Boston can do wonders for your business!

Why is Working on Content Strategy Important?

It requires extreme determination and high-level planning work for your website. For devising a content strategy, you can reach out to an SEO expert in Boston who’d analyze your website’s content and plan how to ensure that it appears on Google’s first page to bring more traffic, and increase sales.

Now let’s take a look at how you can plan a killer content strategy to boost your revenue!

Survey Your Website Regularly

Maintaining a check and balance can help you improve and rank better. Look for possible mistakes, and keep track of your growth. Don’t forget to watch out for these:

• Ensure there’s no plagiarized content on your website
• A slow loading speed can drive your audience away. Don’t forget to make sure that your website has a good loading speed. It’s one of the core web vitals!
• The viewers will hardly visit your website if they don’t find the content up to the mark. Pay special attention to ensure that you have top-quality content on the website!
• Again, as a part of core web vitals, you need to pay special attention to the interface of your website. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) is one of the main metrics that increase your ranking on Google.

If you detect a glitch in any of these, fix it immediately. It’ll help you increase sales and the overall traffic on your website.

Find the Relevant Keywords

Keywords are indeed the key to success. Use keywords that you think can sync with users’ search on Google. For instance, if you’re writing an article on “how to get more traffic on your website?” you can add keywords like traffic, organic traffic, traffic on the website, etc. , since anyone looking for such content would look it up using these terms.

Always use location-specified keywords. You can’t be entering Indian vibing keywords if you are in the States. We can’t stress how important it is. A keyword can make a world of difference in your website’s overall experience. You can ask SEO experts to help you with it.

Focus on On-Page SEO 

After figuring out the keywords, the next thing that you need to focus on is on-page SEO. It comes in handy to optimize your website for locally identified keywords.

This also includes some further steps such as image optimization, external linking, structuring the URLs. The SEO thus increases the visibility and ranking of your webpage. It’s the best way to make your business stand out from the rest.

Create Localized Landing Pages 

Localized landing pages are made particularly to improve your rankings with the help of locally searched keywords on Google. You can find many SEO experts in Boston who have specialized in this type of job. It can truly be a game-changer for your business.

Link Building For Credibility

A link building strategy comes in handy to get more location-oriented web results for your website.

Another great tip for even better SEO is to add other business links to your website. The algorithm will work in such a way that if someone searches a keyword that matches the other business, your website will also appear on the first page of the search engine. 

It’ll not only improve your rankings but will also help you get loyal viewers. Are you wondering how that can happen? Well, by linking credible sources to your content, you signal the viewers that you’ve only added reliable information to your website. They’ll surely prefer reading your blogs and articles again.

It not only helps you build authority but also enhances your brand image.

Add a Blog Section to Appeal to the Audience

This is a great way to attract an audience to your website and increase traffic. However, don’t be mistaken that having a blog section is enough. Nope!

You need to ensure that you update it regularly too, and keep adding top-notch content according to the interest of your audience. You can write about how your services can be helpful or even about your skills; go with anything that convinces the clients to try your services!

Having a blog section is a great way to connect with your audience. Consider it like you’re having a conversation with them via your blogs.

Add the Customer Reviews to Build Credibility

A good customer review is worth a thousand words. Don’t forget the rule; the first impression is the last. If you can persuade a client just by showing them a good review, you can easily climb the ladder of success. Reviews are very important to sustain the betterment of your website. 

Adding reviews help you with online reputation management. They also help the customers get an insight regarding your services.

Reviews can only be generated organically, and if you’re faking customer reviews for your webpage, it can put the overall credibility of your website in danger. 

All these steps can only help if you’re work hard to get organic reach on your webpage. It’s essential to be genuine and ensure that your content is 100% unique and appealing to the audience. We understand that it’s difficult to make waves in the industries because the market is getting highly competitive and saturated.

However, you can truly succeed in gaining customers by strategizing your plan accordingly and reaching out to SEO expert in Boston.

The post SEO in Boston: How to Create a Content Strategy for Local SEO? appeared first on SiteProNews.

How Does Local SEO Differ From Organic SEO?

Both SEO and Local SEO aims to increase the quality and quantity of organic traffic that your website receives. However, local SEO is only a subsection of SEO. 

Local SEO mainly focuses on the geographical components of search and provides results that can be found on maps and business directories, such as Google Maps, Facebook, and Yelp. Businesses that want to focus on this subsection of SEO should turn their attention to citations, reviews, links, and keywords.

Why is Local SEO Important?

This subsection of SEO prioritizes optimization for location-specific search queries. By doing this, you will be able to take advantage of the opportunities presented whenever a person in your area searches for a term related to your business.

For example, you run a restaurant in New York. When a user enters the term “restaurants in New York” on a search engine, you will have more chances of getting the top position on the SERP because your website is optimized for local searches. This will allow you to acquire a large part of the local market and beat your competitors that do not practice local SEO.

How to Use Local SEO to Boost Your Business

You can follow various strategies to ensure that your website performs outstandingly on local searches. Here are some things you can do:

Set Up and Optimize Your Google My Business Account

Google My Business is an online tool that you can use to manage your online presence across Google, such as Search and Maps. Through GMB, your customers can find you easily, learn about your story, and view your business details.

Google has provided a set of instructions to allow you to claim or add your business on GMB. Aside from these guidelines, you should also remember to use the best possible category for your GMB listing to make sure that it applies to your business. You should also include your main keywords and area of operation in your business description. Lastly, ensure that the name, address, and contact details you input in your GMB listing matches the information available on your website and other local citations.

Encourage Your Customers to Leave Reviews

Collecting reviews from customers who have patronized your business can help boost your visibility and improve your reputation. One of the best benefits you can enjoy if your customers regularly leave reviews on your listing is an optimized GMB presence. Having this allows you to increase the chances of your GMB listing appearing in SERPs.

Additionally, the more that people see positive reviews on your listings, the more they are likely to patronize your business as well. If they see that other people had a good experience after buying a product or service from your store, they will be more enticed to try it out themselves.

This is why you should always encourage your customers to leave a review on your online listing after buying your product or paying for your service. You can ask them to provide an authentic review on various platforms like Yelp and GMB by doing the following:

• Ask your customer for a review in person after a sale.
• Send them a post-purchase email or text and ask them for a review. Make sure to approach them only after an initial survey to ensure you are not asking a dissatisfied customer.

Recalibrate Your Keywords

Since your focus is on attracting local customers, you should recalibrate your keywords to reflect the terms they are searching for on the internet. To do this, you need to conduct a local keyword search using online tools or with the help of an SEO agency. 

You should then choose relevant keywords that you think can help boost your local online presence. After doing so, take your new keywords and integrate them into your site’s metadata, body text, and URL.

Create Locally Relevant Content

Another strategy that can help boost your local SEO is to create content that your local customers can relate to. You can accomplish this by mentioning area-specific landmarks and hotspots on your blog articles and social media posts. Including relevant information based on local news and events in your content will also be helpful.

Additionally, you should edit the content on your About Us page. It is best if your content revolves around location-specific information regarding your business. 

Optimize for Voice Search

Lastly, you can optimize your website for voice search to boost your local SEO. Since voice search is a fairly new technology for most businesses, there are not a lot of players in this arena. This means that by optimizing for voice search, you can get one step ahead of your competitors.

You can optimize your website for voice search by starting with your content. When individuals use this technology, they are more likely to search using whole sentences instead of the phrases they use when typing on a search engine. For example, a person who uses voice search will say “Where is the nearest coffee shop?” instead of “coffee shops near me.”

Because of this, you should use more natural language in your content to cater to the spoken search queries. You should also include more long-tail keywords and traditional question starters—such as who, what, when, where, why, and how—to optimize for voice search.

Following these local SEO strategies will help you grab as much share of the local market as possible. Achieving this can help you attract more customers and earn more revenue, ultimately making your business more successful.

The post Local SEO Strategies to Boost Your Business appeared first on SiteProNews.

If your company’s website is not attracting as many visitors as you would like it to, there is still hope. Investing in search engine optimization (SEO) services could help you to recover any lost traffic and even improve upon your website’s past performance. 

Why You Should Prioritize SEO during COVID-19 

SEO offers small businesses a relatively easy and cost-effective way to get their website noticed online. With news of the financial toll this pandemic is taking on entrepreneurs being reported every day, consumers are eager to support independent businesses in their local community. Restrictions on shopping and gatherings make it difficult for them to do this in person, but they are still able to browse, shop, and learn more about these establishments online.

With some time and the expertise of a top digital agency offering SEO services, small businesses can bring their websites to the top of the search results. By targeting the right keywords and understanding search intent, they can attract vital consumer attention, boost sales, and secure additional revenue.  

10 Ways to Redefine Your SEO Strategy during COVID-19 

1. Find 0ut What Your Audience Needs 

There has not been a public health crisis of this scale and magnitude in recent memory, so it is not easy to understand how people respond to it without going straight to the source. Social media provides a convenient channel for you to ask your customers how this pandemic is affecting them and what they need or want to see from you. 

Depending on what information you would like, you can ask specific or open-ended questions. A specific question, such as ‘Do you walk your dog more often since the pandemic started?’ can give you insight into a particular need or experience your customer has. Open-ended questions like ‘How has your life changed during the pandemic?’ can provide you with information on various issues. The answers will give you a good starting point for new content that is relevant to your audience. 

2. Investigate the Latest Google Updates 

Google is constantly updating the algorithms that determine where a website ranks on their search engine results pages, or SERPs. Review their most recent guidelines to make sure that you understand exactly what they are looking for in a top-ranked website.

Some items on this list, such as schema and Google My Business listings, have not always affected rankings, but they now hold a lot of sway over SEO outcomes. Knowledge like this will help you understand the value of SEO services in achieving and maintaining the high ranks your business needs. 

3. Use Trending Search Terms in Your Content 

Many users are eager to learn as much as they can about COVID-19 and are searching the web for any information. Providing accurate information about the virus can help you capture this audience. Now that vaccines are being distributed worldwide, keywords like ‘COVID-19 vaccination’ and ‘COVID-19 immunity’ are likely to become more popular and may present an opportunity for a significant SEO boost. Be sure that you use these keywords in a way that makes sense for your brand.

4. Publish COVID-19 Content 

COVID-related keywords are trending high on Google’s search results, reflecting the anxiety we have all been feeling since this situation began. Creating COVID-19 content for your website that naturally incorporates those hot-button keywords will help you get found in these searches.

Be sure to provide factual, helpful information about the virus in this content while keeping the overall topic relevant to your business. 

If you are not sure what your company should write about, try discussing how the virus has affected your industry or what you are doing to keep your employees and customers safe during this crisis. 

5. Focus on Quality Content Creation 

COVID-19 is undoubtedly a hot topic right now, but that will not always be the case. In addition to capitalizing on the immediate SEO opportunities this event presents, you should also do what you can to set your website up for better long-term traffic numbers.

Creating informative blog posts, videos, infographics, and other content on evergreen topics that your business is knowledgeable about will continue to draw visitors in for years after the pandemic is finally over. If you are unable to take on this work yourself, many digital marketing agencies offer content services that can help you produce high-quality pieces that will continue to draw in traffic.

6. Set up a Google My Business (GMB) Page 

Setting up a Google My Business page is one of the easiest ways to get your business noticed in general and local search results. Still, many companies that are new to online operations have not done this.

It takes just a few minutes to fill in the initial forms needed and submit your application for a new page. After this comes the verification process, which may take up to a few weeks. Once this is done, you will enjoy a permanent improvement to your website’s SEO. If you need help, an agency offering local SEO services can walk you through the process.

7. Update Your Website 

COVID-19 has certainly affected the way almost every business or industry does things. Take this time to keep your customers informed about what is going on. Update your website with information such as: 

• Any changes to your business hours 
• Whether your business is affected by closures 
• Any policy changes you have instituted, such as mandatory masks and sanitization
• Frequently asked questions regarding COVID-19 and your business 

Users will appreciate having the information available, and you will have the opportunity to insert some new COVID-related keywords into your website copy to boost your search ranks.  

8. Make Use of Schema Markup 

Schema markup is a piece of code that lets Google and other search engines know what type of content is being displayed on a given webpage. This helps to clarify how relevant that page is to specific searches, giving it a significant SEO boost with users looking for that type of content. It is easy to implement schema markup, too. Google’s Structured Data Markup tool can help you get a schema markup in place in just a few clicks.

9. Keep Communicating with Your Customers 

If you want to keep your website’s traffic steady and your search ranks high during this tumultuous time, you will need to reach out to your customers and remind them that you are still here.

Email marketing is a great way to do this, but it is essential to keep the right tone at such a sensitive time. Consider sending out a few emails that focus on how your brand is helping to combat COVID-19, any charitable efforts you have done for your community, and your plans moving forward.

10. Refresh Your Old Content 

If you already have quality content marketing pieces, updating them can give them new life. Look for the articles that performed well previously and see what you can do to improve their SEO. You could research some updated statistics, incorporate more currently relevant keywords, or add links to new content you have created on your site. This is an easy way to drum up some new traffic that might help add a bit more revenue to your bottom line.  

Leveraging SEO for Short- and Long-Term Success 

Search engine optimization is the best way to overcome the unique challenges your business is facing right now. Keeping up to date with the situation will help your business keep climbing to the top of the search results as we navigate these unprecedented times. If you take the time to work toward high search ranks now, it will be easier to maintain them and give your business an indelible edge when normal life finally resumes.

The post 10 Tips for a Successful SEO Strategy during COVID-19 appeared first on SiteProNews.

Clients need a law firm that’s nearby for convenience reasons but also because local lawyers know their struggles and, of course, the local laws better than anyone.

If you don’t have a local SEO strategy in place for your law firm, you’re missing out on a lot of business. Let’s see how you can fix that.

Don’t Ignore Google Maps and Google My Business

Searches that end with “near me” often display results on Google Maps or similar services. Make sure that your profile is complete and updated.

While you’re there, you also want to make sure that the address and phone number you have listed are identical to those on your website, your Facebook profile, and any other platform you are using. Consistency is very important in local SEO.

Google My Business is a business directory that’s linked to Maps, so make sure your profile is updated and verified. Encourage your clients to leave reviews on Google My Business (and Yelp, Facebook, and any other platform you can think of) and don’t forget to reply to every review to boost your ranking.

Did you know that you can also post on Google My Business? Every time you write a new blog post or publish any type of content, don’t forget to post it on Google My Business, too, not just Facebook or YouTube. It will help both your ranking and your reputation!

Go Mobile

60% of organic clicks are from mobile.  If your website doesn’t offer a stellar mobile experience, your potential customers are going to bounce back to search results and they’ll be gone forever.

Most people looking for a lawyer aren’t in a cheery disposition. They have a problem that needs solving and they don’t have the time or the patience to deal with a website that’s not mobile responsive.

Create Authority Content

Authority content is the type of content that speaks volumes about your expertise. It positions you as an authority in your field (hence the name). But in order to achieve that, your content has to be:

• Well-researched: never state something you can’t back with evidence, just like you wouldn’t in a court of law.
• Referenced: get your information, your facts, and your statistics from authoritative websites and link to them. Outbound linking helps your SEO and your trustworthiness.
• Compelling: let your knowledge shine. Don’t be afraid that potential customers will fight their own legal battles if you give them too much information. That rarely happens and you’ll be winning more clients than you’ll be losing this way.

Authority content is an excellent source of leads. But it also needs to be discovered. No matter how great your content is, it will be useless if it’s the world’s best kept secret. For that to happen you need SEO:

Create Content that’s Optimized for Search Engines

The beauty of local SEO is that it’s fairly easy to get your website ranking for keywords that have the potential to bring in new business. They are low competition and it’s easy to pack them with search intent.

Allow me to explain.

A lot of my agency’s clients come in through our virtual doors and ask us for content that helps them rank for short, generic keywords like “best lawyer” or “lawyer in San Diego”. Not only are those keywords incredibly hard to rank for, they are also pretty useless business-wise.

When someone searches for such terms, they’re not usually looking to hire a lawyer. They may be researching their competition or trying to see how much a lawyer in a given city makes a year.

When someone really needs a lawyer, they will be more specific: “divorce lawyer in Las Vegas”, “DUI lawyer in Chicago”. This is where your golden opportunity lies.

You need to create content that addresses specific needs. The sales funnel becomes pretty simple when you do that: a potential client searches for a long-tail keyword looking to get help with a specific problem. They stumble upon your website. They read your authority content and decide you know what you’re doing. They call you. That’s it!

For long-tail keywords like the ones mentioned above, blog posts are the surefire way to attract customers from organic searches. Since you have so much information in the keyword you know exactly what to write about:

• What Do I Do if I Get Arrested for a DUI in Chicago?
• How to Find the Best Divorce Lawyer in Las Vegas
• How Does the Newly Passed Law Affect DUI Arrests in Chicago?
• 10 Questions to Ask Your Las Vegas Divorce Lawyer.

Blog posts like these are the ideal answers to the queries mentioned above. Show your potential clients that you have answers to their questions even before you meet and they’ll be half ready to sign the retainer.

Your Law Firm Needs SEO Content

Think about SEO as a first-time meeting with a potential client. You want to project trustworthiness so that they understand you can solve their legal problems. 

The same goes for your SEO content strategy. You want your expertise to shine through every line you write. Coupled with a reviews-backed stellar online reputation, you will have won their hearts even before they get to meet you.

No time to write legal content that ranks and convinces? We’ve got your back! Get in touch with my team of expert writers and let’s make local SEO work for your law firm!

The post Local SEO for Law Firms: How to Create Content that Attracts Clients appeared first on SiteProNews.

• How to claim your business listing / upload content / reply to reviews
• How to boost positive engagement
• Tips for increasing conversions

Let’s start….

A Google Local Business Listing is an often overlooked tool in the marketing arsenals of local businesses, whether its claiming a listing or having a claimed listing and optimizing it to increase conversions, website visits, phone calls, messaging the business and getting directions.

If you are not sure whether you have a Google Local Listing, then the first thing you want to do is head over to google.com/business and click on the blue Manage Now button to either claim an existing listing or create a new one. 

Chances are that you already have one and when you type your business name you will be given the opportunity to claim it, but if not, then Google does make it easy to follow the steps to create and complete your local business listing.

Note, once you have completed your listing, Google will ask you to verify your business which is usually done via a physical postcard, sent to your business address which contains a verification number. This process is what helps keep Google Business Listings accurate and as a result, trusted by consumers.

With your newly claimed or created business listing on Google, you will want to spend some time going through the business setup steps to complete your profile. These include adding your logo and a cover image to make it easy to identify your brand, your store hours, products/service, the business category they fall under and the areas you service. You will also be able to add your phone number, email and website address and an “about your business” section at this time too.

This is a critical step in setting up your listing so that when potential customers are viewing it, they are able to get a good sense of who you are, what you do and how to contact or visit your business so take the time to do this accurately and don’t forget to update it when things change such as new hours, products etc.

The above steps are really just the beginning of your Google Local Business journey, and like a website, it requires some ongoing work to optimize it for getting visibility in Google local search, as well as getting conversions from visitors who might also be viewing your competitors listings to help them decide where to spend that hard earned cash.  The first, and probably the simplest thing you can do to your listing to help it to show up in Google local search results and to get people engaging with you is to post updates which could be events, offers, products or simply updates from the business, directly to your listing and add new photos each week.

TIP: photos of happy smiling customers engaging with your product or your happy smiling employees are always going to go down well.  To start, it’s better to do 1 or 2 times a week and keep it up rather than 4-5 times a week and not be able to maintain that rate . If that is too much of a commitment to start with, then take one or two of the posts you do on Facebook or Instagram and use that content to create a post on your Google listing.

The next thing you want to look at doing is getting reviews from happy customers onto your listing and making sure that you reply to those reviews, good and bad, within 48hrs. If it’s a great review then thank the reviewer. If it’s a negative review, then think about what the next person to read the negative review, and most importantly your response, will think. That will guide you in how humble you need to be in your responses.

According to Qualtrics.com, 91% of 18-34 year olds trust online reviews as much as personal ones and 93% of customers read online reviews before buying a product. Imagine, for every 100 people who visit your local business listing, your reviews are going to influence 93 of them, and with statistics like that you need to look very hard at not only getting reviews but responding to all of them promptly.  It is important to note that this is not restricted only to Google reviews but covers all online reviews from Yelp to Tripadvisor, Facebook to Instagram and every other online review source available. Remember, Google is a search engine and online reviews are one of the many factors that make up the Google Local ranking power of your business.

Asking for online reviews can be as simple as getting the “Request Review” link by clicking on the Home link in the left hand menu and looking for the “share review form” button. Copy this link and use it as part of your customer’s post purchase journey by sending them an email with a link to leave a review on your Google Listing and while you’re at it, go ahead and include your Facebook review link as well. 

Tip: There are online review management websites such as reviewtrackers.com and birdeye.com that can make the job of requesting and managing your reviews a lot easier by collating them into a central platform.

The post How to Optimize Your Google Local Listing (When More People Want to Support Local Businesses) appeared first on SiteProNews.

Simply put Local SEO is when your business efforts are focused on organically ranking for local searches. Local search examples include;

• ‘Car parks near me’ 
• ‘Car Parks in West London’
• ‘Long stay car park around heathrow’

This means your business can promote its products and services to consumers the very instant  they are searching for them online.  Search engines, like Google, want to verify that the business you claim to own  is authentic and actually providing customers with real time information about who you are, what you offer and where your physical address is. It is advisable to include;

• business logo
• hours of operation. 
  • Tip: If your business is affected by Covid 19, update your hours of operation or add more details to your description. The updates will show on your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps.
• acceptable payment methods, 
• product or service being offered, 
• inviting images related to your business.

Comprehensive and Updated Business Profile

The business name, address, phone number, NAP should be readily available, consistent on your website and on all third-party platforms where your business is listed or mentioned since they make up the heart of your digital presence in local search.

Having correct, comprehensive and up-to-date business information on your Google profile is vital and the most effective way to ensure the best possible ranking.

By using the Google my Business tool you can:

• Signup and review your business information
• Add or claim your business profile
• Reach more customers with an online ad

Fact: According to Google, 46% of searches have a ‘local intent’.  For mobile users the likelihood of a local search resulting in an in-store visit increases 35%.

Execute the best local SEO strategy to ensure high click through rate, delightful user experiences, high conversions and essentially top rankings! Super local user experiences entail high rankings when people search for products and services in your town or city. 

Here is a live example of local search results based on a location based query – ‘DIY stores’

For the example below, I typed in the phrase ‘tree surgeon manchester’. This is what comes up based from Google my business and what is known as a ‘map pack’.

Is your website crawlable at all times?

What good is it if Google is able to find your business but cannot actually crawl your webpages, index and rank them?  Ensure that you continue auditing and fixing crawl issues and always be ready to connect with shoppers. 

Optimize URLs, title tags, headers, meta description, meta tags, navigation and content

Localise everything! Google can be told the language that you want your content to be in using the ‘html Lang attribute’. You can also use the ‘Href Lang tag’ if you have different versions of the same page in different languages. Also use language specific URLs or domain names (IDN). 

Ensure that your domain is not ranking for wrong searches and markets. For example a user that does not speak English will bounce from your English written website causing a bad user experience. Domain Misalignments can be checked using the Ahrefs tool.

What a bad user experience it would be if potential customers visit your website and the content on the website is mentioning physical locations in America! 

Tip: Emulate any location by changing your Internet protocol (IP) address using VPN or chrome dev tools to check your SERP.

When it comes to content for local SEO, super localise! Lets face it, the hard fact is, as a small business you cannot compete with big, authoritative and trustworthy websites on a user search for ‘best running shoes’. However, you do stand a far better chance of organically ranking higher in search results if your content revolves around ‘best running shoes in Ealing’ .

Examples of content for local SEO may include:

• Specific local landing pages: city, regional, or country.
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Local Promotions and Specials 
• Local Events and Activities
• Weather updates
• Local News updates
• Customer case studies
• Stories around reviews
• Tips and guides on town or city knowledge
• ‘How to’ Videos (Recommended that videos have transcripts and discrete sections i.e. ‘before, execution and ‘after’ This in turn encourages search engines to feature snippets of the video on SERPs.

Tip: Use Google Trends and Twitter to find popular topics trending in your area that you can use for your content.

Inbound Links

Internal links are necessary because they help search engines and users determine which pages are useful and relevant. Visitors engage with your content longer and have a quality user experience.  Remember a page that isn’t linked internally will not be crawled which means the search engine won’t index or rank that page in search results.

Citations

Besides creating great content and an awesome website, get other people or local websites to mention or link with your site as a go to resource. 

Let your site be associated with a specific topic. Offsite mentions or citations from other authoritative sites in your field will breed trust and boost local search rankings.

Reviews

It is important to harness the power of authentic online reviews because these increasingly  inform a purchasing decision and  impact Google Rankings.

Encourage your customers to review your business online, respond to all reviews and comments, and share great reviews on social platforms to boost sales and gain insights. Build content through stories, videos or case studies around good reviews. Example diy.com engages its users by encouraging them to create their dream bathrooms online using  B&Q Bathroom Planner, thereby sharing in their customer journey. Great for case study content!

Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.

One of the most important google ranking factors is mobile first indexing. This means your website must be optimized for mobile users. Mobile searches have exceeded desktop searches and that means most of your local searches are from mobile phones.  

Use the Google mobile friendly test as well as the Page Speed Insights test to analyse the core working of your site on both mobile and desktop devices. When building out new sections on your site, always put mobile search first!

The post Laser focused Tactics to Dominate Local SEO Searches appeared first on SiteProNews.

And the site getting most visits is Google. The search engine gets a whopping 16,140,000,000 traffic every month in America alone. It’s also the site people use mostly when researching local products and services. 

When you want your company to be seen and heard online, it has to be listed on Google’s first page, too, as the first few results often get the most clicks. 

However, reaching the top isn’t as easy as building a website from a template and calling it a day. You need to employ a local search engine optimization (SEO) tactic called “link building” to get results. 

Here’s what you need to know and how your SEO service provider uses it for your digital marketing campaign. 

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is a lot like organic SEO. You research keywords people are likely going to use when looking for your brand, product, or services; and insert them in your copy and content. But local SEO adds location-specific keywords, like your business’s location and your service areas. 

For example, if you’re running an Italian restaurant in one of the neighborhoods in NYC, your keywords could be “Italian restaurant in New York City” or “best Italian resto in East Village.”

Your local SEO service provider may also register your business on online listing sites, like Google My  Business, Yelp, Yellowpages, and TripAdvisor. This makes it easier for customers to find you using “nearby” or “near me” searches. More than 80 percent of smartphone shoppers conduct these searches. 

This strategy won’t just get your organic results to the top; your business may also end up in Google’s “local pack.” 

Local packs are Google My Business listings suggested to visitors when they search for a local business. This pack often appears at the very top of the results, even above organic ones. So it’s a pretty valuable spot to get.

What is Link Building?

Another important part of SEO is link building. This process involves acquiring hyperlinks from other websites leading to your own site. Hyperlinks are what users click on to navigate from one webpage to another. Search engine bots, like Google’s, constantly scan pages for hyperlinks between sites. 

Apart from the quality of your website copy and content, Google also considers the number and relevance of the hyperlinks you get when determining your rank on its results. The more links you get from trusted and authoritative websites, like news outlets and popular blogs, the more likely you are to make it to the top of the results. 

Search engines see a hyperlink as a way for other sites to vouch for yours. Owners of websites are likely leading their visitors to your site because they trust and like it.

Penguin “The Punisher” 

Like every practice in digital marketing, there’s a right way to do link building. Some have tried to game the system by excessively linking their website on a farm of sites they or other people have created. This prompted Google to create the Penguin Update, an algorithm that looks for these link schemes and removes the sites that benefitted from them from the search results. 

How to Properly Build Links

Any link building campaign will come with different components. What those are will depend on your goals, the type of links you want to get, and your assets (e.g., content, services, or products).

Start with these building strategies to help you get more customers to your site and your door. 

Be Part of Your Local Business Community – If your business is based in a major city, chances are your location has a chamber of commerce. A chamber of commerce is an association that aims to promote and protect local businesses. If they have a website, Google likely regards it as an authoritative source. You’ll want them to link to you. 

One way to do this is to register your business with them. After this, they’ll likely list your company on theirs with a link to your homepage. This makes it easier for customers to find your website because it’s listed on both Google and the chamber of commerce site. 

Insert Your Details on Online Directories – The more details you have of your business, the better. But they need to be featured on sites your customers will likely visit. When researching local businesses, they often visit directories and review sites. Over 82 percent of customers read online reviews before they visit a local business. This is why getting linked to such sites is also important in increasing your search ranking. 

Fill out and verify your Google My Business page. Get listed on general directories and review sites, like Yelp and Yellowpages. Find ones for your niche and upload your details in them as well. The more relevant directories you’re listed in, the more links you get, and the easier it is for customers to find you. 

Work with Local Influencers and Sponsor Event Planners – Influencer marketing works because of the trust certain personalities have built with their followers. So their recommendations (or negative remarks) carry weight. Work with the right influencer, making sure they have the kind of followers you want to target. Some of the more well-known ones will have contact information and details about brand partnerships in their profile.

Local events often have websites and social media pages to help visitors learn all about them before they visit. Get publicity from them by being a sponsor. They’ll likely have a page dedicated to linking sponsors. Plus, you’ll have your logo and business name on their event banners, so it’s a win for both your physical and digital marketing campaigns.

Making it to the top of Google requires a lot of time and effort. Besides creating engaging content your customers will love, you also need to reach out and get linked on relevant websites. Use these suggestions to get legitimate backlinks that bring in results. 

The post Building Links for Local Businesses: A Quick Local SEO Guide appeared first on SiteProNews.

Just last year, research from Adobe found that 48 percent of consumers use voice assistants for general web searches. A 2018 study from research firm PWC, meanwhile, found an increasing interest amongst consumers in voice search. Finally, as of December 2019, smart speaker ownership in the United States reached 24 percent of the total population – and it’s still growing. 

Basically, digital assistants are here to stay. Moving forward, their presence will only be more keenly felt, particularly in the marketing space. 

Natural Language and Length are More Important than Ever

Common knowledge holds that people type very differently from how they speak. Someone looking for a hairstylist on their desktop PC might type “hairstylists in [city]” or “hairstylists near me.” 

On the other hand, if someone is using a voice assistant to find a hair salon, they’ll typically phrase their query as a question – “Ok Google, can you show me the nearest hairstylist?” 

Natural language search queries and questions are at the core of voice search, and understanding what kinds of questions your audience is likely to ask is fundamental to voice SEO. This also plays into keyword length to an extent, with voice search queries being significantly longer than most longtail keywords. As noted by marketing publication Search Engine Watch, most typed queries tend to average three to four words, whilst voice searches are typically 29 words or more. 

Voice searches, notes the publication, also tend to include words and phrases that are usually omitted from written keywords, such as who, what, where, when, why, and how. Voice queries are also focused more on intent rather than direct keyword matches. The idea here is that it doesn’t matter if you include the exact phrasing of someone’s question in your content, so long as that content gives them what they’re looking for. 

With that said, let’s touch on the different types of voice search intent: 

• Looking for a particular product or service. This may involve trying to find a nearby grocery store to visit, looking for a restaurant to order from, or attempting to hire a contractor. 
• Trying to find a location.  The nearest gym, for instance, or a nearby park. 
• Seeking information. This includes facts, figures, statistics, or how-tos. Many such informational searches use Google’s Knowledge Graph.

As noted by marketing expert Neil Patel, intent can be further divided based on where a query falls in the sales funnel. He recommends using a tool like FAQFox to see what questions customers might ask about your business.  The questions can then be divided as follows: 

• What/who questions are at the top of the sales funnel, and are typically purely informational.
• How questions are a bit further down but are usually informational in nature. 
• When questions tend to be relatively rare, but where the sales funnel is concerned, they may be related to a product’s availability.
• Where questions are furthest down the funnel – ie. where can I buy product X? 

At this point, there’s something else that’s worth mentioning. Although there are still semantic differences between voice searches and traditional searches, the lines are beginning to blur. 

Google’s overall focus is shifting more and more towards meaning and intent, 

That, coupled with the increasing dominance of voice search, means you’re potentially missing out on a huge chunk of traffic if you’re exclusively engaging with traditional SEO. 

Featured Snippets are a Powerful SEO Tool

Featured snippets go hand-in-hand with voice search. These small, text-filled boxes appear at the top of the search engine results page, above even the number one spot. Many voice search queries read out the featured snippet, treating it as the ‘best’ answer to a particular query. 

Even if you have little interest in voice search, it’s worthwhile to try to get yourself into the featured snippet. It rests at what’s called position zero on the SERP, giving you a massive boost over competing websites. If you answer a question that requires more than a few sentences to address, it can also drive significant volumes of traffic to your site. 

Placing in a featured snippet involves much the same process as optimizing for voice search. Choose a question or set of questions to answer, and address them as thoroughly yet concisely as possible. Beyond that, work to create content that’s as exceptional as possible. 

Local and Voice are Inextricably Linked

Search users now conduct the vast majority of their searches on mobile devices. The use of digital assistants is incredibly common on mobile. And the vast majority of searches on mobile devices are local. 

It follows, then, that there’s an extremely close link between voice search and local SEO.  A user who’s driving isn’t going to be looking down at their phone in an effort to find a nearby restaurant. They’re going to use their voice assistant, and they’re going to expect quick, concise answers. 

The good news is that if you’re adhering to the other best practices of voice SEO, all you really need to do here is follow the basic guidelines of local SEO. These include:

• Ensuring your business’s name, address, and contact information are on each page of your website
• Filling out your Google My Business listing.
• Peppering your site copy with light references to your business’s local area. 
• Publishing content that’s locally-focused. 

Conclusion

Digital assistants and voice search are changing the face of search engine optimization. Moving forward, they will only continue to do so. Now that you understand the fundamentals of this, you’re well-positioned to take advantage of it.

The post 3 Things to Understand About Voice Search’s Role in SEO appeared first on SiteProNews.

Similar to any other business, law firms can also use the internet to increase their business and generate leads. The present-day situation especially calls for lead-generation strategies that can help you build a stable online presence.

According to one of the most-prominent immigration solicitors, lawyers face unique challenges when practicing law.  They not only have to meet their client’s expectations but also have to generate new leads to keep things moving.

So you see, lead generation is important for your law firm’s success and growth. For a law firm to succeed as an online business entity, there are many avenues to consider.

For instance, you can benefit from paid ads, social networking channels, video platforms, online directories, and specialized lead generation services.

In this post, we’ll share some useful tips you should consider when creating or updating your strategy to lead generation. But before that, let’s first see what your company stands to gain from online business generation.

Benefits of Lead Generation for Your Law Firm

Building a winning law practice takes lots of time and effort. Similarly, obtaining new clients can be tricky at times. This is where an effective lead generation strategy comes in.

Lead generation is the use of third-party services (either in the form of paid ads or social networking channels) to join the links between you and prospective clients.

Consistent Flow of Business

Small businesses in almost every sector are growing massively. If you’re also looking to see your law firm among those successful ventures, then you have to generate a stream of reliable clients for your business.

With effective lead generation strategies in place, you don’t have to track down clients personally. It’s a connected process that automatically drives leads if you’re consistent with your practices.

Turn Website Visitors into Potential Clients

While there are a number of ways you can convert your website visitors into potential clients, lead generation tops them all.

Since the process of lead generation involves discrete marketing, you don’t really have to advertise your law firm to get those clients.

Build Trust

Lead generation services help you build repo by ensuring that the majority of your clients have issues related to your area of expertise.

Lead Generation Tips for Law Firms in 2020

SEO is the KEY

No matter how customer-focused your website is, all of your efforts will go down the drain if it’s not visible to your target audience.

One of the best ways to improve the visibility of your website is through SEO. There are many strategies that you can use to improve your website ranking in SERPs. Make sure you only use white hat SEO strategies as other routes could get you in trouble.

Use a Combo of Paid and Organic Search Strategies

While SEO enables you to obtain leads organically, it will take plenty of time to do it that way. So, you can replace organic search strategies with paid options. PPC is one of the best options to place your keyword on high authority websites in exchange for money.

Create Relevant Content

The creation of relevant and premium content remains one of the best ways to generate qualified leads. Quality content builds trust and portrays an expert image of your law firm in front of your target audience. The content could either be in the form of blog posts, case studies, or guest posts.

Invest in Paid Ads

Paid ads can expedite the number of leads to your business. If you’re using this strategy, you have to create a dedicated landing page containing a headline, some text, and a powerful CTA for lead generation.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is an effective way to automate the follow-up process. You can start the personalized automated email campaign that enables you to send emails (using your email list) over the next couple of weeks that highlight your service.

Update Your Website Regularly

Your website deserves ongoing care and attention. Even search engines only respond to websites that are updated and contain recent information.

Make sure you keep your blog section updated. The content published on your website should also address up-to-the-minute issues. An up to date platform will help you build trust and also improve your ranking in SERPs.

Get Social

Today, more than 96% of adults use social networking platforms in the UK. People trust services that they often see on their social media platforms and that have great reviews. Make sure you provide them an option to connect with you through your website once they start trusting you on their Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Collaborate

One of the ways you can achieve your goals quicker is by collaborating with other law firms. You can partner with other businesses to share an audience.

It would be great if both parties share common interests and goals. Collaborating with other reputable businesses will also help your law firm emerge as a credible service.  

Build Solid Landing Pages

Your landing pages should be responsive and must help your visitors quickly engage with you.

Make sure your address, email ID, and contact information is clearly displayed at the top of the page. 

Also, there must be a contact form that visitors can use to fill in their personal details before they leave your website.

Last but not least, there should be a live chat option (available 24/7) that your target audience can use to get their questions answered.

Focus on Local Search

People in your area are more likely to hire you as an attorney. Let’s take a simple example here. Rarely does anyone from Houston hire a lawyer in Miami. So yes, you must focus on local search to get more business.

Make yourself visible by getting your business a Google My Business profile. In this way, you can get your firm visible on Google Maps for specific keyword phrases.

Lead Generation through Referrals

Build long-lasting relationships with your clients. Referrals are one of the most effective ways to generate qualified leads. Make your clients feel like they’re working with the most professional team available on this planet.

Hire Professionals

Yes, you may save a few bucks if you try to handle lead generation on your own. It’s a multistep process that involves various tools and resources to bring in some noticeable results. Just like not everybody can handle their own law cases, it’s not possible for you to generate leads for your law firm without any professional assistance.

Hiring a digital marketing agency for your law firm allows you to get access to many lead generation services, including SEO, SMM, PPC, etc. 

Conclusion

There you have it. These simple yet effective tips will help you skyrocket your lead generation efforts and build long-lasting relationships with your clients.

What strategies do you follow to accelerate the lead generation process in your business? Feel free to add to this list. We would love to know about your experiences.

The post Lead Generation Tips for Law Firms in 2020 appeared first on SiteProNews.

Having a solid SEO game plan will go a long way towards pulling in new customers and part of that game plan should be focused on “near me” searches. People use Google to find everything and as soon as they begin to type their keywords in the search bar, Google suggests “near me.”

If your business is left out of this equation, then outlasting the competition is going to be a serious uphill battle. Before we jump into how to optimize “near me” searches, let’s touch on why you should be doing this. 

“Near me” searches are on the rise

Consumers have a variety of ways to search online for goods and services they need, from voice-enabled devices like Google Home to the traditional PC and, of course — smartphones.  Mobile edged out desktop searches for the first time in June 2019, and there’s no reason to think that trend is going away. 

All of this relates to the fact that people are using mobile to search for local services and goods more now than ever. Take the phrase “pizza near me.” Just about everyone likes pizza and as you can see from the Google Trends screenshot below, this search term is steadily on the rise. 

Here are a few more pieces of data to highlight why you should care about “near me” searches.

• There was a 900% increase in “near me” searches from 2013-2017
• 72% of consumers visit a business within 5 miles after a “near me” search
• 65% of people use their phone when searching for a good or service

Convinced that maybe there’s something too this “near me” search thing for your business? Good, let’s get started then. 

Create a strong Google My Business profile 

Back to our pizza example. When a potential customer searches for “pizza near me” on Google, it’s essential that your business shows as high up as possible in those first few results — and that relevant information is available. Your business name and phone number isn’t enough. Your Google My Business profile should also include a photo of your business, address, hours, and reviews. 

This service is free and Google’s algorithm will rank your business higher for SEO if you provide relevant information, so there’s no reason to skip this. It should include:

• Business name and full address
• Any marker locations for your business so users can receive directions
• Hours of operation, website, phone number, etc.
• Business category and amenities offered such as wifi
• Images of your storefront, interior, favorite products/services

Sounds easy enough, right? Just make sure you update your Google Business profile anytime you make major changes like new operating hours or a change of website/phone number. 

Make certain that your website is mobile friendly

Just because somebody might be able to access your website via their phone, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s mobile friendly. A truly mobile friendly website will use a separate URL for the desktop version than the mobile version — since Google now prefers the mobile version for indexing for SEO purposes. It wasn’t always this way, but since mobile search is growing quicker than desktop search, Google is now indexing based primarily on mobile sites. 

So what are some tips for making your website mobile friendly?

• Use a simple template
• Keep fonts and buttons the appropriate size
• Include a meta tag
• Turn on autocorrect for the search bar 

Remember this word when making your website mobile friendly — “small.” It’s all about the user experience, and if the font is too small to read or the tab buttons are too small for a person’s thumb, they probably won’t bother. People are going to be viewing your site on a smartphone and Flash or giant uncompressed images will slow it down. A more responsive mobile site is going to help you rank higher with Google for those “near me” searches. 

Acquire local backlinks with geographic anchor text

Backlinks, which are simply sites that link back to your website are a fantastic way to optimize your business for “near me” searches. That said, this part of the SEO strategy does require some effort and might take a little time, but it can really be worth it. 

Let’s switch up our pizza example and say you run a bicycle rental business in Miami. Obviously, ranking in search for “bicycle rentals near me” is key, but you might also want to rank for “fun things to do in Miami” or a host of other local search terms. 

One strategy to apply is starting a blog where you can share what’s going on in your industry or tips for people who might be looking to rent a bicycle. Potential blog topics could be “Why Bike Riding is Good for Your Heart” or “Take a Bicycle Tour of Miami’s Little Havanna.”

You could reach out to a few health experts in your area on the importance of exercise or some local cafes or boutiques that your customers might enjoy visiting. These local experts or businesses could link to your blog on their own blog or social media and presto — a local backlink. 

That’s just one strategy, though. If you wanted to rank for “best things to do in Miami” you might reach out to area tourism websites or local writers who could write an article or mention your business. This would create geographic anchor text with the backlink and help your bicycle rental business show up in more of those “near me” searches. 

Rack up those Google reviews

Regardless of what business you’re in, if you regularly deliver a bad customer experience, you’re probably not going to be in business long (unless, of course, your business is the DMV, in which case the customer experience is moot). The fact is, 90% of people check out reviews before visiting a business, so having a healthy number of positive reviews is pretty important. 

While websites like Yelp actually prohibit businesses from asking customers to leave a review, Google is just the opposite. Google encourages business owners to ask customers to leave a review of the product or service they received. 

These Google ratings outweigh the reviews of third party directories like Yelp and having a lot of positive customer reviews will help your business rank higher with searches. It’s not only acquiring those customer reviews that will help make your business become a star in the eyes of Google, but responding to those reviews, too. Whether the review is positive or negative, Google still encourages businesses to respond regularly. 

And yes, those reviews do matter when it comes to “near me” searches.

Notice the top three “music store near me” searches all have a significant number of customer reviews. 

Use the right schema markup 

Schema markup refers to tags that you can add to your website’s HTML code to improve how various search engines read your website. It’s a little geeky, but sometimes it’s those small geeky details that can make all the difference. You want the schema to match the info on your website and Google My Business profile because this allows for a more enhanced description or “rich snippet” of your business in search results. 

If your business has multiple locations, you should be adding a schema markup — as well as a webpage — for each location. You can customize your own code for such things as reviews, hours, and pricing, but there are also numerous free schema generators out there worth checking out. 

In conclusion

There are numerous ways to optimize your business for “near me” searches and some take more effort than others. The internet isn’t going away though, and a well maintained online presence will show your customers that you’re keeping up with the times and the competition.

The post Optimizing “Near me” Searches for Business Owners appeared first on SiteProNews.

Appear on the first page of Google, and you can claim a majority of all internet traffic. Get stuck on Page 2, and the odds are considerably stacked against you.

In your quest to gain visibility, you’ve likely heard of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is the process of setting up your website or web page to help it rank within the Search Engine Results Pages.

International SEO focuses on reaching a global audience while local SEO centres on amplifying your community presence. Which one should you prioritize and is one more important than the other? Read on to learn the right strategy to take as you direct your business forward.

What is International SEO?

Also known as global SEO, international SEO is the practice of expanding your digital reach as far as you possibly can. It means targeting traffic from all over the world, using keywords and phrases designed to put eyes on your content from a wide geographical range of internet users.

This strategy can be successful if you operate an e-commerce store that isn’t tied directly to your local community. 

However, it comes with a ton of behind-the-scenes work that can often negate any momentum you earn.

The main challenge is the incredible competition you’re up against daily. While it might be easy to outrank your local competition, it can be nearly impossible to best some of the global giants in your industry niche. Moreover, there’s the added work of translating your content into multiple languages to help it climb the SERP ranks.

Even then, you’re up against some fierce competition. Every website in the world is also targeting those same key-phrases. Unless you can offer content that’s heads above the rest in terms of quality and relevancy, restricting your efforts to international SEO alone can be a costly and challenging endeavour.

Why Go International?

Understanding the risks and work involved, why should anyone pursue an international SEO strategy?

The most logical reason is if you know for sure that a large portion of your web visitors come from a country outside of where you’re physically located. Or, your traffic data might show that most of your visitors speak different languages.

In either case, you can optimize your website to be as user-friendly as possible for your international audience. It helps to think of this process as geo-targeting, but with a twist.

Instead of designing your site to attract local traffic, you’re optimizing it to appeal to different countries and languages. As such, a wholly internationalized site is one that accommodates both a country and language that’s different from your own. To set one up, there are few strategies to employ.

• Create a URL structure that targets a particular country or region
• Use hreflang or language meta tags to indicate the language(s) of your content
• Create and tailor content for your target audience’s language and culture

The quickest and most effective URL structure to employ is a ccTLD. You’ll recognize these as the letters after the period in a given domain name. They’re a simple way to show web visitors and search engines alike in which country, state or territory your website is registered. 

For instance, a site targeting traffic from France would end in “.fr” as in “http://www.example.fr.”

The only drawback to ccTLDs? While they’re excellent at targeting countries and regions, they don’t target languages. This is where the other elements, including hreflang, language meta tags, subfolders, and subdomains, come into play.

What is Local SEO?

If international SEO is ultra-broad, consider local SEO as hyper-concentrated.

With this approach, you’re primarily interested in using your website to attract both virtual and foot traffic to your local store.

The main tactic you’ll employ with local SEO is to include a specific region in your targeted search phrase. This means instead of optimizing simply for “shoe repair,” you’ll try to rank for “shoe repair in Charleston, SC.” As expected, this method is best reserved for companies that operate physical stores in specific locations and aren’t as interested in attracting the attention of a global audience.

While the process can be reasonably straightforward for small businesses with a centralized footprint, it can become more complicated for enterprises that operate multiple satellite offices or regional franchises. For local SEO to be effective in these cases, web developers have to create separate web pages or content hubs for each location.

Why Optimize Locally?

To understand the benefit of pursuing local SEO, it helps to know the difference between a standard, international search and one with local intent.

Research shows that a majority of consumers shop at businesses located within 20 minutes or 20 miles of their home. While reports vary, most experts agree that between nearly half of all web searches are likewise local.

The reality is that any website in the world with a high enough Domain Authority (DA) and solid SEO practices can rank for a given search query such as “How to fix a broken HVAC.” However, a search query with real purchase intent often includes some element of localization. It might become “HVAC repair near me” or “best HVAC repair in (location).”

When users enter these types of keywords or key-phrases, search engines automatically understand that they’re looking for nearby businesses. Conversely, queries without local intent often deliver how-to instructions rather than links to targeted local providers.

The main goal, then, of local search is to appear as high as possible on local SERPs. Specifically, developers are striving to earn a spot in what’s known as the “Three Pack” or “Local Pack.” In short, these are the top three listings that appear right below the map in a Google search with local intent.

In addition to links to the sites themselves, Google will pull data from the top three companies’ online business profiles. Without clicking on the websites, users can see pertinent details, including user ratings, operating hours, addresses, phone numbers and more.

For this reason, any business owner hoping to climb the ranks in local SERPs must claim and consistently update their Google My Business (GMB) profile. It’s also wise to perform regular checks on your company’s NAPW (Name, Address, Phone Number, Website) citations floating around on the internet. Check all relevant online directories or business listings to ensure the information included is correct and make updates as required.

Ranking Well in Local Search

Understanding the logistics behind local SEO, how can you make sure you see the fruits of your labour? Below are a few ways to help your site rank as high as possible in local search results.

Localized Content

Localized content is material that naturally includes your city, county or region. This might consist of your web pages, blog, or landing pages.

When your website is localized, users can immediately tell which area you serve and how to reach you. As mentioned, companies with multiple locations will often create separate pages to distinguish between their different local presences.

Business Profile Optimization

Keeping your GMB profile, along with your NAPW citations, up-to-date is another critical element of SEO. Imagine the initial success if a user searches for “Best seafood restaurant in Cape Cod” and finds your restaurant.

Then, consider the subsequent confusion if your GMB (and “Three Pack” listing) displays one phone number while your website or another online citation gives an outdated number that you haven’t used for years. If the user decides to call the wrong number, it’s unlikely that they’ll keep trying.

Monitoring and Managing Reviews

Reviews also factor in local SEO. Not only are they displayed on your GMB profile, but Google bots also crawl them to check the credibility and trustworthiness of your company.

That means they can have a direct impact on how high you appear in local SERPs.

The following factors are all critical to your local search ranking:

• The number of reviews you receive
• The quality of those reviews
• The authority of the review sites

Keeping a close eye on what others are saying about you can help you take proactive action if any issues occur. It only takes one negative testimonial to derail your reputation, so this step cannot be overlooked.

Local, Quality Backlinks

Any time a local online newspaper, blogger or business association recognizes your company with a backlink to your site, you’re one step closer to optimizing Google’s local search algorithm.

The only caveats? 

These must be natural backlinks that you obtained organically. Moreover, the sites linking to your content should be high-authority to give you the boost you need.

International SEO vs Local SEO: Which One is Best?

As detailed, the differences between international SEO and local SEO can be vast. If you’re unsure where to focus your efforts, start by asking yourself one crucial question: Can your business feasibly deliver products and services outside of your operating area?

If the answer is “yes,” then an international SEO strategy can be beneficial. Yet, to stand out in such a global space, you’ll need the budget to compete with every other website out there.

If you can’t access those resources, it’s usually best to stick to a local SEO approach and focus on growing your regional presence before expanding outward. With a localized plan, your level of competition drops significantly. 

From there, you’re able to better capture the attention of your target audience, delivering the uptick in traffic you’re expecting and deserve.

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