Local SEO in 2015: Current Best Practices
As Google keeps getting better at refining their local algorithm, we’re finding that local SEO is taking on even more hats we need to wear. You need to be mindful of an ever-growing number of aspects that make up local SEO. While that is true, what’s also true is the opportunity that exists for those willing to do the work to get it right.
There are several best practices that can help with this, and we’ve listed a lot of them here. Above all, be consistent, and do not stop! Several of these you might be familiar with, but others might be new.
9 SEO best practices for Local
Site speed – Make your site a speed demon: it matters as a Google ranking signal.
Optimize for Mobile – With half the traffic on the Web these days originating from a mobile device, it’s crazy to ignore this any longer. Develop a responsive mobile version of your site today.
Do you on-page SEO – While it can be dead boring and tedious to do so, your title tags, descriptions, internal links and website schema are vital cogs when it comes to ranking your pages.
Get more Reviews and Citations – Reviews are starting to overtake citations, but for now both are still important.
Acquire high-quality links – Make it your business to get the best links you can, from relevant high authority sites and high traffic sites. This is best if it emanates from your content.
Give your content a local flavor – As much for visitors as for anything, making sure your content appeals to the local audience is a good idea.
Geotag your images – Geo-tagging your images with local geographic information tells Google what it needs to know, and greatly boosts your chances of showing up accurately in Maps.
Encourage social signals – Besides likely being a search engine signal, social media can become a far-reaching evangelist for your brand.
NAP data – As always, making sure your business information is consistent across ALL your platforms is critical. You should probably start right here!
Local SEO in 2015 may be a touch more involved than in years past, but the rewards for getting it right are also greater. Don’t let it wait another day!