4 simple ways to dominate local SEO in Wisconsin
Are you new to local search? Have questions as to where to start? Here are four tactics to help you kick off your local SEO efforts.
If you followed any search engine optimization strategies for any. Of time you know one thing and that is that search engine optimization changes on a regular basis. When it comes to local SEO it is more important than ever for you to optimize your on-site and off-site strategies for your clients and customers when they are searching for local businesses. Local competition is getting more stiff and if you're not on top of your rankings in the search engines you can rest assured that your competitors will be.
Five tactics that you can use right now to get higher rankings for your business in Wisconsin and throughout the United States
1. Title and meta tags still carry weight
Title and meta description tags are HTML elements that you can use to reflect the content of your web page. The text of your title and description tags is displayed in research results. Think of these as many ads that you can carefully craft and use to your advantage. Last year Google increase the width of the main search results area to 600 pixels. Generally acceptable length for title tags are usually 50 to 60 characters and descriptions eggs can be approximately 160 to 200 characters. Take advantage of this space. Make sure that you double check that your titles and descriptions display fully in the search results.
If you want to reach local customers make sure that you include the city your business is in or the area that your business serves.
Focus on using 1 targeted keyword in carefully place that keyword as close to the beginning of the tag that you can
Remember if your business shows up in the results you have only one shot to get the person to click your link. You don't want to screw it up by having poorly worded tags.
2. Online directories and citations
According to Google roughly 80% of consumers use search engines to conduct local searches. However, many small businesses have not even claimed their local business on directories online which is missing a huge opportunity. It is critically important to get your business listed correctly by having the right address, phone numbers, website URL and branding. Yelp, Merchants Circle, citysearch, Yellow Pages, all of these are free listings for your business. Computers love data that is correct so make sure that everywhere has the same data. Don't leave this up to chance and be proactive.
3. Google My Business. Possibly the most important thing to do first.
Although Google My Business is considered a directory it's a lot more than that because Google claims 67% search engine market share As of the time that I am writing this. How often do you do searches for local businesses with Google? Who do you call? Has it ever been anyone on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th pages? I don't think so. Go look yourself up on Google and if you haven't claimed your listing do so immediately. From there you can follow the directions that Google offers. this is an outstanding place to start to get your business online, branded and looking great to the world.
4. Online reviews are very important
Businesses are finally starting to realize that reviews are pretty important. If you are presented with two products and one of them has a 5-star rating and another has 0 Stars or negative reviews which one are you going to choose? How about a business that has 50 reviews Versus the business that only has 5 reviews?
I've started a separate service that works directly on this problem. Business owners need to get involved in this process and need to motivate their staff. Very important to do.
