Introduction
I wish that SEO could be one-size-fits-all, but that isn’t the case. Many people will graduate and work for an business that potentially has a national audience and pre-established best practices for SEO. Those that want to work locally and start their own brick and mortar agency will have a different path to walk. It’s easy to outsource work to various agencies and have them do it remotely, but it’s even better if the agency is in one’s backyard. Focusing on local SEO positions you for success if you run a brick-and-mortar business.
A Guide To Local SEO
Location-specific keywords mean everything. If you want to work in Pittsburgh as a designer, a good keyword phrase might be “design agencies in Pittsburgh.” Simple does the trick every time. If someone is in town on a business trip and searches for design agencies near me, you want your site to pop up on top every single time. Once you are in the top three results that come up with your desired search phrase, business should start steadily increasing as well.
Let’s say you want to primarily work with churches in your area. Building relationships with various churches will eventually lead to earned links and boost your website in Google’s eyes. After you’ve had a few clients, online reviews on platforms like Facebook can serve to increase visibility.
Local citations should also be consistent across all platforms. Essentially, this just means to make sure that your business name doesn’t vary according to where it’s advertised or talked about. Consistency will always be key, whether that’s UX/UI, local citations, or social media.
How AI Can Be Utilized With Local SEO
Although some are hesitant to use it, AI can be a huge help in this area. If you aren’t familiar with the area, you can work with AI to write the best copy optimized for a specific local area. Locals that have grown up in the area might search for something like “designers in Lawrenceville.” People who are unfamiliar with the area might type in something more like “best design agencies in Pittsburgh.” Even if someone isn’t looking specifically for an agency in their area, AI will suggest the top agencies near them. That’s where you want to make sure your business comes up.
Conclusion
In a way, local SEO is a lot easier to get started with, because you can start building based on the relationships you already have. Eventually, you could turn your attention nationally, but that’s another ballpark entirely. More on that next week!
Links:
2 Responses
This was a really clear explanation of SEO and why it matters for small, local businesses. I liked how you connected keywords with real community relationships. It made the strategy feel practical and realistic.
I love the photo you used in this blog post and it caught my eye! Also, all the real examples helped drive home the concepts.