Local SEO for Small Business

Chances are, if you run a small business, you know what this is.  Just in case you don’t, it’s a free tool from Google that helps businesses be listed on Google.  With Google My Business account allows you to share basic information about our business, interact with customers, update posts & business profiles.  Optimizing your Google My Business can help your Local SEO greatly.

Click here for a full guide on how to set up Google My Business.

Local Citations / Listings

In addition to Google My Business, get listed in many other directories and on other search engine listings. The more places Google finds a business listed, the more relevance and authority that business will have with Google.  A local citation or directory means that a business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP data) appear in a local search. Like Google My Business, Bing Places is also a citation. Directory sites like Yellow Pages and Yelp also play into the local citation landscape.

It’s extremely important in local search to claim and own all relevant citations. A business that doesn’t have local citations will be unable to rank in a local search. If listings exist, but the business doesn’t own them, an outside source can easily be manipulated with incorrect information.

If you prefer to do it manually, here is a list of basic local databases that you should be listed & keep updated.

• Google My Business
• Yelp
• Bing Places for Business
• Yellow Pages
• Yahoo
• Foursquare
• ChamberOfCommerce.com
• Better Business Bureau

Or we can set you up with Local SEO package that includes Local Citation / Listings.  Let’s Chat!

Managing Reviews

One last step in optimizing a Google business profile is to request reviews. Most businesses will have an email list that can be used for this purpose. If not, they will have to start collecting customer information. It is important to note that reviews on Google My Business are all publicly available and cannot be removed by the listing owner.

The best way to manage reviews on listing sites is to answer whether they are positive or negative. Negative reviews can easily be resolved offline with a quick apologetic reply that includes contact information for the business owner. Google sees timely review responses as engagement and will favor a business that is active online over a business that leaves reviews without a response.

You should definitely maintain all major review sites, at least Google, Yelp, Facebook.  Our Local SEO package includes Review Management Tools.  Let’s Chat!