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2022 Local SEO Checklist

Dec 02, 2021

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Getting back up on the heels of the jolt dealt by a global pandemic, small and medium businesses have a tough path to tread before they gain back their profitability to pre-pandemic levels, or in best cases, more. Small businesses serving customers in nearby areas experienced sudden closedowns in many cases as covid-19 mandated lockdowns took effect. 

Now, in addition to the setback because of the pandemic, many local businesses have irrespective struggled with dwindling sales given their limited presence on the internet, if any, and decreasing effectiveness of word of mouth in the years since the digital economy became mainstream. 

A significant number of small businesses still don’t have a website, and the few that do are already way ahead of the former. But having a website either is no guarantee for increased sales and footfall. The prerequisite for attracting prospective local customers to your website, who are looking for a nearby solution, is giving a boost to your local SEO strategy. 

With the help of an effective local SEO Maryland strategy, you will be able to increase the visibility of your business by attracting local customers through their search queries. Increased visibility is a catalyst to more customers and increased revenue. In this article, we will give you a checklist of local SEO must-do’s for putting your business website on the map and setting it up for success in 2022. 

1. Having a Google Business Profile is a must

Getting your business on Google is one of the most important things to do while starting with your SEO journey. The first step to boosting your local SEO is to create a Google Business Profile. This enlists you on the internet's version of yellow pages, to put it simply. 

Not just creating a Google Business Profile, you need to ensure that it achieves a 100% completion rate by mandatorily filling every field in the form. Next, you must create an inviting business description. All your products and services should be listed, and you should answer FAQs. 

2. Emphasize on using the right keywords

Keywords are the backbone of SEO, more so for local SEO. Therefore, identifying the right keywords for your business is a basic undertaking and a crucial one at that. You must find out what people are searching for to use relevant keywords while creating your website content. 

Performing keyword research can be helped with the use of various power tools designed for it that are readily available on the internet. Deriving results with the help of these tools, you will be able to find local keyword phrases that users frequently search for, allowing you to boost your local SEO. 

3. Use Local Content for optimizing Local SEO

The general practice in the digital marketing industry is to appeal to a larger audience for attracting as much traffic to your website as possible. While there’s nothing wrong with this approach, as a local business, your focus should be on being more palatable to your local audience — high-quality local content should be your priority. Make it a point to create content stressing local events and news catering to your industry and incorporate local keywords into it.

4. Mention your location in the right parts of the website

Listing your location on the website is critical. But there are some more caveats to the practice. Location information in the right places allows search engine crawlers to index and rank your website higher on search engines. The information about your products and services on the pages of your website needs to mention your location information in strategic places such as the headings, title tags, body copy, footer, meta descriptions, and more.

5. Get your website listed on local directories

People often refer to the local directories on the internet for finding information about local businesses. Apart from Google My Business, several other directories are popular with internet users including, but not limited to Angi, Bing Places, Foursquare, Zoominfo. There are more area-specific directories that users may find on the web, and therefore, you must take stock of all the relevant ones near you and list your website on each of them.

6. Customer reviews must be encouraged 

A deciding factor for visibility on the internet is gaining popularity among existing customers. A business that is frequently reviewed by customers has a higher chance of being viewed by the target audience. If a customer likes your product/service, you must encourage them to write reviews about your business online. Customer feedback goes a long way in not just promoting your local brand but also in highlighting the need for changes to be made if any. 

Conclusion

If you want your local business to increase its visibility and profitability by increasing local reach, you need to ensure that you check all the boxes mentioned in this article in terms of your local SEO strategy. 

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