Whether you own a restaurant, a car dealership, or a dry cleaner, getting more customers to your location is vital for business growth. Our customized SEO plans will get you ahead of the competition in your local market. ESP Inspire is the best option in California.
Our local search optimization techniques will help you increase visibility in Google, Bing, and other search engines. This includes optimizing your Google My Business, Bing Places, social media, and reviews.
1. Google My Business
Google My Business, or GMB, is a free tool that allows your business to appear in the local 3-pack search results when someone searches for your product or service. This is a valuable space in the search engine’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page) that is often overlooked by businesses, but it can help you stand out locally.
When a customer makes a local search, they will see a map of places in the area as well as a list of three businesses with their name, address, and phone number. Having your Google My Business listing in this area can help you get more clicks and visitors to your website, in addition to bringing in more in-store sales.
It’s important to make sure your profile information is complete and updated, including your business address, phone numbers, hours of operation, and categories. You should also include a business profile photo and links to your social media profiles.
The information on your business profile is also what Google uses to determine whether or not your business is relevant for the searches that people are making. For example, if you provide wheelchair-accessible services, Google will likely consider that information when determining how to rank your business.
Aside from this, your Google My Business account can use to update your opening and closing times, special events, and any other relevant information that may help potential customers decide if you are the right business for them. This is a great feature to use when you have changes in your business that need to be communicated to customers as soon as possible.
Another benefit of Google My Business is that it allows you to respond to reviews and requests for feedback from customers. These responses can give you honest feedback about how you’re doing and help improve your search rankings over time.
One of the best things about Google My Business is that it’s free and easy to use. All you need is an internet connection to set up and verify your business. Once your business has been verified, you can continue to update your profile with new photos and other details that might be useful for your customers.
2. Bing Places
Bing Places is Microsoft’s default search engine that is used by over 12 billion people each month to discover local businesses and services. This audience is often overlooked by marketers and can a big opportunity for you to connect with a wider range of customers.
Adding your business to Bing Places is free, and it’s an easy way for you to boost your online presence and improve your SEO. It also makes it easier for people to find you, ensuring that you’re always at the top of their minds when they need a local service like yours.
In addition to being an effective SEO tool, it can also help you get more reviews for your business. In fact, Bing pulls reviews from Yelp and TripAdvisor and gives them a higher priority than other websites do. This is a good thing because it ensures that your business gets the attention it deserves, even if you don’t have as many customer reviews as you would with Google.
Another benefit of having a Bing listing is that it will help you gain better rankings in Google’s organic search results. This is because Bing uses data aggregators to gather information about businesses and then passes it on to other sites, helping to strengthen your local SEO position.
When it comes to optimizing your Bing Places business page, make sure that you’re filling in all of the relevant information about your business. You’ll want to include your address and phone number, as well as links to any other social media profiles that you have.
You should also be sure that you’re using high-quality images to represent your business. Bing places a higher priority on photos than Google does, which means that having a wide variety of photos can help you stand out in search results.
It’s important to remember that your Bing listing should be used as an additional source of local citations, rather than an alternative to Google My Business. This is because a lot of local searches will use both Google and Bing to find local businesses, so it’s important that you have a strong online presence across all of the major search engines.
3. Social Media
When it comes to local search, customers want to know that your business is relevant and connected to their community. These connections are essential to a brand’s reputation and overall online presence, which can lead to better SEO results.
To stand out in the online space, you need a unique strategy that aligns with your goals and reflects your brand values. This will help you attract new customers and create meaningful relationships with your existing ones.
Using Social Media to Drive SEO
Aside from being an excellent way to connect with your customers, social media is also one of the best ways to amplify your website’s content. Publish great content that’s relevant to your audience at the right time and frequency. This will encourage your followers to share it with others, driving traffic and generating leads.
This is a long-term effort that requires a consistent schedule of engagement. It’s important to understand the importance of this aspect of your local search marketing strategy and to set realistic expectations for your team and budget.
Whether you have a large national brand or are small and locally owned, local social media can provide a more authentic connection to your customers than broad-reaching campaigns like TV or radio ads. In fact, Sprout’s 2022 Index ™ research shows that 34% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product from a brand if they can find out more about it on social media.
To make this work, you need to fill out your social profile’s “About” or “Information” sections with keywords that are relevant to your business. You should also include your address, city, state, and zip code, as well as links to your website and social channels. ESP Inspire Local SEO Company offers the best services in California.
Your social pages are a great place to highlight your business’s personality and values. In fact, Sprout’s data shows that 34% of consumers want to see posts from brands that highlight their human side.
4. Reviews
Reviews are a great way to engage customers and improve local SEO. They also provide a platform for you to build trust with your clients and show them that you care about their business.
In fact, Moz says that online reviews are one of the most important local search ranking factors. With that in mind, it’s essential to manage and respond to reviews as soon as they come in.
When you set up an active review generation strategy, your clients can expect to get a steady flow of reviews from their existing and new customers. Depending on the type of client you work with, you’ll need to make sure your strategy is tailored to their needs.
Your review generation strategy should include a specific template and a way for your clients to submit their reviews. This will ensure that they’re providing you with the information you need to optimize their reviews.
You should encourage your clients to include keywords in their reviews to increase the chances of their Google profile and website appearing in search results. This will give them a chance to stand out in the crowd and be seen by potential customers.
If you don’t have the resources to take on this task, you can hire an SEO consultant to help you. A good SEO consultant can help you assess your site, analyze the landscape, and develop a customized plan to boost SEO.
Another reason why you should incorporate reviews into your overall SEO strategy is that they’re a great way to generate leads. A survey found that 78% of consumers say they look at reviews when deciding whether to purchase a product or service.
Getting customer reviews is not as hard as you might think. You just need to make it easy for them to write a review and for you to respond to it.
When you start working with a review management tool like Birdeye, you can save your agency time while improving your client’s reputation and helping them boost their local SEO. Plus, it keeps your communication consistent and professional throughout every interaction with its customers.