{"id":2690,"date":"2019-04-14T09:47:39","date_gmt":"2019-04-14T16:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/?p=2690"},"modified":"2024-01-18T16:25:48","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T23:25:48","slug":"12-website-optimization-tips-to-dominate-local-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/12-website-optimization-tips-to-dominate-local-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Website Optimization Tips to Dominate Local SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s face it, local SEO is tough. Depending on where your business is located there might be hundreds or even thousands of competitors trying to rank for the same local search query<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s recent SERP change where they now display 4 paid ads above the Local 3-Pack hasn\u2019t made things any easier either.<\/p>\n

That being said, there are a few consistent fundamental things on your website that you simply have to nail in order to be successful in the Local SEO<\/span><\/a> game and that\u2019s why I\u2019m here – to drop a little knowledge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

YOUR WEBSITE IS KEY TO YOUR RANKINGS<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"local-seo-ranking-factors<\/p>\n

There are a ton of factors that come into play when it comes to local rankings \u2013 from your Google Business Profile<\/span><\/a> page to citations, to links, to social signals, etc, etc, etc.<\/p>\n

However, even if you nail each of those elements, if your on-page SEO sucks, it\u2019s really hard to be successful in Local SEO.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ON-SITE OPTIMIZATION BEST PRACTICES<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF CONTENT ON YOUR HOMEPAGE<\/h4>\n

Your homepage tends to hold the majority of your link equity since it\u2019s typically the most natural place for people to link to. All those links make it easier for your homepage to rank so this is where you want to be sure to target your most important keywords.<\/p>\n

Content is often overlooked when it comes to designing the homepage of your website, but it can make all the difference when it comes to ranking for the keyword terms you\u2019re targeting.<\/p>\n

Use your homepage as a chance to tell a user about who you are, what you do, and why you\u2019re the best. Be sure to include plenty of information about your products and services as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. HAVE A WEBPAGE FOR EVERY SERVICE AND LOCATION<\/h4>\n

Are you a multi-location business? I cannot stress enough the importance of building out a landing page for each individual location<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doing so will allow you to target geo-specific keywords in your meta data and within the content. Be sure to include NAP info (name, address, phone number), business hours, store photos and more.<\/p>\n

You also need to have a page built out for each service you offer. The days of grouping them all together on one page died a long ago and it is time to get with the program. One mention of a keyword on a page simply isn\u2019t going to cut it.<\/p>\n

This dentist website<\/a> breaks out all of its services very nicely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. HAVE PLENTY OF QUALITY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SITE<\/h4>\n

Quality content shouldn\u2019t stop at the homepage. Every page you create should have a substantial amount of text-based content.<\/p>\n

I mentioned previously that you should have a separate page for each service. Consider taking that a step further and breaking those down into sub-services. DO YOUR KEYWORD RESEARCH FOLKS. Cast a wider net. Get more traffic.<\/p>\n

Remember, Google wants to provide the best answers for it\u2019s users and a lot of times the best answer is also the most thorough answer.<\/p>\n

This injury lawyer<\/a> does an incredible job.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. URL\u2019S<\/h4>\n

There isn\u2019t much to say here. If you\u2019re using WordPress and you set your permalinks to %%post-name%% you should be golden. If you\u2019re using another CMS, good luck.<\/p>\n

The rule of thumb here is to not be spammy, use hyphens, and use lowercase letters.<\/p>\n

Good:<\/b> domain.com\/wedding-photographer-phoenix\/<\/p>\n

Bad: <\/b>domain.com\/phoenix-wedding-photographer-wedding-photos-senior-portraits\/<\/p>\n

The second example is extremely over-optimized. Keep it simple.<\/p>\n

Also, when a keyword in your URL\u00a0matches the user\u2019s query, that keyword will be\u00a0bolded<\/b> in the SERP.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. TITLE TAGS<\/h4>\n

I\u2019m mentioning title tags fifth despite them being the 2nd most important SEO ranking factor next to the actual content on the page.<\/p>\n

Title tags are edited within the HTML code of your site. If you\u2019re using WordPress with a plugin such as Yoast then these are easily edited within the Dashboard for each page.<\/p>\n

The title tag is not actually visible on the page but they do appear in the search results\u00a0as the blue link.<\/p>\n

Suggested Format:<\/b> Keyword City | Business Name<\/p>\n

Example:<\/b> Cosmetic Dentist in Phoenix | Harris Dental<\/p>\n

\"Optimized<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. META DESCRIPTIONS<\/h4>\n

Meta descriptions are used to describe the page within the SERP. It basically provides an explanation of the contents of the page and actually functions as the ad copy to drive click-throughs. Keep meta descriptions to 156 characters.<\/p>\n

When a keyword in your meta description matches the user\u2019s query, that query will be\u00a0bolded<\/b> in the SERP.<\/p>\n

\"Optimized<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. META KEYWORDS<\/h4>\n

Just kidding. Meta keywords haven\u2019t been a real thing since the late 90\u2019s. Don\u2019t waste your time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8. HEADINGS (H1\u2019S, H2\u2019S, & H3\u2019S)<\/h4>\n

No, contrary to popular belief, this has nothing to do with pigs and the H1N1 virus. Headings and subheadings help identify key topics on a page. They also make the content more scannable for the user.<\/p>\n

Tweaking your headings without making them spammy can help your SEO efforts.<\/p>\n

Before:<\/b> Welcome to Harris Dental<\/p>\n

After:<\/b> Harris Dental \u2013 Cosmetic Dentists in Phoenix, AZ<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9. IMAGE ALT ATTRIBUTE<\/h4>\n

Image Alts are a minor but necessary part of your search engine optimization efforts. We want to make sure we\u2019re covering our bases because every little bit helps.<\/p>\n

Image Alts are within the code and not actually on the page itself. They are used to describe the image to the search engine and can actually help the image to show up in Image Search.<\/p>\n

Basically just use a keyword and don\u2019t spam it and you\u2019re good to go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10. INTERNAL LINKING aka DEEP LINKING<\/h4>\n

Another pretty self-explanatory one here. Use links within your content to link to other relevant content on your website.
\nIf you write a great blog post about \u201cHow to Cope with Dental Anxiety,\u201d you sure better link to your Sedation Dentistry<\/a> page if you provide that service.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11. SITE SPEED<\/h4>\n

Google is literally obsessed with speed. If you don\u2019t have a fast site, they probably won\u2019t show it users.<\/p>\n

If your website isn\u2019t fast, users will leave. People simply don\u2019t have the time or patience anymore to wait for your slow ass site to load so they\u2019ll go elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Use the Google Page Speed Tester<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Improving your site speed is difficult and is not recommended for beginners so have us do it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12. MOBILE-FRIENDLY<\/h4>\n

Your customers are mobile so your website should be too.<\/p>\n

When in doubt, go with a responsive website<\/a>. Having a standalone mobile website that resides on something like http:\/\/m.domain.com can cause duplicate content issues unless you know what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n

Use Google\u2019s Mobile-Friendly Test<\/a> to see if your website is ready for mobile.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

13. Bonus Tips<\/h4>\n

If you\u2019re a single location business then be sure to include your NAP information in the header or footer of every page of your website. Multi-location businesses should have the NAP info on each individual location page or location-based service page.<\/p>\n

Make sure to use proper Schema.org markup on your NAP info. There are plenty of simple tools<\/a> available to implement schema.<\/p>\n

And last, be sure to properly implement a Google Map<\/a> that contains your business information and not just the address.<\/p>\n

So, how did we do? Did we miss anything? Leave your comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s face it, local SEO is tough. Depending on where your business is located there might be hundreds or even thousands of competitors trying to rank for the same local search query. Google\u2019s recent SERP change where they now display 4 paid ads above the Local 3-Pack hasn\u2019t made things any easier either. That being […] KEEP READING<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":26086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdigitalservices.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}