[[{"@type":["BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/schema-markup\/local-seo-get-business-rank-higher-google\/#BlogPosting","@context":{"@vocab":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","kg":"http:\/\/g.co\/kg"},"url":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/schema-markup\/local-seo-get-business-rank-higher-google\/","inLanguage":[{"@type":"Language","@id":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/schema-markup\/local-seo-get-business-rank-higher-google\/#BlogPosting_inLanguage_Language","name":"English"}],"mentions":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/entity#Thing19"},{"@id":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/entity#Thing6"}],"audience":"https:\/\/schema.org\/PeopleAudience","publisher":[{"@id":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/#Organization"}],"name":"Local SEO: How to Get Your Business to Rank Higher on Google","articleBody":"It used to be fairly easy for a local business to rank high on Google for local search terms. This is no longer the case.\nWith more and more small- to medium-sized businesses jumping on the local SEO bandwagon, it\u2019s more difficult than ever to rank your local business.\n\nLocal SEO: 5 Tips to Rank Your Business for Local Search\nThere are a variety of SEO tactics you can utilize to help rank your business for local searches. Here are some of the best practices to add to your SEO arsenal:\n#1. Optimize Your Page for Mobile\nA mobile-friendly website is not optional anymore. Google has publicly stated that more searches occur on a mobile device vs. a desktop computer, so if your business doesn\u2019t have a mobile or responsive website, you\u2019re going to get passed up by your competitors that do have a mobile site. When two sites are (for the most part) equal and one has a mobile-friendly site and the other business doesn\u2019t, Google will more than likely show the mobile-friendly business\u2019 website first in the search results.\nSurprisingly, many SMBs are still not on board with mobile. According to Clutch\u2019s Small Business Websites in 2016: A Survey, nearly half of small businesses don\u2019t even have a website. Of the more than 350 small business owners and managers surveyed, the majority claim they don\u2019t have a website because it\u2019s not relevant to their business (WRONG!) or because the cost of developing a website is too expensive (the cost of NOT having a website is greater, in my humble opinion!)\nFor those businesses wise enough to have a website, 23 percent of the sites are not mobile-friendly. (Ooops!) This is a major flaw \u2014 especially when it can impact where you rank in the search engine results. It\u2019s worth it to get your site up now so that you don\u2019t fall even further behind and be sure to tell your web designer and developer that you want a \u201cmobile-responsive\u201d site.\n#2. Optimize Your Page\u2019s Title and Description Tags\nEvery page on your site must have a unique title and description meta tag that accurately tells the search engines more about the content of your pages. The Title and Description meta tags are pieces of code that search engines see and use to pull in your business information into search engine results:\nYou can even spy on what your competitors are using for their Title and Description Tags \u2013 which will help spur ideas for your pages. Simply right-mouse click on any blank section on a site and click View > Source and you can see the Title and Description tag code that the search engines see.\n\nThe result? Those Title and Description tags show up in search engine results:\n\nThe great thing about Title and Description tags is that you can use those to your advantage if you\u2019re trying to rank for local cities. Notice how Stuff Etc., a consignment store in Cedar Rapids, IA, used the keywords \u201cCedar Rapids\u201d in both their Title and Description tag. And they used it in such a way that it doesn\u2019t appear spammy to the search engines.\nYou need to take a look at every page on your site, identify which one or two keywords\/phrases you want to focus on for that page and then write a Title and Description tag that accurately describes what\u2019s on the page. When you\u2019re a local business, it\u2019s perfectly okay to mention the city or towns you serve as long as you don\u2019t over do it.\n#3. Set Up Your Google Business Profile and Bing Places For Business Accounts\nHave you ever wondered how local businesses show up in that great boxed section of search results? You know the one I\u2019m talking about. It looks like this:\n\nThis is the local three-pack. These local search results often show above organic search engine rankings. You\u2019ll notice, however, that there are only three coveted spots available in the \u201csnack pack\u201d box with a teeny-tiny \u201cMore Places\u201d link at the bottom. (Wanna bet that few people actually click on the \u201cMore Places\u201d link?)\nSo how do you increase your chances of getting into the local three-pack? Claim your Google Business Profile (Formerly Google My Business  \u201cGMB\u201d) Page!\nClaiming your Google Business Profile (GBP) page is free and any local business \u2014 brick and mortar AND service business \u2014 can claim their business\u2019 location through a verification process. To get started, visit https:\/\/www.google.com\/business and go through the steps. Once your business has been claimed, it\u2019s time to optimize your Google Business Profile (GBP) Page with your company\u2019s name, address, phone number (also known as NAP), business hours, types of payments accepted, business description, photos and more. Fill out your GBP page as much as you can \u2014 the more info you provide, the better.\nMany people forget about Bing. Oh, Bing\u2026 Well, Bing offers the same type of FREE page for local businesses: Bing Places for Business. Going through the Bing Places for Business claiming process is very similar to Google\u2019s so if you\u2019re able to easily claim your Google Page, Bing\u2019s will be a breeze. To get started, visit https:\/\/www.bingplaces.com.\n#4. Get Listed on Online Business Directories\nOnline business directories are the modern-day equivalent of the old-fashioned printed YellowPages. Gone are the days where a printed book is needed when all you need to do now is a Google search to find a local business. You\u2019ll see online business directory sites show up directly in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) when people search for local businesses, so it\u2019s incredibly important that you get listed on as many QUALITY directories as possible (whatever you do, don\u2019t risk your reputation by getting your business listed on a potentially shady\/untrustworthy directory site.)\nWhen you search for \u201cwedding dress shops in dallas\u201d you will see several online business directory sites showing up in the Search Engine Results Pages:\n\nExamples of Online Business Directories include Google Business Profile, Yelp, Merchantcircle, Foursquare, Citysearch, TripAdvisor among others. The key is for you to pick the right online directories for your business and then check to confirm that your business is listed on the directory correctly.\nGetting listed properly means that your business\u2019 name, address and phone number appear EXACTLY the same on as many online business directories as possible. (And I do mean EXACTLY the same \u2014 right down to whether you have your address as White Ivy SE vs. White Ivy Southeast. EVERYTHING must match. That\u2019s why it\u2019s crucial that you find the popular online directories for your businesses niche, do a search and see if your business appears. If it does and you\u2019re given the opportunity to \u201cclaim\u201d it \u2014 do so. That means that you will be the one in control of your listing. If your business isn\u2019t listed (perhaps you just opened shop?) most online directories will allow you to add your business listing for free. Again, just make sure that all the information you put in these directories match.\nNow, I will be the first to admit that finding, reviewing, claiming and editing all these online directories can be a royal pain. Luckily there are online directory (a.k.a citation sites) services that will go in, find online directories\/citation sites for your business to be included in and get you listed consistently and professionally. Services like Moz Local, BrightLocal, Whitespark and others all have their good qualities and are competitively priced. You can find a detailed comparison of Citation Site Services here.\n#5. Get Online Reviews From Happy Customers\nReviews are important to almost any consumer buying virtually anything. People look up reviews before selecting a restaurant to eat at and take a look at reviews for products they\u2019re thinking about buying.\nAccording to the BrightLocal 2016 Local Consumer Review Survey 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. That\u2019s powerful! You must have a strategy for easily (and politely) asking your happy customers to leave you a review. There are a variety of online reputation companies that have software platforms that make it easier for businesses to collect those reviews. Find a system that works best for you and then just start asking for a review!\nWhere Next?\nWho knows! In the SEO industry, things move pretty fast. Just trying to keep up can be sometimes exhausting, but if you do your local SEO work step-by-step you will start to see results.\nInvesting in advanced SEO practices like structured data markup will give you more control over your appearance in search engine page results. Instead of hoping that search engines will be intuitive enough to understand the intent of your content and show the best information in search results, you will be helping Google understand through schema markup. For local SEO, this means enhancing your Google Knowledge Panel and Google Business Profile (GBP), better matching your content to a user\u2019s search intent, and more! If you need help getting started with your local business schema markup, get in touch.\nStart reaching your online business goals with structured data.Let\u2019s Talk\n ","datePublished":"2016-12-12T18:43:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/schema-markup\/local-seo-get-business-rank-higher-google\/","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/schema-markup\/local-seo-get-business-rank-higher-google\/#BlogPosting_image_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.schemaapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Local-SEO_-How-to-Get-Your-Business-to-Rank-Higher-on-Google.png"}],"description":"There are a variety of SEO tactics\u00a0you can utilize to help rank your business for local searches. 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