Investing in search engine optimization for local businesses is highly beneficial—increasing online visibility is a priority for many local companies. When customers can easily find your business online, they can more easily patronize your company.
Choosing an agency to grow your SEO is a big decision. Discover some tips on how to choose a local SEO service.
Look For Transparency
Transparency is a must when it comes to working with an agency for the betterment of your business. Your business matters, so you want to ensure there is a mutual understanding and that you continue to control what happens with it. In digital marketing, it can be challenging to find an agency that values transparency with its clients above all else, but it’s the key to a successful partnership.
Here are a few things to look for in a local SEO company:
- A dedicated point of contact that goes over the specific deliverables they provide you with
- Monthly communications on how the efforts are going and any plan changes
- A strong plan of actionable steps laid out
Pro Tip: Avoid companies that won’t tell you what methods they use to increase rankings. Companies that won’t tell you the secret ingredient to their “secret sauce” may be using black hat or grey hat practices that can get your company into trouble with Google.
Prioritize Link and Citation Building
Link and citation building are significant components of how businesses can grow their local online rankings in search engines such as Google. The right agency will lay out a plan for your company in a way that makes sense to you.
Link building with local citations is crucial to building local SEO. When it comes to SEO, the goal of local businesses is to show up in the Google Map Pack and the results under it. Building out location pages help to get companies to rank for local keywords.
For citation building, your SEO company should ensure all your online directories have the correct information. Keeping your business’s contact information consistent across the web ensures there’s no confusion for Google.
Pro Tip: The right SEO company should handle all of this for you, but communicate with you about it every step of the way so you know what’s going on with your business’s online presence.
Consider Google My Business
Google My Business is critical to local business SEO. This should be the primary goal to build. A good SEO company will optimize your Google My Business listing to ensure it shows in Google’s Map Pack. This map pack is what shows up when a person in your community types in specific keywords. Google shows businesses that match with those keywords in an easy-to-use map format. For example, if you own a plumbing business in your local area, you want to show up for “emergency plumbing service” search terms in the Map Pack.
Pro Tip: Although you want a company that handles your Google My Business listing optimization with their expertise, it’s essential to have editing abilities of the listing. It is your business, after all.
Understanding of Keyword Research
Keyword research is the basis of SEO. When it comes to local SEO, it’s crucial to be mindful of how local keyword research changes to target a local market. There are geo-targeted keywords, but it’s essential to understand that Google considers location even without location keywords.
For example, if a person who lives in Chicago searches “antique shop,” Google still knows where they are located and shows them local antique shop listings.
Pro Tip: An SEO company should consider your physical location along with your local service area when researching your ideal keywords. The right SEO company should also share the keyword implementation process with you every step of the way.
Logical Position is an SEO company that prioritizes our clients. A core value of ours is transparency—we want our clients to be in control of their SEO efforts, with our team as a guiding partner. Once a client signs up for our services, we prioritize keeping them in the loop throughout the entire process.
When looking into how to choose a local SEO service, it’s vital to consider your company’s needs and values. A local SEO company doesn’t need to be located in your area—as long as they put in the time to get to know your business and community, they can do the same work across the US as if they were located right next door.
Logical Position has proven methods. Our clients see successes and thrive with our partnership—just look at one of our clients, Excalibur Homes. Contact us today for a free consultation on our local SEO packages.
