2018 may officially be on our calendars, but local search engine optimization is still as important as ever in terms of helping customers find your business online. Many small businesses fail to make the connection between local SEO and social media, and they are unaware of how they can improve their local search rank with social platforms such as Google+ and Facebook.
If you’re a small business that has yet to embrace social media marketing and you’re looking for a boost for your local SEO, this guide will help you achieve more visibility on social platforms and the search engines.
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Fill Out Your Entire Social Profile
When businesses sign up for various social platforms, many do not completely (or properly) fill out their profile information. While it’s great to include your business hours and mention that you accept both Mastercard and Discover, those tidbits don’t exactly send your local SEO results soaring.
Set some extra time aside to fill out your social profiles in their entirety. Include your website address, e-mail address, and any other relevant information that you can on every platform. This is important because social profiles such as Pinterest, Facebook, and even Instagram can rank on Google depending on your keywords. Although the results may not lead your customers directly to your website, they will land on one of your social profiles and can learn more about what your company has to offer.
You’ll also want to fill out your entire social profile so customers can find you while searching directly on social media search engines. For example, a customer may decide to search for your company to see what kind of presence you have on social media. They might be interested in how you interact with customers online, so they have an idea of what to expect when reaching out to your company.
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Include Local Topics in Your Content
One smart way to drum up new business while improving your local SEO is including local topics in your content. Of course, you don’t want to report on every small story that pops up around town. In order for this method to be effective, the local content needs to somehow tie into your services or products.
Another idea is spotlight local nonprofits around the area and encourages customers to donate or contribute to the cause. This will help tie your business to the community in the minds of your customers, as well as help you rank for relevant terms in the search engines.
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Generate Backlinks With Social Postings
Backlinks are still part of the Google search rank algorithm in 2018. Posting relevant content and blog posts on social media can create backlinks for your business. These backlinks can give your company website a boost of local SEO juice.
The better news is that you can also gain backlinks from interested parties who find your content on social media. They can use content from your website to support their blog on their own website, or simply share your content with their followers. This will help increase your exposure on social media and possibly expose you to a new customer base that you wouldn’t have reached otherwise.
Not to mention, including quality content on your social media channels will help you funnel more traffic to your website. As long as you don’t use click bait to falsely lure customers into your website, you have the potential to see a healthy spike in traffic.
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Focus on User Experience For Local Sharing
There’s no doubt that 2018 is the year of customer experience, both on social media and on your website. Posting on social media requires more than just a passing thought—your content needs to resonate with your customers and connect with them in order to encourage social sharing.
Why does social sharing matter for local SEO? In the same thought process as generating backlinks, interesting content will encourage your customers to share your content with their friends. These friends are likely in the same community as your business, and you’ll gain new exposure with potential new customers to follow.
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Don’t Forget Facebook And Google Maps
While having a Google My Business page is great, it will only take your local SEO so far if you don’t fill out all of your information. This is primarily important for Google Maps, as your Google My Business presence and profile will literally put on the map for Google.
Lastly, you don’t want to count out Facebook’s map on your business profile page. It can help you in terms of social media exposure making it easier for customers to find your business.
Kick Start Your Local SEO Efforts With Big Foot Media
If you need a reliable and knowledgeable resource to help get your local SEO strategy off the ground, Big Foot Media can help get your ship sailing. Get in touch with us to learn how to effectively tie social media into your local SEO strategy for 2018.
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