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SEO for Local Businesses: Getting Started

If you own a business and target a localized market, then this post is for you. Local SEO often contains some different tactics than targeting a wider geographic area.

Luckily, ranking higher on a local level is typically much easier than reaching a national or global audience.

Although the following isn’t going to take care of all of your long-term SEO needs, tackling these tasks will start you off on the right path towards higher rankings.

Follow these tips to give your site a boost!

Google My Business Page

Showing up on Google when someone searches for a product or service that you offer is important as Google is the most widely used search engine. Setting up Google My Business gets you front and center both in search results and on Google Maps. The best part is, it’s easy to get started!

Step 1: Visit google.com/business

Step 2: Click the green “Start Now” button

Step 3: If you’re already logged into your Google account, go to step 4. Otherwise, create or login to your Google account.

Step 4: Fill out your business information and then click “Continue”

Step 5: Verify your business with Google. They will either call you or send you a letter (this is up to them). Once verified, your business page setup is complete!

Local Directory Listings

You may have heard that getting listed on “local directories” is good for your business, but do you know why?

You see, local directories are large, well-indexed sites and typically rank high within search results. Often times, these directories will rank higher than individual business sites resulting in more click-throughs to the directory site than yours.

In this case, you want to make sure that you have a full, complete directory listing as people can still find and contact your business, even though they didn’t land on your website directly. Because there are many different directories, sorting through which to list yourself on and going through the process of actually doing it, can be painful.

If you need advice on which direction to take for your business, give us a shout and we’ll be glad to help.  

Get Reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook

Why reviews? Google reviews, Yelp listings, and business Facebook pages often rank high within search results and reviews serve as confirmation and reassurance that searchers are making the correct choice.

Not only that, Google reviews may have a positive impact on your Google Maps listing. Although it’s frowned upon to pay for reviews or ask others for “fake” reviews, it’s encouraged that you ask your real customers to leave genuine reviews if they are happy with the product or service that your business provides them.


Need help with getting started? No problem – it’s quick and easy with our complete local SEO service.

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Antonio Calabrese GHAX

Hey, I’m Antonio Calabrese, Founder at GHAX. We love working with businesses who are serious about growth.

If that’s you, get in touch and be 1 of 20 this month to claim a free marketing strategy session.

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