Search engine optimization has been around since the dawn of search engines, and it hasn’t gone anywhere! In fact, with the rise of Google’s importance in local searches, SEO has become even more important to local businesses. This article will discuss 10 ways you can optimize your website and improve your local SEO presence.

#1. Optimize Keywords In Headers

This is one of the easiest ways to start thinking about how you can optimize your site for search engines. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll likely need to hire an SEO specialist (and maybe even a programmer) if you want your site optimized properly. Find an SEO firm near you here. And if money’s tight, at least make sure that all of your most important keywords are used in header tags.

#2. Get Reviews

Without reviews, you’re at a disadvantage. Studies show that consumers are willing to purchase from businesses that have an average rating of 3 stars or better. And yet only about half of businesses take steps to get reviews on their Yelp page or other popular review sites.

#3. Optimize Images

A simple tip that can dramatically boost your search engine ranking is to keep entries fresh. Search engines use a variety of factors to measure how authoritative a particular website is on a given topic, but one of those factors is how often you update content on your site.

#4. Update Entries

If you have an established site, make sure you are not only creating new content but also updating existing pages or posts. Google likes websites that are active and current. This also means not having too many older dead pages on your site, according to the research by CoRepo. Make sure that there is some recent activity on all of your web pages for them to be considered valuable by Google.

#5. Quality Links From Relevant Sites

One of the easiest ways to give your local business website a boost in local search results is by increasing your number of quality links from relevant sites. The key word here is relevant because Google has made it clear that they intend to penalize sites that try to game their system. That’s why, when you’re working on link building strategies for your site, you want good quality links from good quality websites.

#6. Create & Promote Google My Business Page

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to local SEO, but one of the most important is Google My Business. You can add all sorts of information about your business, from descriptions and contact information to specialties and photos. To do so, go to Google My Business and follow these steps: #1.

#7. Remove Low Quality Listings

Every industry has its own set of local directories, especially when it comes to local search. However, if you are an active business in your industry with a working website, there is no need for you to list yourself on low quality sites. By removing low quality listings you will also be able to protect your reputation and have better control over where potential customers are finding information about your business. We recommend using Whitespark Local Citation Finder for any manual cleanup of citations across multiple sites.

#8. Get Verified on Google Maps

Google’s local search algorithm is often thought of as a reputation algorithm. When someone searches for a business in their area, Google looks at how that business appears across different platforms. It pulls information from sites like Yelp, Zagat, TripAdvisor and many others—but your Google My Business page is one of its most important ranking factors.

#9. Optimize Reviews on Google Maps Page

Google reviews are incredibly important for small businesses. The more reviews your business has, the higher it ranks in local search results. Small businesses often have trouble getting reviews—or even worse, they get bad reviews! However, you can optimize your Google Maps page so that people will naturally leave reviews for you. You can even go a step further and encourage positive reviews through your email marketing campaigns.

#10 . Check Google Mobile Search Results (Google My Business Page) Every Month!

If you have a local business, checking your Google My Business page every month is important. Not only will you be able to check on your ratings and reviews, but it’s also a good way to monitor what other businesses are doing in your industry that might be affecting your website’s performance.