If you’ve got a local business in Houston, maybe even one with several locations across the city, you may be wondering a few things.
How do I get more customers to my location(s)?
How do I drive traffic to my website?
How do I grow my social media following?
If those sound like you, we’ve got you covered! This is where Houston local SEO comes into play.
Don’t worry; if you’re not familiar with SEO, we will cover what SEO is, what local SEO is, and ultimately what you need to get started for your business to make it work for you.
What is SEO?
For starters, for those who do not know – SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is the process and techniques used to improve website traffic in search engine results pages (SERPs). The ultimate goal is to enhance your website’s position as high up in those search engine result pages as possible so that more people see your website.
According to Search Engine Journal, “over 25% of people click the first Google search result,” 15.7% click on the second result, 11% on the third, and the stats continue to fall dismally from there. Rarely does a user click to the second page of Google SERPs. So if you’re on page two, page four, or even page seven, it’s not likely your content will be seen at all.
Some good tactics that will help improve your SEO include keyword research to find out what people in your industry are searching for, keyword mapping to outline the keywords needed to optimize each page on your website, link building, and more!
What is Local SEO?
So, suppose we break that down to focus specifically on local SEO. In that case, this is the same process of improving your digital presence for search engine visibility but for local businesses, especially those with physical locations.
Again, according to Search Engine Journal, “76% of people who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit a business within 24 hours, and 28% of those searches result in a purchase.”
Whether your customers are searching for “doctors near me,” “best Thai food in the neighborhood,” or “where to buy a bike in Houston,” we all know that local search is HUGE for small businesses. If your company does not pop up for these types of searches, it could make or break your business. That is why optimizing your business’s digital presence for a local search is essential to avoid missing out on customers!
How Do You Start Working on Local SEO?
So, how do you do it? These simple steps outline your ultimate guide to Houston local SEO and help you get started for your business to stay at the top of your customer’s searches.
- Build optimized location pages on your website
We know this can sound like a lot of work, but we promise this is worth it. And if you don’t want to do it – that’s okay. Hire us to do it for you!
Start by conducting keyword research to see how you stand up against your competitors. This research will help determine how you can optimize your website – and in this case, your location pages.
For example, maybe current content or location pages need to be updated, or maybe you don’t even have location pages on your website at all. By creating optimized location pages for each of your locations, you’ll begin to rank better in local search results. You’ll also be helping users find you and the important information they are looking for quickly.
- Add your business to local directory websites
We know that Google Business Profile is one of the most popular, but you want to ensure that your business is set up on other local directory websites such as Yelp, Apple Maps, and Bing. And make sure every bit of information is as filled in and detailed as possible. You want your potential customers to get all their questions answered when searching for your business or service!
It is also essential to have a separate listing for each business location. For example, if you have dentist offices in Houston, Cypress, and Katy – you will want to have Google Business Profile listings for each one. This will help your business or practice show up for the young professional searching for a “dentist near me” in the heart of Houston, as well as the family searching for a “dentist near me” that just moved out to the suburbs.
Once your listings are created, accurate, and consistent, you will want to optimize those pages for search on an ongoing basis. Some tactics include engaging with your customers, responding to reviews, asking customers to leave a review, using Google posts, sharing posts on social media, putting out industry-specific content, and making sure that your information remains accurate and consistent across the board.
- Invest in a monitoring tool (or a company to monitor for you)
Half the battle is getting your information online and ensuring it is correct and consistent. Next is ongoing management. Whether you have 2, 20, or 200 business locations – ongoing maintenance is a crucial part of making sure your local listings stay up to date and continue to rank in their local searches.
Did you know that anyone can affect the information on your local listing at any time by recommending changes? Google is also able to make changes without your knowledge based on feedback or what they think is correct. A regular local listings audit can help you ensure that your information is up-to-date and accurate.
Furthermore, investing in a tool or a company to monitor your local listings for you will help you focus on what is important – your business and your customers!
Get Started with Houston Local SEO
We know it may sound like a lot, but getting started with a Houston local SEO strategy doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Let us do the heavy lifting in getting your Houston local SEO set up and running! And as a full-service digital marketing agency, that’s where Marketing Refresh can help.
Contact us today, and let us talk about how to get your business ranking locally.
