Since most businesses these days are at a national and international level, it’s easy to buy something from another country with just a swipe of a finger on your smartphones. But not all types of businesses are online, with the essential businesses being situated at a local level.
However, competition at a local level is fierce, especially when most of these businesses will be necessities to customers. For instance, restaurants will have a multitude of different competitions, especially when it’s a necessity. With the rise of several mobile applications geared towards reviews and ratings, it’s easier for people to choose the type of restaurants they want to visit.
But for most local businesses and business owners, they will think there’s little to no advantage in trying to get your local online rankings up. However, this isn’t true as rankings have been known to significantly increase foot traffic and conversion rates for different businesses and industries.
What’s a great way of increasing rankings? The first step to getting good rankings is first by having your site page and social media page.
Why Should Local Businesses Have Websites?
There’s a common notion that most local businesses wouldn’t need a website. However, since almost everything these days is digitalized, it’s still essential to have a website, especially one that will allow bookings and reservations. Having a site that is geared towards customer and user experience is known for building a better following.
Local businesses that do not have social media pages or any online presence are at a disadvantage compared to those with an online presence.
Most business owners think that having a domain might be an added cost, but it is a long-term investment. Although it might seem like they’re spending more than usual, they’ll be funnelling in more engagement and foot traffic to their establishment as they’ll have more public exposure.
Social Media Marketing
If you’ve just started on having your own business, you might want to consider using social media platforms as an alternative to websites. Having some form of online presence can help with increase organic clicks and views to your site. Some social media platforms are also known for catering to geographically-specific businesses.
Most experts would say that having both a social media page and a domain for your business is an excellent way of funnelling engagements towards your business.
How Do You Locally Improve Rankings?
Look at Keywords
When you’re dealing with search engines, especially when it comes to mobile applications, social media platforms, and search engines, keywords have always been a tried and tested way of getting engagements.
It’s important to note that you’re bound to have competition in the local setting, which will be using the same keywords as you are. One excellent way of besting your competition in keywords is looking at whose ranking in the first position, start researching for their keywords, and incorporate these keywords to yourself.
But now that you’re in equal footing with your competitor, how do you break the tie? Well, you can try increasing the relevancy of pages by adding authority links. Some keywords will rank higher than others, so you might want to take a look into that.
If you’re not sure of what you should be doing to improve your rankings, don’t worry, several experts are well-versed in maximizing your website’s efficiency and marketing your site on a local level. Several experts in SEO services are responsive while giving you in-depth information regarding search engine optimization. Once you’ve hired them, you’ll notice that you’ll have more engagements than usual.
Mobilize Your Site
Other than just these mobile applications, most individuals tend to visit domains. However, most domains’ problem is that they’re not geared towards phones’ operating systems and will often be geared towards your standard browsers on laptops and computers.
Still, it’s essential to know who your target market is. If your business is geared towards millennials, it’s crucial to start developing your site with a theme and UI conducive to mobile phones. Why? 93% of millennials own smartphones, and chances are, they will be looking at your site through their phone. The last thing you want is your customers getting confused when your site isn’t compatible with mobile phones.
If you’re opening up a cafe, you might want to have a site that’s mobile-friendly since most individuals (especially millennials) will be accessing your site through your phone. On the other hand, if you’re offering more professional services such as rooftop replacement or supplying construction materials, most people will be accessing through standard browsers instead. Thus, it’s essential to know who your market is.
There’s a wide variety of ways and strategies to increasing your rankings. Whether this is for mobile applicants, domains, or social media platforms, you must know your target audience. You don’t necessarily have to spend too much on your online presence. Your industry also determines the number of features that you want to place on your site. Still, all of these will boil down to customer experience and having an easy-to-follow user interface.
