Hyper-local SEO is a term you’re going to hear a lot about in the coming years. After Google's Pigeon update from a few months ago, improving a site's search engine ranking will require the use of highly localized SEO tactics. The new Google update rewards websites that include mentions of their location, specifically a city or even a neighborhood, within their web content. If you want to benefit from the hyper-local SEO advantage, it's time to learn how it works and how you can leverage it for your business.
How Hyper-Local SEO Works
To understand the importance of hyper-local SEO, think about the phrases you personally put into Google when you're searching for local businesses. For example, if you live in the Salt Lake suburb of West Jordan and want to find a nearby place for dinner, you probably search for "restaurants in West Jordan" rather than “restaurants in Salt Lake City.” Generally, the more specific your search terms, the more helpful and targeted your results will be. If you want to buy a house in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale, a search phrase like "homes for sale in Scottsdale" would achieve more fitting results than "homes for sale in Phoenix." You could get even more specific by searching for a neighborhood you really like, such as "homes for sale in McCormick Ranch Scottsdale." In this way, hyper-local content helps consumers locate the businesses they need through a Google search, and keeping this in mind can improve your search engine ranking as well.
Getting Started
To reap the benefits of highly localized SEO, it's helpful to first think about the search terms people might use to find your website. Instead of simply including the state or nearest major metropolitan area in your keywords, be more specific by using the city or even the neighborhood where your business is located. You can add these location tags to your regular keywords but your results will be much better if you can identify exactly which search terms people are using. Keep in mind that the more specific you are about your keywords, the higher your chances of being found by people who need your products or services in particular.
Tools to Use
While improving your search engine ranking with hyper-local keywords doesn’t require a large investment, it does require some specialized knowledge to implement. Once the right keywords and phrases have been identified for your location and industry, your business should be registered with several different online listing services. This how the search engines know where you are located. Even getting reviews on Google, TripAdvisor and Yelp can help make your location clear to both search engines and customers.
Today, local search is more important than ever and you must leverage your location as well as key phrases in your content going forward. You may already be slipping in the search rankings, a problem that will continue until you can incorporate hyper-local SEO into your online marketing strategies. The knowledgeable SEO professionals at Be Locally can research your website’s strengths and weaknesses, and help you develop a hyper-local SEO strategy that is tailored for your success.