If we want to reach the top of the local (or national) Search Results Pages (and we’re talking specifically about that first page that garners the 95% of viewer traffic), we have to be aware of SEO, that SERPs exist and why the first page is vital, and do what we can within logical reason to attempt to land that spot and then maintain it over a prolonged period of time.

The minute our rankings dip and no longer appear on that first page of search results, while it is certainly possible to be found in Google search results through Google Maps and Google My Business and other lesser known and lesser used search engines such as local directories and DuckDuckGo or Bing; we want to work with SEO in a constructive way that benefits us more often than not.

Researching Terms

This step involves first researching the SEO terms and then checking the SERPs for larger, more profitable competitors within (first) our local demographic region, even if we want national attention at some point. The reason to start local is simply that movements and businesses tend to grow and expand outwardly and unless you live in a very small town where consumers you want to reach simply don’t use the internet (such as a resort or retirement town or one with poor internet connectivity and infrastructure); and even in the cases of small towns or retirees hotspots, many still use Google and Bing to search for goods or services online or have family members who do so.

Once you can get a fairly accurate concept of what terms and descriptions larger local competitors use to rank on the first page of Google SERPs, that information should be written down for future reference. If a secondary choice or option is discovered, you’d do the same. Examples of how to begin this type of localized research might be simply going to Google and typing in your city, state and type of business you feel you best represent.

Now, in most cases Google will automatically detect your city and state or zip code unless you have local tracking disabled (and most people don’t even know this is an option so it’s more likely you’d have that enabled), so you would be just as well served by entering in the type of business you represent or want to be found for, check the results on that first SERP, check the city and state at the bottom or top of the Google SERP to confirm it matches your location, and make a note.

Keeping Tabs

The next step in this process you’d want to partake in would be looking at the tab that every internet browser has in its upper left-hand section. Everyone uses an internet browser to see and use the internet, whether it is Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome, Opera, or some other browser that’s not as widely known such as Brave. If you look at the top upper left corner of the browser you’ll probably see an icon for whatever website you’re currently looking at such as a company logo. If we were to go to USA TODAY’s company website you would see a blue dot followed by the words USA Today, so while this is a globally recognized US news source, this online publication is not a great example of what a local business should be doing in terms of SEO and SERP placement but it is a good example of what you should see to check very basic SEO.

Taking this approach a step further, if we go to a local business online, we should see either the business name or a city and state in which the business is headquartered. At some point in that line of text we should be able to read a company name followed by their city and state. Examples could be “Italian food – Yonkers, NY” or “Miami Italian Take Out | Michael’s Pizza.”

Most small businesses, especially nonprofit organizations and consulting service providers such as law firm are very likely to show the word “Home” or just the company name. The reasons for this can vary but it’s largely due to simply not utilizing SEO as needed to gain traction. We want to ensure our wording on that tab matches what our desired SEO should be in order to achieve a respectable SERP.

Your URL

URL stands for Universal Relay Locator and is lay terms this is the “www dot” that most people think of when they think of a website. It is the domain name that you enter into the browser bar when you go directly to a business or company website address such as “www.usatoday.com.” That “dot com” you type is the URL. Domain names can end in almost any domain ending nowdays, but most still end in “dot com” or “dot net.”

If at all possible your website URL should match your chosen SEO key word, company name, or, if you’re in a large metropolitan hub city, the city and state where you live and work.

This matching URL further informs Google as to what the company is, where the company is, and indirectly lets searchers know immediately the company name, services provided, goods sold, and the city and state where business is transacted. Examples could be “www.miamibarber.com” or “DenverElectrician.com,” and bear in mind here that if you live in a city such as New York
where there are literally millions of savvy internet users, you may wish to target specific areas of cities or neighborhoods for more localized and more competitive chances of ranking.

If I were trying to help a doctor or accountant rank in local Google SERPs in a larger industrialized state such as New York, with obviously multiple large cities and neighborhoods, the more localized we can zero in on, the better and more likely we would be to achieve a competitive ranking in SERPs.

Video

A next step we should take is to coordinate SEO key words and description research with video placement and production. Studies have shown that videos placed on the first page of a business website lead to more conversions (as people are automatically interested in watching videos), but that video placement also integrates SEO with Google, YouTube (which is owned by Google not
coincidentally), and can also be added to Google My Business and Google Maps so that one singular video placed on YouTube can also be posted on the company website, social media channels, reposted through other social media channels regularly, used for advertising on Hulu and other outlets, but also help cross connect all Google-owned properties.

Content

Final in our SEO-hunting plan is regularly producing SEO-focused and relevant content that also incorporates local events, local institutions we may partner with, local references (and not just for the sake of throwing down names or links as Google will intelligently notice said practices and can mark it as spam, which we of course do not want) into blog posts about your chosen
area of expertise or business persuasion. This is where our SEO matches our descriptions and goals, matches our video production, matches our local directory listings in Googel My Business, Google Maps, Yellow Pages, Yelp and so forth, in addition to what we write about and whom we engage with on a daily basis as we grow exponentially online and offline overlapping efforts in both arenas.