Weekly Duties to Improve Local SEO

We now know that we need to pay attention to many aspects of our brands, websites and social channels that include weekly duties to improve local SEO for any small business or tourism operation in Nova Scotia as well as the rest of Canada for that matter!

Local SEO (search engine optimization) is an element of SEO that mainly focuses on optimizing any small business website so that it can get found high in local search results, namely on Google.

Some of these weekly duties would include new content creation, on-page optimization, off-page optimization, and quality link building, and other digital marketing efforts like social media awareness.

Why is local SEO important?

Local SEO is important to optimize websites for local Google search results especially on Google Maps for brick-and-mortar stores and businesses selling products and services online. Most of these local businesses serve GEO areas like specific cities, towns, and provinces in Canada.

When an SEO expert in Nova Scotia does it right, local SEO will allow anyone searching online for specific products or services to find local information about any business easily and quickly. Local SEO in Halifax NS is known to produce a higher Google page rank for any small business or tourism website, and in turn more website traffic, leads and sales as a result.

Improving Local SEO

If a small business owner wants to improve their SEO for their website online and really doesn’t have the time to put into it, they can hire a local SEO company in Nova Scotia that is experienced in SEO services, backlinks building and social marketing.

Or, if they do have a bit of time like 30-60 minutes per week, here are a few things that your marketing team needs to focus on to improve their Google footprint and local search presence.

This checklist of 6 items will allow you to maintain your page rank if not improve on it week by week if you pay attention to the very minimum marketing efforts for your brand. Optimize Your Google Business Profile Listing And Social Profiles

1. Optimize Google My Business Profile Listing

Assuming you have a Google My Business page, you need to update and create new content weekly on this verified Google Business Profile page in order to reap the benefits of local SEO.

Don’t just create your GMB (Google My Business) page and forget it. A big mistake for business owners in Canada is to upload some pictures and info and that’s is. There is no ongoing content updates, pics or reviews being posts on a regular basis.

Google likes to see measurable activity, reviews and citations on any local business channels that include your small business website, Google My Business page and Google Maps. After all this is where searchers look for local products and services on Google Maps.

If the information is not up to date then the searcher does not get a representation of the latest business information for a particular search results.

At the very least with Google My Business and any other local SEO listings is to have information listed like NAP (name, address, phone numbers) as well as the address, pictures, categories, tags, hours of operation, and anything else that’s helps a searcher learn about your small business or tourism operation in Nova Scotia.

2. Optimize Social Channels

Local search would include creating and update social channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube to name a few.

Local search queries on Google are for social channels so be mindful of optimizing and Facebook pages and other social channels so that the content matches that of your website.

You can be found easily on Google for your social media channels just like your website can be found in top search results.

A local SEO company like Go Smart Media will manage and optimize any of your social channels so that they are current and get found quickly in the SERPs (search engine results pages).

As we already mentioned at the beginning of this article, if you and your marketing team only have a limited number of hours per week to pour into marketing, make sure at the very least that you have quality content for any website and social media posts.

Gain more exposure for your brand by optimizing your website and social media channels so that your page rank increases, you get more website and social channel traffic, and leads in the process.

3. Create Local Website Page Content Weekly

Your business website and social channels need a certain amount of local content in order to rank in local SEO results on Google and other major search engines.

You need local signals on your website so that Google is more likely to associate you with GEO targeted results for your local area of business.

Make sure to make a few references to local products and services when optimizing any content on your pages and posts. This helps searchers get the best search engine results when all the information on your site is localized and the content tells that local story.

The local content on your tourism website and social channels to sound natural and not stuffed with keywords that many confuse search engines and searchers alike. If you write copy with quality in mind you will get the organic SEO benefits of producing great content.

Always show images of products and services with a description and alt tags so that you get improved local SEO page rank results on any websites and social media channels.

4. Ask For a Google Review When You Complete a Job

If is not shame to ask for a Google review, TrustPilot Review or Facebook Review when you complete a job for a customer.

If you did a good job for a customer, they will have no problem leaving a review for you online! Five Star Reviews especially on the Google My Business page is a great way to increase your online presence in local SEO results pages.

By increasing the number of 5 star reviews your page rank will increase because it helps Google decide that you are an authority in your field, market, or niche.

Google reviews are the best type of reviews but there are others like TrustPilot and Facebook Reviews are almost just as important.

The best way of getting reviews from a customer after doing a job is to send them an email with the review link that they can easily click on.

5. Building Backlinks to Help Local SEO

Backlinks (off page SEO) are still a major portion of the Google algorithm that decides the fate of a business page rank.

So that being said, you don’t need thousands of links to raise your Google page rank, but quality backlinks if what you are after.

So weekly if you build a few new backlinks on social or related market channels that is sufficient to maintain or improve on your search engine rankings. A handful of quality high ranking DA / PA links if enough to pass any local SEO competition for your market and keywords.

A minimal amount of work weekly is required to create high ranking backlinks that point back to your website. If you can get links from authority sites with a DA 50+ back to your website that’s what you should focus on.

By obtaining backlinks from authoritative websites like .EDU educational sites you will in turn boost your own authority within your niche. It is a good idea to even check up on your competitors to see where their backlinks are coming from.

Keep your backlinks creation strategy authority in nature, and as reliable and trustworthy as possible to maximize your page rank results for your business or tourism website.

Local business listings and article submission directories are a great way to get quality backlinks!

6. Local Citations

Local citations are actually just mentions of your business online such as the name of the company, the products or services you supply, as well as any other useful contact information like the URL, and email address or phone number.

Where are citations found?

Citations can be found in local directories like related channels, Yellow Pages, Google Maps, and Yelp. All the citation needs to mention if the business name not necessarily the URL of your website.

Google will see this mention of your business as a positive reference from a customer or another business online that is a great signal of local authority. Your increased page rank would be the result of this mention, this positive signal.

One of the simplest ways to get a local citation is again by listing your business on Google, Bing, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Be consistent weekly with getting citations on as many online channels as possible. Be sure to include your business information, descriptions of products or services, and your URL if possible.

Need Some SEO or Google Marketing Advice?

Go Smart Media Marketing & Design is an official Digital Nova Scotia provider of Web Design, SEO Services, and Digital Marketing Services in Nova Scotia and would be happy to offer free help with any SEO or Google Marketing questions you may have.

Reach out for a free web design consultation or a free SEO Analysis of your current website to see where you stand as far as page rank results and just who your competition is locally.

Conclusion

In conclusion of these local SEO tips for small business and tourism operations in Nova Scotia, with minimal time invested weekly, around 30 to 60 minutes devoted to local SEO, you should be able to generate moderate SEO results on Google and see an almost immediate page rank increase for your website in any niche.

Local SEO is important in maintaining your business page rank on Google so that any competition doesn’t surpass your local page rank when searchers are looking for local products or services.

Focus on quality website content, social channel content, reviews, citations, and authority backlinks building each week and after some time you will see how your efforts have paid off by generating more website traffic and leads.

Business who focus on local SEO usually benefit not only in the search engine results pages but financially as well by generating more revenue from improved page rank results.