Did you know that you could actually be hurting your rankings? Local SEO requires a very specific set of skills, and techniques, in order to be done effectively. Typically, most people who do it themselves might be able to piece together a strategy but lack a cohesive perspective. As a result, mistakes are made and your Virginia Beach SEO strategy is full of holes.
In this post, we examine 7 mistakes that most business owners make when trying to do their own SEO. Fix these mistakes we highlight below and you’ll be well on your way towards higher local rankings.
1. Having Low-Quality Content
Your website forms the foundation for your entire local SEO strategy. If your website is thin on the content side, or you have low-quality content, then you won’t be doing your rankings any favors.
Think about it this way. Google is trying to provide their visitors with the most valuable and useful information. So, if your site is full of thin content that doesn’t do much to help your visitors, then you won’t rank as highly.
Consider filling your website with very valuable information that’s both relevant to your visitors, your business, and your local area.
2. Failure to Source Local Citations
Local citations are an incredibly important part of your local SEO strategy and have a large impact on your overall local rankings. However, having a high number of local citations isn’t enough, they need to be relevant to your business as well.
Some examples of local citations could be, a business directory specifically for your niche, a local chamber of commerce business listing, and more. The sources of citations will differ depending upon your business and local area.
3. Duplicate Business Listings
One common mistake is having duplicate business listings. It could be by accident, or you believed that multiple profiles could lead to more traffic. Whatever your reason, one thing is true, having more than one business listing could have a negative impact on your rankings.
Not only will you not rank as high, but it will create confusion for your visitors. How do they know which one is your “real” business listing?
Make sure you don’t have any duplicate business listing across all the online sites you’ve listed your business, especially Google My Business. Also, make sure your Name, Address, and Phone number are the same across every business listing.
4. No Mobile Website
Today, more people are using the mobile web than they are desktop browsers. If your site isn’t mobile friendly, then you’re not only creating a poor user experience, but you’re killing your search engine rankings as well.
Your users need to be able to find the information they’re looking for quickly. Most mobile users are on the go, and by ranking high and providing a stellar user experience you’ll be first in line for their business.
If you’ve been using an outdated website that’s not mobile friendly, then it could be time for a redesign.
5. No Positive Reviews
Getting customer reviews can be difficult. However, it needs to be part of your local SEO strategy.
Having a high amount of positive customer reviews will help your business rank higher in Google’s map pack. Plus, it will help to build trust with your potential customers before they decide to buy.
Even having a simple process of asking satisfied customers to leave a review will help. Another solid method is to offer an incentive, like a coupon, to have customers join your email list. Then, once they’re on your list you can send them an email about leaving a review, with a link to the review page. If you’re looking for even more ways to source local reviews, then take a look at this post.
6. Failing to Use Social Media
Social media shares are actually part of Google’s ranking algorithm. So, having a social media presence is not only important for rankings, but it’s important for user engagement as well.
Think about it, if a user is reading a blog post on your site and sees that 90 other people have shared the post, they’ll be much more likely to trust you, compared to a post that has zero likes.
Start by creating social media profiles on relevant networks, creating a posting strategy, and adding social sharing buttons to your current website.
7. Lack of Relevant Backlinks
Aside from acquiring citation links, it’s also important to seek out links from other sources as well. These can be from local news blogs, or websites, or even your suppliers.
One of the best ways to attract local backlinks is through publishing high-quality content that caters to your local community. You need to be creating content that’s worth linking to, plus actively promote that content.
Hopefully, this tips above will help you patch any holes you have in your existing local SEO strategy. If you’re a Virgina Beach based business and you want to take control of your search engine rankings then get in touch with our Virgina Beach SEO team today.
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