Many people tend to spend more time online today. Hence making your business popular online is important if you want to get your products or services through to more people. Irrespective of the size of your business, you will need to adopt a local SEO strategy to bring your business to the doorstep of your potential customers. Here are certain things you can do to improve your local rankings.

1. Get Listed on Major Directories

To get your presence well established on the web space, you should get your business listed on major directories and review websites. You should consider listing on websites such as Yelp, Angie’s List, Better Business Bureau, YP.com Whitepages, YellowBook, FourSquare, CitySearch, Merchant Circle, Dex. Media, and Local.com.

2. Make your NAP Consistent

Your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) must always be on any website you list your business on. They make it easy for a potential customer to interact with you. You should also be consistent in your listing. Make sure that the information you used in your first listing should be used when you are listing on other sites. The arrangement should also be the same. For instance, if the name comes first, followed by the address, and then the phone number, it should be the same way throughout.

3. Get More Reviews on your Product and Services

Good reviews are important for your business. When you offer services or sell products to customers, do not forget to tell them to leave a review for you online. You should also ask them to share any idea that can improve your business. You can also contact old customers and ask them if they will want to leave a review online. If the customers share positive views online, more people will patronize your business.

4. On-site Optimization

It is also important to SEO optimize your website if you want the be more visible to your potential audience. One of the most important steps in on-site optimization is targeting keywords. Do a keyword research to identify the keywords that rank well for your business’ niche. You will then target those keywords in your promotions. Your meta title and meta descriptions are the first things your potential customers will see when they conduct a local search. Your meta title and descriptions should, therefore, include target location-specific keywords. Your important titles should appear in the heading tags.

5. Local Link Building

You should also get links from local websites that operate businesses that are similar to yours. For instance, if you operate a bakery in Schaumburg, Illinois, and you want to optimize SEO in Schaumburg, Illinois, you should acquire links from bakery and food websites in the area.

6. Use Social Media

If you have a strong influence on social media, it will affect your ranking on google as well. Make sure that you target your location when promoting on social media as well. You should share your Google My Business posts on social media. This will help to improve your local rankings on Google.