Blog Post

How to Outrank Your Competitors in Local Searches

Amber Blevins • Jan 09, 2020

As a business owner, you know a successful company isn’t built overnight. Likewise, climbing the search engine rankings is not a one-day task. There’s a certain amount of work involved. And by work, I mean initial set-up and ongoing maintenance. But the rewards are well worth it.

Ranking matters. It really does. It’s not a buzzword and it’s not a trend. Stats published by SMA Marketing indicate 75% of users never click past the first page of search results . If your competitor is on the first page of Google’s search results and you’re on the second page, guess where your potential customer is headed... probably not to your site.

So how do you outrank your competitors? There is not, unfortunately, a single answer to this question. Increasing your search engine ranking involves a combination of tactics that can depend on your business vertical, your customer base, your location and, frankly, who you talk to. Different marketing experts will, undoubtedly, recommend different approaches.

But no matter your business, there are simple steps you can take, basic building blocks to begin the process of boosting your local business’s search ranking.

Register Your Company with Local Business Directories

There’s a ton of business directories out there. Literally hundreds. Maybe thousands. S ome a re very really specific , like a directory for vegan restaurants in New England.

Others are more mid-range, specialized but not hyper-specific. These are directories like Houzz, which offers listings of home design and remodeling professionals throughout the United States.

And finally, there are the seemingly all-encompassing and very well-known directories. You’ve used them yourself. We’re talking about Google My Business, Yelp, Foursquare, Local.com, and the like.

Registering with business directories is step 1 in getting your site ranked higher. Should you register with every single one you find? Probably not. But certainly, Google My Business should be your first choice. After that, you’ll want to register with the other “big guns” like Yelp and Local.com.

From there, you can get a bit more specific. If there’s one or more important directories in your business vertical, get signed up. If you’re a vegan restaurant in New England , by all means, get your business listed in their directory. If you’re a kitchen and bath remodeler, hop on over to Houzz and get your business listed.

If it’s a local business directory your customers frequent, then your business should be listed.

Ensure Your Name, Address, and Phone Numbers Are Consistent

If you’re fortunate enough to have a simple physical address and single phone number for your business, you may not have trouble keeping your business contacts consistent across the internet. But most businesses aren’t that lucky.

Google, and other search engines, like it when things are consistent. Be sure your company name and address are the same wherever they’re listed. This means same spelling, same abbreviations, same punctuation.

If your address is listed as 123 S Main on your Google My Business listing but it’s 123 South Main Street on your website, there’s bound to be a disconnect. You don’t want Google (or your customers) wondering, “Is this the same business?”

Settle on a format for your physical address and always reference it in exactly the same way – on your website, in directory listings, on social media, and everywhere else.

Same goes for phone numbers. Do you have a toll-free number and a local number? If you want to reference them both, that’s fine. But be sure you reference them both everywhere. Otherwise, pick the one you want to use and stick with it.

Include Local Keywords on Your Website

When non-marketing folks see the term “keyword” they sometimes get a little tense. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a full-blown lesson in SEO .

Optimizing your web pages and blog with local keywords is as simple as including your location and likely terms your customers are searching for in your content. Do you run a yoga studio in Detroit? Work phrases like “Detroit yoga studio” and “ beginners yoga in Detroit” into your content.

The point here is identifying the words and phrases your customers are likely to search for, then including those generously (without overdoing it) throughout your website and blog.

But be careful – Don't randomly use keywords and phrases in a way that doesn’t make sense with your content. And don’t just place words haphazardly around a web page. Search engines, especially Google, put a lot of value in high-quality content. Sites with interesting, helpful content routinely rank higher than sites with low quality content. Take the time to use keywords and phrases in a way that flows seamlessly with the rest of your site copy or blog post.

It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint

The sites you see on Google’s first page of search results are there for a reason – they're working for it. Sure, there’s paid advertising space available that will make your listing appear higher than it normally would. And you might be tempted to go that route. But realize 70-80% of users ignore those paid listings, preferring to click on organic search results instead.

Try the steps we’ve listed first. And stick with it. Update your directory listings, keep your business contacts in order and keep providing fresh, interesting content on your website.

Ready to take your search ranking to the next level? Give Locallogy a try. We’re pros at moving local businesses up the search engine ranks.

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