6 Local SEO Fixes That Will Boost Your Rankings in 2017

User behaviour is commonly affected by the devices that increase in popularity. For instance, mobile usage has had a huge effect on the digital landscape, including SEO marketing. The key is about getting factual NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) citations coupled with driven signals from a variety of business listings.

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So you can stay ahead of the SEO game, we’ve collated 6 local fixes that will boost your rankings in 2017.

  1. Make it speedy; make it friendly

If your site is slow, a whopping 79% of customers are likely to repeat a purchase from your business. Therefore, your server response time needs to be less than 200 milliseconds. Do this by removing any unnecessary plugins and apps, while also ensuring that any images are the correct size, format and image alt attribute. In addition, it is paramount that your website is mobile-friendly. You can keep your website at the forefront of search results by setting your viewport without a fixed with. As well as this, avoid disruptive pop-ups and large overlays. Then, test your website to see how it stands up – use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test or Bing’s Mobile Friendliness Tool. Lastly, install and activate Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) WordPress plugin, as this new tool will deliver a better experience to users.

  1. Pen engaging content

If you’re not using content as part of your marketing strategy, you’re in the 11% that are being left behind. The other 89% of B2B marketers hinge on it. Make use of the power of content; update all old content on your website, and ensure you do so with visually engaging content such as infographics and videos that are relevant to your audience. Consider the intent of your user, and then the intent of the page and try to match these perspectives, summarising with clear calls to action.

  1. Implement the right Schema markup

A Schema markup is a new type of optimisation that helps search engines return more informative results for users. Using unique, semantic vocabulary, the right Schema markup can absorb your data and display it to users correctly. The Schema markup tells the search engine what the content means, so users can see in the SERPs what your website is about, which also results in a better ranking. You don’t need to learn any code to implement a Schema markup, either – just head to Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper, and then test your work with their Structured Data Testing Tool.

  1. Optimise your business listings

Don’t limit your listing focus to just Google. Optimise Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp and Manta. Verify your business listings – including your address and location of your business – for all of these is correct. Inconsistencies will affect your local rankings, so claim as many listings as you can – but ensure they are all universal and accurate.

  1. Utilise authoritative links to boost reviews

Utilising authoritative links will signal to customers that you are a reputable and legitimate site. Not only does this improve your visibility on local results, but this also boosts your customer reviews, as well. Coupled together, customer reviews plus links from authoritative sources and local institutions provide a solid guarantee for you and your brand.

  1. Leverage social media

It’s not just alliteration, SEO marketing and social media go hand in hand technically, especially when you’re promoting brand awareness. Local results will be blitzed and you’ll experience an influx of traffic to your site if you have the capacity to develop a social media strategy that can complement your SEO.

Don’t let your business lag in listings any longer. Utilise the tools we’ve mentioned to boost your business via a seamless SEO strategy, made bulletproof by coupling it with a complimentary social media strategy.