Most customers will search for a business when they need service. They will usually search for the service and the area they live, “plumbers in Cleveland” for example. In addition to search engine optimization and reviews, an effective Local SEO strategy will help generate more leads and more opportunities to land a job. Our basics guide for contractors will help you get more leads with local SEO.

Generate More Leads With An Effective Local SEO Strategy

1. Make Sure Your NAP is Consistent – Make sure your name, address, and phone number are consistent across your website, social media accounts, and business profiles.
2. Optimize Your Website Content – Include local keywords in your metadata, headers, and content whenever possible.
3. Embed a Google Map – Adding a Google Map to your business helps reinforce your location and can improve search rankings.
4. Use a Clearly Defined Call to Action – Include a well-defined call to action that connects your service with your phone number.
5. Claim Business Listings and Review Profiles – Claim as many business listings and review profiles as possible. Update your listings with a consistent NAP.
6. Ask For Reviews and Include Them On Your Website – Ask customers to leave reviews on your business profiles. Use plugins or embed codes to include reviews on your website.

What is Local SEO

Similar to regular search engine optimization (SEO), local SEO is optimizing your content so your business appears in localized searches. This includes search performed in most search engines as well as searches in map programs as well.

Like SEO, local SEO includes optimizing your website and content. However, it also includes optimizing your profile other locations too. This includes your listings on Google My Business and Bing Places for Business, social media profiles, and review sites.

Customers will often search for terms like “plumbers near me” or “mold removal in Independence”. By optimizing your business content and profiles, you increase the changes you’ll appear higher in those search results.

What is NAP and Why It’s Important

NAP is the abbreviation for name, address, and phone number. Not only are these the more important details for customers, but they are also unique identifiers for every business.

Many search engines use NAP to determine what websites, content, profiles, and listings are related to your business. In some cases, they even aggregate this content into search results to build out a more detailed business profile. This is especially true of Google.

NAP is often extended to either NAPU or NAPW, with the U and W stand for URL and website respectively. While not a part of the acronym, your business hours are often considered part of your NAP as well.

Why You Need to Include Local SEO in Your Marketing Strategy

Because it can directly impact where you appear in search results, local SEO is a valuable tool to include in your marketing strategy. Not only will it help generate leads and convert customers, but it is a very cost-effective method of marketing your business.

With few exceptions, there are no direct costs associated with local SEO. However, it does take time and effort to manage. Hosting your website also has a cost, plus some profiles may charge a monthly fee.

Still, you can often improve your ranking in search results by spending a few hours optimizing your website and profiles. The better your ranking, the more likely a customer is to choose your business when they need service.

How to Get More Leads With Local SEO

1. Make Sure Your NAP is Consistent

The most critical part of an effective local SEO strategy is having a consistent NAP across your website and all of your business profiles. Your NAP should include your company name, address, and phone number as well as your website URL and your business hours. Include an address even if you don’t have a storefront and use your home if necessary.

Make sure that your information is always written the exact same way. Even the difference between “and” and “&” can negatively impact your local SEO efforts. Be consistent with dashes in your phone number and your business hours as well. If necessary, save your NAP to a file and then copy and paste it into each profile.

2. Optimize Your Website Content

Review your website and look for places you can include location keywords. Some of the best places are the page title and meta description since they will get indexed by search engines. However, you should also include keywords in your page content as well.

As with normal search engine optimization, avoid repeatedly using identical keywords in multiple locations. That same goes for keyword stuffing. You may think using keywords over and over is helpful, but the exact opposite is true. Vary up your keywords and make sure your content reads well.

3. Embed a Google Map

Add a Google Map to your website helps reinforce your location. You can get an embed code directly from Google Maps, but many website builders and platforms have easy to use map widgets as well.

Make sure to set your address identically to what you use in your NAP. This ensures that it grabs your Google My Business listing and helps connect the dots with your local SEO strategy. Test your map on your site to make sure it links through to your business profile as well.

4. Use a Clearly Defined Call to Action

You should already have at least one call to action on your website. Ideally, you’ll have several. Review your call to actions and include words related to your services. For example, “call 555-555-1234 for mold removal”.

This helps draw a connection between your phone number and the service you provide. When customers search for that service in that area, you should appear higher in the rankings. Plus, it can also help with conversions on your website. Customers know exactly what they are going to get when they call.

5. Claim Business Listings and Review Profiles

Hopefully, you have already claimed your Google My Business and Bing Places for Business profiles. If you haven’t you need to do that immediately. You should also claim other business listings and review profiles as well. Most of these listings are free, so there is no reason not to claim them.

After claiming them, make sure that your NAP is consistent across all of them. This includes the spelling and formatting of your company name and the format of your phone number. Make sure your hours are consistent as well.

6. Ask For Reviews and Include Them On Your Website

You should be asking customers for reviews as a part of your closing process. If you aren’t you need to start now. Reviews help build trust with customers and can influence your search rankings. Some search engines include your star ratings in their results. The more positive reviews you have, the better you look to customers.

Search results aren’t the only place reviews matter. Include reviews on your website as well. Some review sites may offer widgets for embedding reviews, while your website platform may also offer review integration. As a last resort, you can post reviews to your website manually.

Another Effective Way to Get More Leads and Jobs

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If you’re ready to learn more about our exclusive lead generation platform, fill out the contact form below. A business development manager will contact you within 1 business day to schedule a demo and answer your questions. If you’re ready to get more leads, call 888-594-8381 now to secure your area.