Boost Your Rankings and Attract More Customers: Follow My Local SEO Checklist

One of the most important factors when setting up a new website or improving on your existing one is to ensure it is optimised for search engines – Google, Bing, Yahoo etc. This way you can sit back, relax and be sure customers are seeing your website in search engine results. Does all this happen automatically when your website is set up? unfortunately not – would be nice though! Completing a Local SEO Checklist is a good way to start off on the right foot. If you’re based in Bournemouth, Poole or Dorset contact me for all things SEO.

The goal is to try and make page one on search engine results (Google) for your given keyword, service or business type. There are many factors in the equation that contribute towards this aim, here are some of the main ones:

  • Optimised web pages completed using SEO best practise methods
  • Lots of customer reviews
  • On-Page SEO
  • Keyword research
  • Backlinks to your website
  • Optimised blog content
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The goal is to try and make page one on search engine results (Google) for your given keyword, service or business type. There are many factors in the equation that contribute towards this aim, here are some of the main ones:

How To Set Up Local Business Listings?

This one is super easy and a good place to start. Claim your local listing with Google Business. You will need an account, so go ahead and set these up also. When claiming your business listing it’s important to make sure you complete all the relevant information, such as business type, contact details, opening hours and add relevant photos where possible.

Local SEO Business Listings - rob cherry web design

Get Some Google/Social Media Reviews

Don’t be too shy to ask your customers to leave some lovely reviews for you on your Local Listings. Always provide customers with the details for your Google listing as this is one you really want to focus on. These reviews will help enhance your business reputation with Google and assist in improving your search engine results and rankings in your Local area.

You can also integrate your Google Reviews into your website and provide a link for customers to leave a review on your business listing. These reviews are fantastic adverts for your business and services, along with helping improve your search engine results and rankings.

NAP Business Listings

NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone Number. When Google finds your details on relevant websites such as local directories it sends them a strong signal. There are many NAP business listing websites in the UK where you can add your details – Yell, Free Index, 192, Scoot, Thompson Local and so on. A quick Google would probably provide a nice handy list for you. Here is a handly list for you Business Listing Websites UK

If you’re a larger business you would probably employ a company to do this for you, as many agencies offer this service – for a small fee of course.

Local Business Schema

Adding Local Business Schema to your website involves adding a structured data markup to your HTML code or if you have a WordPress website you can usually use an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO. This adds the schema markup to the appropriate pages on your website, typically in the header section of your website. Once added you can test the schema using Google's Structured Data Testing Tool.

Local SEO is the key to unlocking the full potential of your business online. It helps your business stand out in local search results and attract more customers in your area, ultimately leading to increased business and growth.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for taking the time to read my Local SEO Checklist. I hope some of the information is useful to you. If you need any advice or have any questions regarding SEO please contact me, you can also get a custom website designed for your business in Bournemouth or Dorset..

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