What do you know about local cosmetology website dominance?
In 2014, Google rolled out its local algorithm “Pigeon”, emphasizing the importance of local SEO for businesses everywhere. Pigeon left many businesses with little choice but to start paying attention to their local SEO practices in order to avoid falling behind the competition.
There are several reasons businesses should be using local SEO strategies. Offline business owners realize a huge potential of clients live on the Internet and a strong website can help companies capture those digital customers.
With so many businesses competing for the same customers, it can be challenging to secure the number one spot on Google’s search results page. No business wants to be relegated to the second or third page – most users are not going to be clicking past page three.
If business sustainability is one of your long-term goals, then it’s time to strengthen your local search strategy. A customer searching for a cosmetology website in Nebraska is hardly going to be interested in deep pore cleaning services in New York. Location matters to your customers, so businesses should always remember to target their local market.
These online searchers represent your potential customers. More than 75 percent of local searches result in a phone call so failing to optimize your business locally can mean customers you’re missing out on. Try these local SEO tricks to increase your cosmetology website local reach and capture the customers living near you today.
Complete Your Google My Business Account
Owned by Google, GMB can work wonders on your Google search results for your business. The majority of searches today are conducted by Google users, so a properly utilized GMB strategy is important for your local SEO campaign.
- Make sure you’ve completed all fields in your GMB account
- Use high resolution photos of your business
- Double check to make sure your name, address and phone number (“NAP”) are accurate and updated
Your NAP should look the same across all resources and on every single one of your website pages. This will help search engines properly scan and index your contact information.
Submit Your Website to Local Listings
While important, GMB alone cannot boost your website’s local search results. The next step is to get your cosmetology website listed on local directory sites like Yelp and Yellow Pages to increase visibility. Local listings are also a great source of high-quality backlinks, which can help your website build a strong, local SEO foundation. Local listings will help you drive targeted traffic directly to your business, translating into better conversions in the long run.
Take Advantage of Customer Reviews
Another advantage to using local listings (like Yelp) is customer reviews. What could be better than positive feedback from your satisfied customers? Almost 90 percent of customers will check a business’ online reviews prior to using their services, so a great testimonial can establish trust in potential clients.
Don’t forget to occasionally check your reviews and respond to any outstanding inquiries. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to please everyone but a timely response can help mitigate the severity of a negative review.
Optimize Your Meta Tags and Content
In a perfect world, your cosmetology website would host a blog where you can post locally-focused content like articles, industry news, how-tos and other useful information. You have to be extra savvy and creative to stand out from your competitors, so maintaining cutting-edge content may be the biggest challenge your business will face when optimizing your website. One idea is to see what your competitors are writing about and gather inspiration from reputable cosmetology news sites.
To optimize for local relevance, be sure to include your city, state and targeted keywords to the following:
- Meta title and description tag
- Header tags
- All written content
- Logos
- Images and other visual content
Embrace Schema Markup
Another tip to incorporate is making up your business location and contact information using Schema. This technique is applied through your website’s backend and can help provide additional details like name, phone number, ratings and more. Schema markups can make your website listings on SERP look more professional and relevant to potential customers.
Markups can help your cosmetology website take the next step towards improving search engine results. In short, markups tell search engines directly who you are, where you are and what you specialize in.
Conclusion
Customers are searching for your business from a number of places, but the key is to make it easy for your local customers to connect with your services. Reach your local market right when as they reach the purchasing stage of their customer journey and stay one step ahead of your competitors. Clever Solution is always ready to provide professional assistance!