I recently listened to a webinar on local search rankings. The webinar was sponsored by Lawn and Landscape featuring Landscape Leadership’s Chris Heiler.
1. Domain Registration Credibility
Register your domain for 2-3 years to create credibility with search engines. Go to www.whois.com to see when your registration expires. Adding extra time to your subscription tells search engines you are in it for the long haul. This tweak adds credibility.
2. Local Search Engines
Register your business at Google Business. Then, search for your business page to verify it. Select the correct categories for your business. Fill in your contact info to keep it consistent with other
places your business appears. Adding weekly posts and new marketing photos can attract traffic. Ask your clients for reviews and watch people choose you first!
3. Consistency in Review Sites
Go to the top citation sources to claim your business page. Fill in information about your business, including phone numbers and addresses. Keep this consistent throughout each site to compare and find consistency. This edit shows credibility. It will take some time, but it will be well worth it.
4. Local Keyword Usage
Use local keywords such as your county, city, and state. List your service areas on several website pages through website copy and footers. When search engines scan your website, this feeds facts on the location of your business.
5. Update Page Title Tags
Use unique and local keywords (i.e., city, county, state) in your title tag for local search engines. The title tags should be between 55 and 70 characters max. Use https://www.charactercountonline.com and type in your title to measure your word count.
6. Add Meta-descriptions
Meta-descriptions is the description of the webpage. It is a tool to motivate your reader to click through to your webpage. Use keywords in your description that are unique to each page. The character count should be an average of 150 characters. Keep it concise. 
7. Update URLs
Use specific terms in your business instead of generic terms like ‘services.’ If you offer stonework, then use that in the URL. Also, add local keywords to the URL with hyphens. (i.e., https://virtuallandscapeservices.com/landscape-design-asheville-hendersonville-buncombe/ )
8. Inbound Links
When respected local websites link to your site, it signals to search engines that it is trustworthy. So, convince these sites to link to yours. Include licensed associations for your industry and manufacturers of the goods you sell. Industry expert sites will be helpful too. Provide them with the keyword text you want them to use in the link.
9. Updating Images
Before you upload a photograph, optimize the photograph’s title with relevant keywords. (i.e., instead of 12345.jpg, use a photo description. This extra tweak will tell search engines what the photos represent.
10. Responsive Design
Ensure your website’s design template is responsive to all devices. Today thirty-five percent of users are using mobile devices. Many themes in WordPress have a responsive design. Always check before settling on a new website.
Optimize your website for local search engines to perform better! Drive traffic to your website’s front door! If you need help with these tasks or any others in your business, contact me today, and let’s talk!
