7 Best Local SEO Hacks — Skyrocket Local Website Traffic (Free)
Whether you write on Medium or for your personal blog or business website, utilizing SEO is always a fantastic way to optimize your content and reach a large audience of potential customers and readers organically.
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To help you outperform your competitors and increase your local leads and web traffic, I have compiled a list of my 7 best local SEO hacks. Best of all, these hacks won’t cost you a dime.
Are you interested in the following?
1. Generating free leads
2. Significantly boosting your website traffic
3. Increasing readership and brand value
4. Experiencing substantial growth in revenue
All of this is possible if you focus on local SEO and understand the realities of content creation.
Let’s take a look at an example:
EduNext Technologies is a school ERP development company that targets schools mainly in the domestic market (Local cities and states).
Take a look at this image below that shows the local listing.
With a focus on local SEO marketing and my help, they were able to generate over 5,000 to 10,000 free organic traffic in the first few months.
This demonstrates the effectiveness of targeting the local market quickly. Local SEO is of utmost importance, and Google highly values websites that implement it.
While I have already discussed the best SEO strategies in the previous post, this one will primarily focus on the top 7 Local SEO hacks.
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Top 7 Local SEO Hacks (Tips):
To rank your website or business in Google for local search queries, I have identified these 7 super helpful strategies.
Here’s a sneak peek of what you will learn in detail:
1. Listing your business on local business directories.
2. Title and URL targeting for local SEO.
3. Finding and using GEO-specific keywords.
4. Local PR submission and link building.
5. Competitor’s keyword analysis.
In addition, there’s a bonus local SEO hack that can help you generate free traffic from day one — Google My Business.
Let’s dive into each of these local SEO hacks in detail.
1. Listing on local business directories:
Every state or country has websites that allow you to list your services, website, post links, or business for free or through paid subscriptions. Yelp is a great example of such a business directory website.
However, you have the flexibility to explore other platforms that are popular locally and accept business listings.
- Go to Google and search for “Business directory sites.”
- You will find my posts listed there.
- Choose as many sites as you like to submit your business.
- Enjoy free local traffic, leads, and watch the money start flowing in.
Let’s learn and implement each of these local SEO hacks to optimize your website and attract more local customers.
Directory Site Example — Source Yelp.
This is what business listings look like.
It helps to grow your reach, awareness, and business.
2. Title, keywords, and URL-based local targeting
Previously, I published a post on my personal blog (Manipathak.com) titled “How to Make Money From Home in Florida.”
If you check this post on my blog, you will notice two key elements that make it stand out and rank well in a targeted location.
- The title of this post includes the word “Florida.”
- When you examine the post’s URL, you will find the same word included. Check here.
This optimization ensures that when someone searches for ways to make money in “Florida,” this post will have a higher chance of ranking.
However, it is not limited to ranking only in that specific location.
3. Find and use geo-specific keywords
Before writing a powerful blog post, we often conduct research to find high-quality and less competitive keywords that can help our content rank easily on Google.
In this particular post, the keyword is “Local SEO Hack,” and the targeted country is the United States. Although people from other countries can still read the article if it ranks on Google, the majority of the traffic is expected to come from the USA.
This means that more and more people can benefit from the article and improve their local business rankings.
There are approximately 500 to 1000 monthly business searches on Google for “Local SEO” in the United States alone.
To thrive in your business, you can optimize your website and blog posts by focusing on trending topics and using the least competitive keywords in your targeted location.
Here are a few points to consider:
1. Ensure that your content marketing and local SEO strategies are aligned with your brand/business niche. Avoid optimizing for keywords that are unrelated or not relevant to your business.
2. Opt for low competition keywords and long-tail keywords as they tend to yield better results.
3. It’s important to have a well-structured internal link system, utilize LSI (latent semantic indexing) keyword mapping, and implement foundational SEO strategies. These elements work together to make your SEO efforts more effective for your business.
By implementing these strategies, you can greatly enhance your local SEO and achieve remarkable results.
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4. Local PR submission and link building
A press release distribution network (PR) can greatly contribute to the growth of your website traffic, awareness, trust, and ranking. Here are some effective ways to utilize PR:
1. Reach out to the editors of local news websites and share news about your business and its success. Getting featured on these platforms can significantly boost your visibility.
2. Consider partnering with reputable PR agencies that specialize in content creation and distribution. They can handle the entire process of getting your content published on high domain authority (DA) and page authority (PA) news sites that receive millions or billions of traffic.
3. Focus on the following strategies:
- Publishing press releases on top-notch websites.
- Writing guest posts for high DA and PA local sites that are relevant to your niche.
- Collaborating with local influencers on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media channels.
By implementing these PR strategies, you can effectively enhance your website’s reach, credibility, and visibility.
5. Competitor’s keywords analysis
Just like me, if you possess the right skills, content, and reach, it can still be challenging to garner the same attention and traffic that your competitors are receiving.
One effective approach to simplify this process is by identifying the top-ranking websites for keywords relevant to your niche in your targeted location and conducting a comprehensive analysis.
However, it is important to note that you may not be an expert in this area.
Fortunately, there are numerous top-notch tools available that can assist you in finding and tracking your competitors. I have already shared a screenshot to facilitate your understanding.
Here are some competitor tracking tools you can consider:
- Semrush
- Ahrefs
- Mangools
- Moz
- Ubersuggest
Many of these tools offer a free trial period ranging from 7 to 14 days, which can be immensely helpful in tracking your competitors and developing a profitable local SEO strategy.
6. Google my Business
GMB (google my business) is a great way to list your business on Google and make it available across the globe to get free traffic and leads.
Image Source: Google My Business (GMB)
- It’s 100 free.
- Google business listing works both locally and globally.
- Grow local review to rank among the other business.
- Build a trusted brand locally.
This is a must-have tool for your business.
Need help in SEO, Digital Marketing, and Content Marketing? You can message me here. Don’t forget to subscribe for more posts — Click here!
7. Build local citations:
Building local citations is a crucial aspect of local SEO. By creating consistent mentions of your business on local websites, blogs, and online directories, you establish your business as a trusted local entity.
This helps boost your local search rankings and improves your online visibility within your target market.
Implementing effective citation building strategies is essential for driving more local traffic to your website and attracting potential customers in your area.
Local SEO Checklist
Local SEO hacks can greatly benefit your business, but when combined with native SEO hacks, the results can be truly magical. That’s why I am about to share the “Local SEO Checklist” that you can follow:
1. Optimize your website speed.
2. Conduct proper keyword research.
3. Implement title, meta tag, keyword tagging, and other on-page SEO optimizations for your website.
4. Engage in guest posting and link building.
5. Collaborate with local influencers.
6. Create a Google My Business listing.
7. List your business on local business directory websites.
8. Utilize press release and distribution strategies.
9. Ensure your website is mobile responsive.
10. Create high-value content targeting local businesses and local audiences.
11. Properly structure your internal links.
12. Participate in local communities.
13. Establish a strong social media presence.
14. Optimize your title, URL, description, and content.
15. Utilize local SEO tools to find the right opportunities.
With dedicated effort and time in the right direction, things can easily turn in your favor. However, it’s important to note that results won’t happen overnight, as professional SEO takes months to show decent outcomes. Once it’s in motion, though, it can yield remarkable results.
The takeaway for you:
Whether your business is local or global, SEO plays a significant role in achieving exceptional growth. Neither the importance of LOCAL SEO nor traditional SEO can be ignored.
I have already written many helpful articles to assist you in learning and making things easier for your business.
About the Author:
Mani Pathak is a performance marketer, blogger, and web developer. With over 5 years of experience, he has worked with 200+ businesses across the globe.
Feel free to contact him through his website.
Disclaimer: This post does not contain any affiliate links or sponsored content. The author adheres to DDI policies, and the same goes for the readers.
Now, it’s time to wrap up.
Thank you for your valuable time.
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