Summary: Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the onsite and offsite optimization of your website in order to help your site appear higher in search results. However, if you are a small business trying to rank for a broad keyword on a national level, your chances of success are minimal. This article highlights why this strategy will not work and what you should focus on instead: local optimization.
Why Your Business Website Isn’t at the Top of Google Results
You have a website and the best products or services in the world! Why, exactly, is your website not showing up in search results? There are a number of reasons; the most likely answer to that question, however, is your domain authority.
What Is Domain Authority?
Every website has a domain authority, which is a number that assigned to your website. The scale is from 1 to 100. The websites that have the most “trust” come in closer to 100. There are a lot of factors that are taken into consideration when determining your domain authority, ranging from the number of high quality links to your website to the age of your domain.
Although there are some things you can do to help increase your domain authority, it is essential to understand that doing so takes a significant amount of time – and if your competition has more links and has an older domain, then your chances of ever surpassing them are minimal. This is especially true if your competition creates high quality, original content and adds it to their website on a regular basis.
This “domain authority” in a nutshell is why your website will likely never rank for very broad keywords on a national level. Trust us, if we could get our website to show up nationally for “marketing” then we definitely would! However, we are well aware that that simply is not feasible.
Fortunately, there are some things you can do that helps your small business website rank in search results thanks to the relatively new emphasis on local search results.
Why Local Terms are Important
Google is smart. It knows where you are located and it will display search results based on your location. Therefore, although you may never be able to rank for that broad keyword, like “marketing,” you can still take steps to rank locally!
For example, Uptick Marketing is in Birmingham, Alabama and has a new office in Destin, Florida. Even though this is where our company is located, we have clients all across the United States! However, as mentioned above, we cannot rank nationally for “marketing.”
Our solution is simple – utilize local terms. That is why you will find things like “Birmingham digital marketing” and other terms with location modifiers throughout our content. Sure, some random person in Austin, Texas is unlikely to stumble across our website in search results, but we are able to reach our local target audience organically.
Does this mean we cannot reach our audience in other parts of the country? Absolutely not! We can create paid advertisements for other areas we desire to reach, but we have to be realistic about what we are able to organically rank for with our website.
Therefore, small businesses really need to remember the importance of local optimization when it comes to optimizing their website. Even if you sell your products and services outside of your local areas, these location modifications to your content can help you show up organically at least locally.
How to Improve your Local Optimization Efforts
In additional to adding your location throughout your content, it is essential that you do offside local optimization. In a nutshell, local optimization captures your business information across various local directories. By providing accurate, consistent information and completing your profiles in these big directories, Google and other search engines trust you more.
The more that search engines trust you, the more likely it is for your website to appear higher in local search results.
Looking for a SEO Company in Birmingham, AL?
Uptick Marketing can help improve your website’s local visibility through keyword research to determine the terms you are able to rank for, onsite optimization to help search engines find you, and offsite local optimization to build trust.
Contact us today to learn how Uptick Marketing in Birmingham, Alabama can help you grow your business and reach your target audience through online marketing and advertising!
Other, related blogs:
How to Create a Marketing Budget for Your Business
Regardless of whether you are a start up or an established company, it is essential that you allocate money to marketing. Fortunately, with digital marketing, your money goes a long way and results are measurable.
Read the full post.
How to Choose a Birmingham Marketing Agency that Rocks
Learn more about what to look for when choosing a marketing agency to help your business navigate the rocky waters of online marketing and advertising.
Read the full post.
