With the growing popularity and increasing demand of SEO requirements, now, more than ever before, it’s essential for large and small business owners to utilize their company’s website to its fullest potential. This procedure begins with attracting local businesses and clientele to your website and company. In order to achieve that goal, you must first have an appealing and interesting company website.
Why WordPress?
WordPress is the leading platform for large and small business owners and entrepreneurs. The site provides an extensive library of professional themes and capabilities for nearly all business fields; journalism, corporate executives, repair shops, photography, etc.
In recent years, WordPress/wordpress.com has emerged as the premier personal website provider and medium. Naturally, today’s discussion will entail how to properly use your company’s WordPress website SEO capabilities.
Local SEO vs. Conventional SEO
In all honesty, there isn’t much of a difference between local SEO and traditional SEO. The primary distinction lies in the contact data and utilization of local keywords that allows targeting of neighboring marketplaces. You may be asking, what are the immediate advantages of local SEO?
- Potential clients relate and identify quicker with local business entities
- Localizing SEO allows you to hone in more directly to your target market
- WordPress sites have built-in plug-ins and features designed for local SEO
Conventional SEO will only broaden things, and remove you from the local scene and your desired and necessary target market.
WordPress Local SEO Basics
As with any new goal or endeavor we partake, it’s essential to get things started off on the right foot—this isn’t any different. Here are some simple and immediate WordPress changes that will quickly put you on the right track:
- Change the WP default URL/permalink to something local that relates to your business
- Use the WordPress SEO by Yoast plugin
- Use the “relevant and localized” keywords in your content
Staying On The Local SEO Track
Staying focused is equally as important as getting off to the right start. Keyword research and usage will be a major contributor in ensuring your company’s website success in local SEO. Remember to keep your keywords and URL or permalink catered to your local vicinity. For example, if you own a pizzeria in St. Louis, MO, keywords and phrases like, “St. Louis’ best pizzeria” or “The largest pizzas in St. Louis” will work well for you. Local SEO doesn’t happen overnight. It will take time, as well as trial and error. Consider using some of these resources:
- Local SEO tutorials
- Optimization with business listings like Google and Bing
- Citation Building
If your company website isn’t generating the local clientele you desire, then jumpstart your local SEO with a move to WordPress today.