Your Guide to Local SEO
Local search engine optimization is vital for businesses with brick-and-mortar offices. About 46% of online searches involve local information. Optimizing the business for local searches makes it easier to reach customers nearby. Up to 72% of local searches result in visiting the company and making a purchase. Here’s a guide to help you boost local SEO and attract more leads for your business:
Optimize Google Business Profile
The Google Business Profile is a free service from Google. It allows business owners to create a business profile and add relevant information. You can include the business name, contact information, address, products/service descriptions, logos, finished work photos, and more. The content can feature optimized keywords to help you rank highly for relevant searches.
Google displays business profiles as part of the SERPs(search engine results page), and the section appears at the top of the results. Optimizing your business profile increases the chances of being featured in the short-list of relevant businesses on the search result pages. Ensure you keep track of the business profile performance and update the information to leverage current trends and highly-performing keywords.
Research Local Keywords and Searches
Keywords play the most crucial role in search engine optimization, especially when targeting local markets. Local keywords are search phrases featuring a location keyword, like country, state, county, or local name. Other keywords don’t contain an actual place but use words such as “near me,” “nearby,” and “close by.” Google interprets such keywords as carrying location targets.
Your business will rank highly in SERPs for local searches featuring your business keyword. It’s important to research local customer browsing patterns, most-visited websites, and search keywords and language. Understanding how your potential clients find information online will make it easier to incorporate relevant keywords across each platform. Add a location-related phrase so Google can recognize the site as targeting local users.
Create Content for Audience Problems
Google and other modern search engines continue to advance search algorithms to identify sites designed for users, not machines. All businesses should write content to provide solutions for specific issues and subjects. To attract a local audience, you should write high-quality content answering their most pressing questions. Providing solutions and answers sets you apart as an expert in the field and can attract those looking to learn more before engaging.
You can write content promoting local industry events, trending topics, statistics, educational resources, and more. Such material can be featured in the blog section, exploring relevant issues of local interest. Ensure all content features optimized keywords and is structured to answer specific questions or offer help to the reader. You can also feature links to other resources or business videos and downloadable material for further reading.
Build Relevant Quality Links
Link structure is vital for on-page navigation and user experience. Inbound links from other authority websites also play a crucial role in SEO. You need to build an SEO-friendly link structure featuring quality internal and external links. Google and other engines value inbound links because they indicate authority and appreciation for your content/website. Think of Google like a popularity contest. The more that other sites link to you, the more value you have in the eyes of Google.
Link building is challenging, and the wrong links can hurt your SEO. Businesses can start with personal networks like the Chamber of Commerce, licensing bureaus, resellers and vendors, trade associations, and manufacturers. You can also sponsor community events and webinars. Active participation in the community allows you to build new relationships and networks, translating to quality inbound links and better local SEO.
Optimize Online Citations & Directories
Directories provide citations and mentions of your business. Modern online guides offer opportunities to include more information about your locations, addresses, products, and services. Great examples include Yelp, HomeAdvisor, Yellow Pages, BBB (Better Business Bureau), and Whitepages. You can claim citations in online directories and optimize the business descriptions with local keywords.
Many people use online directories to find business contacts. Search engines like Google also value such citations, so claiming your mentions across major directories can positively impact your SEO. Research popular guides that locals use and ensure your business is listed and properly cited. Such citations are essential for local SEO because they create consistent information about your business, establishing trust with Google and other search engines.
Perform a Local SEO Audit
An audit is probably the first thing you should perform when looking to boost local visibility. SEO audits examine various aspects encapsulating the optimization process. An audit involves reviewing keywords, links, content, website features, user experience, website speed, and more. The goal is to establish current SEO metrics and their performance and identify how to improve your ranking.
You can complete various audits, including Google business profile audit, search console audit, on-page SEO audit, citation audit, and competitor analysis. Audits can reveal areas of improvement and what needs changing. You can also evaluate website performance to determine if your efforts yield the desired outcome. Your SEO team will use audit results to determine the next course of action for better results.
In order to succeed with Local SEO, you should understand Google’s E.A.T. methodology. Everything we have talked about fits into this methodology. Google released this information to help guide local businesses to succeed in search. Below I’ll review what Google wants to see in local businesses online.
E. Expertise:
We talked about creating content that would answer questions or provide more information about what your clients are looking for. For example, if you were looking for a pest control company that uses pet-safe products you might search for ‘pet safe pest control’ which google would lead to your site that talks about the pet safe options available.
A. Authority:
When we talked about link building and how Google is like a popularity contest, this is creating authority. Not all links are the same. Avoid PBN(private blog networks) as Google constantly looks for these sites to devalue.
T. Trust
Trust is about making sure your site is safe for your visitors. Ensure all code is updated and use Secure Certs to protect your visitors. Also, make sure your data is consistent across local listing sites.
Reputable Local SEO Services
Search engine optimization is not complex. Google wants to provide its users with a good experience. When websites provide a good experience, Google will reward those sites with higher rankings. Working with a reputable company specializing in geo-targeted SEO can help you navigate the process for better ranking, traffic, and customers.
As an award-winning SEO agency, we focus on client needs to provide highly-effective SEO services. Our team has over 10+ years of experience in SEO and business marketing, so we know what works. So whether you’re looking to optimize your business profile or overhaul a website to target local markets, we are ready to help
What Does an SEO Company Actually Do?
You can position your website in a visible and coveted spot on a search engine results page when you partner with an experienced SEO company. This company should be providing reports, answering your questions, and getting a lot of work done – but do you know what an SEO company actually does ?
The entire process can be rather involved, but it basically comes down to a lot of research and creating an informative and well-structured site that provides value.
SEO is an investment, and it’s a strategy that takes time. You need to know what your SEO agency is doing to ensure that your customers can always find your site.
Remember: even if the channel you’re considering is all the rage right now, it might not fit your brand. Always make informed decisions that directly relate to your company. Otherwise, your message won’t be delivered to its intended audience and you’ll have wasted time, effort and money.
What is SEO?
The end goal for search engines is to provide good results for users, so the search engines use algorithms to review sites to find the best possible match for a given search. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of making a website appeal to search engines.
High-quality content and optimized backend elements of a site help increase the value of that site to the search engines and your potential users. When a search engine identifies a site that provides helpful information, it is more likely to feature it on the results page for a relevant search term.
Now that we’ve covered the basic definitions of what we’re trying to achieve, let’s get into what we do to make it happen.
Monitoring the Algorithm
Algorithms are a big part of SEO, but the thing is, not a lot is known about them. Search engines like Google keep the details under wraps and rarely provide insight into the inner workings. Experienced SEO companies research how search engines respond to different sites to better understand how the algorithms work.
The more we learn about algorithm behavior, the more effectively we can improve a site and make sure it gets included on a results page. It means staying up-to-date with industry standards and a lot of testing and revamping to make sure everything is running optimally.
Getting Started
Before an SEO company can outline a strategy to help your site rank, it needs to understand your current status and what is happening within your industry. Some of the questions an SEO will want to answer include:
- How does your site currently perform?
- What are the relevant keywords for your industry and your business?
- Does your site have unique title tags and meta descriptions? Does your site have schema markup ?
- Is your site user-friendly?
- What sites are you linking to, and what sites link back to yours?
After learning all about your site, we look at the competition. We need to know what your competitors are doing right and what they are forgetting to do because that could open up opportunities for your site to shine. There are also certain expectations and standards within an industry, and it’s essential to ensure your site is employing the best practices.
SEO Services
After all the research has been done, your SEO agency will create a custom strategy to help your site rank. This approach will address areas that need improvement to create a well-rounded, effective and welcoming website that appeals to users (and search engines). A strategy will likely be a multifaceted approach and could include:
Keyword Research
Keywords are perhaps the most well-known aspect of SEO, and for a good reason – they matter. Keywords align with the search terms people are likely to use, and they clue in search engines to the gist of the content on a page.
An SEO company will explore all the possible keywords that are relevant to your products or services and determine how difficult they will be to rank for. It may be worth it to go after those difficult words if they prove to be the most lucrative.
Content Creation
Quality content pulls users into a site by providing helpful information about your products or services and beneficial and relevant tips. Good content helps generate sales by turning users into customers and shows search engines that your site has something of real value to offer.
Your SEO firm should optimize your website content and provide a steady stream of new content that is relevant to your products.
Mobile Experience
Your site needs to deliver a good experience on any device, but most traffic is mobile. Your SEO company will make sure that your site can accommodate mobile users and ensure they have a positive experience.
Load Time
Even the most patient person will not stick around if a website takes a long time to load. A laggy site or a slow load time will push users away, and search engines will take notice. Experienced SEOs know how to find the fixes that will speed up your site and make it load fast enough to keep your clients on the site.
Metadata
Metadata is basically data about data. This information is provided on the backend of websites, and it helps search engines understand what is happening on a given site. Metadata helps search engines find the appropriate sites based on a search query, so your strategists will use this opportunity to make your set more attractive to users and search engines.
On-Going Process
After the strategy is in place and your site has been optimized, it is time to hurry up and wait… sort of.
It can take months to see results from an SEO strategy, but that doesn’t mean your company isn’t doing anything during this time. The entire process is ongoing. Data will be compiled as search engines and users interact with your site, and there is still plenty of work to be done after that first wave of data comes in.
“Clickthrough rates” and “session duration” provide more insight into how users interact with your site, and this is an opportunity to fine-tune everything further to better connect with your audience.
There is always room to grow and improve, and there is always a competitor looking to overtake your spot. Adjusting and keeping up with your SEO strategy is essential.
What’s more, SEO is always changing. Some aspects stay relatively consistent, but search engines routinely update their algorithms. Sometimes updates can be significant and drastically change the course of the internet, but more often than not, the changes are minor. These updates are intended to help improve the process to deliver better results, and updates can impact how a search engine reacts to a site.
An experienced SEO company stays current with updates and is ready to adjust your strategy accordingly
Focus on What You Know
Creating, implementing, and monitoring an SEO strategy is time-consuming, especially if you don’t have experience with this type of work. An SEO agency can handle all of this, so you can focus on what you do best while taking care of the new leads coming into your optimized site.
We’re here to help you find out if we’re the right fit to be your SEO company.
The post What Does an SEO Company Actually Do? appeared first on SEO.com.
A Complete Guide on Logo Design for Beginners
Logos are part of what defines a company. These designs are seen by long-time purchasers and potential customers, they are used to promote product, and ultimately contribute to what the target market should feel. Unfortunately, if a logo is unattractive, people may be less likely to associate positive emotions with it and, by extension, the company with which it is associated. Companies, such as Nike, Facebook, and McDonald’s, have globally recognized logos that don’t need words to describe them – they are memorable and unequivocally attached to the brand, and consumers have been trained to create that strong association that is critical for brand awareness. It’s important to take the time to decide how you want your logo to be seen – will it be a single, simple image, or will it be a highly structured design that’s acts as a story in its own way? Learn how important colors, themes, and pre-planning are before you tackle the design head-on, with these provided resources, so that you can make a meaningful logo that has real impact.
Pick Logo Colors
The color(s) applied to a logo are a representation of the company with which it is associated and will define how consumers feel about the product or service. When these customers look at your design, the first thing they notice may be the color, and because different colors are associated with different emotions, it is important to choose those that best reflect how the company wants to be perceived. Color psychology plays an important role and the science has been proven affective. For example, blue largely represents confidence and dependability within the mind of the consumer; because of this association, blue is a popular choice for those in the financial sector.
- The Psychology of Color in Logo Design: Picking the right colors for your logo will determine what customers think when they see it.
- How Much Does Color Define A Logo: Color is the first thing a person will notice when they see your logo.
- The Most Powerful Colors in the World: How have successful companies utilized colors in their product?
- Designing Logos with Color Psychology: Colors will trigger specific emotions.
- How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Brand: Colors can determine sales – make the right choices!
- The Psychology of Logo Design: In addition to color, shape, and font can determine the effectiveness of your logo.
- The Psychology of Color: An insightful PowerPoint presentation on the importance and impact of color as it relates to consumer perceptions.
Get Inspiration from Famous Logos
There are tried and true principles of logo design that major companies and logo designers consistently apply to their designs. Referencing famous and well-done logo designs is a great way to draw inspiration and key into design principles that have worked well. That being said, it is equally important that your design be original and avoids infringing on existing logos and copyrights. Applying design best practices and effective use of layout, colors, shapes, and so on will help create effective logos that invoke the intended consumer response. Draw from the following for inspiration:
- Famous Logos – Facebook: Why is Facebook’s logo so influential?
- Did You Notice The Big Changes In These Famous Logos In 2012?: Some of the world’s most popular designs need to change to keep up with the times and to reflect their present-day mission.
- 25 Famous Company Logo Evolution Graphics for your Inspiration: How companies such as Starbucks, Pepsi, and Apple have changed since their inception.
- Famous Logo Designs and How Much Did They Cost?: Some famous logos have cost thousands of dollars and some have been a pocket changes.
- The Meaning Behind 12+ Famous Logo Designs You Will See Today: The intention behind some popular logos.
- What Inspired These Four World-Famous Logos?: How Android, Apple, Starbucks, and NASA came up with their logos.
- Unraveling the Tale Behind the Apple Logo: Apple is known around the world and its logo doesn’t need words.
Pick a Common Theme for your Logo Design
Incorporating a clear theme within your logo design is another way in with the desired response can be pulled out of the intended audience. Typically, a when in the beginning stages of logo creation, a theme will be decided on; this can be a thought, connotative message, or symbol. That theme is then applied to one or more logo designs in different ways, from there, the process of narrowing down what is approved or declined in terms of style, colors, etc., can begin knowing that the overall theme has still been applied in one form or another. For example, if one was to design a logo for a surfboard manufacturer, they may choose to focus on waves and harmony; that could be done by including a clear image of a wave alongside a company name or integrated into the company name itself through the use of creative typography, whichever direction is taken, the theme is still present.
- 40 Fabulous 1 or 2 Color Logo Designs and Tutorials for Your Inspiration: How to make an effective design with only a few colors.
- Vital Tips for Effective Logo Design: The important things to consider when making a logo.
- 8 Ways to Make Your Logo Stand Out: Tips from an expert on how to stand out in a field of logos.
- What Makes a Great Logo: The steps to take when making a great design.
- Turn Your Logo into an Icon: Push your logo to the next level to become legendary.
- How to Decide What Logo Design Layout You Need: Everything to be considered when structuring the image.
- 5 Secrets for Making Your Logo Stand Out: Don’t let your logo blend in with the rest!
Draw Logo Samples on Paper
Once all information related to preferences in colors, approaches to design, and theming has been obtained, it’s time to begin drafting and sketching out potential designs. This step may make the actual digital design process much easier by allowing for an exploratory, free-hand approach, prior to putting in the meticulous work needed to make an idea a reality. After trouble shooting potential design flaws on paper, you’ll be more prepared to create a digital draft. Tangible sketches are also a helpful reference that can be used to ensure that all logo concepts and requirements are carried through conception to production without losing any key points.
- Logo Creation Process from Sketch to Vector: A video providing step-by-step information for those using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
- Pencil Drawing Beginner’s Guide: What you need to get started withdrawing, and some basic techniques.
- Pencil Drawing Techniques: Basic pencil skills for shading and making borders.
- From Sketch to Vector Illustrations: Turning your hand drawing into a vector image for computer use.
Get Colleague and Customer Input
Constructive feedback and critique are an important part of any commercial design or logo design process; because opinions and approaches to a single problem may vary greatly, there may be several important “buy-ins” that need to be cleared prior to the final draft being implemented and integrated into the company’s identity. Professional critiques are also a way in which the client can feel that they are involved in the decision making. To meet the needs of the client in the most effective way, consider all provided feedback and apply it as needed. If there is, as is likely, a difference in opinion, it’s important that any suggestions that may compromise the effectiveness of the design be addressed and clearly explained for the benefit of the client. Likewise, it’s important that the designer keep an open mind.
- 5 Tips on How to Prepare a Design Presentation: Take the edge off before you go in, and walk-in confident.
- How to Design a Logo – A 5 Step Process: The entire process from pre-planning to providing the finished project to the client.
- 5 Logo Design Presentation Methods to Impress Your Clients: Simple ways of displaying your project to add to the overall tone of your assignment.
- Designing Employee Recognition Programs: How to develop an environment where you can work well with colleagues and get feedback on projects.
- Presentation Tips for Graphic Designers: Preparing your product and your personal presentation properly!
How to Design a Custom Logo like a Pro
Think before you execute. Here’s a guide to creating effective logos…without breaking the bank. A badly executed logo design is a step towards failure. You need to ensure that the logo design you create for your company encompasses your company’s identity in a neat and professional manner. A good brand identity is essential for small companies as much as it is for bigger ones. We understand that small companies do not have a huge budget which they can employ for the creation of their brand logo, which is why we have put together these tips to help them create a strong profile, without spending a fortune on it.
Do-It-Yourself Custom Logo Makers
There are various Do-It-Yourself logo makers available on the internet which you can use to create custom logo designs of your choice. We think websites like DesignMantic are great logo creation tools which you can use instead of crafting an unprofessional logo on MS Paint (a big no-no, in the world of graphic designing) or trying to create a logo design on Adobe Photoshop (without knowing how to use all the complicated tools properly). Logo design creation is a complicated process. Thankfully, logo makers let you choose a symbol of your choice from a variety of logo design templates and then let you make changes according to your requirements. The good thing about these tools is that they help you create a logo design which looks good and presentable. There are many things that need to be considered when you make your own logo, and logo makers make life easy by minimizing the hassle. For example, depending on your need you have the option of choosing between .jpeg, .png or .pdf formats when downloading your final logo design from DesignMantic.
Hire a Graphic Designer
You can hire a professional graphic designer to help you create a powerful logo design but finding an experienced graphic designer who provides good services at a low cost may prove to be a daunting task. Hiring a professional is a good option if you are personally connected with someone who is a graphic designer and is willing to give you a discount. If you are up for some research, you can look for some graphic designers who offer their services at a lower cost. These are usually freelance graphic designers who have taken up graphic designing as a hobby or part time profession. You can use websites like Freelancer.com to find some good graphic designers who can help you create your logo design as per your requirements. The problem with this process is that it can become very frustrating if you and the designer are not on the same wavelength. Many people resort to online logo creation websites to get a logo design which suits their choice and not what the graphic designer likes.
Logo Design Contests
If you find hiring a professional a drag, you can use crowdsourcing websites to start a logo design contest to make your work simpler, and it is affordable. This is a better option for the creation of your logo design because it lets you engage graphic designers from a network of experts. You get many different options and viewpoints as compared to just a few if you choose to hire a professional designer. You can choose the logo design which you like from a plethora of options and have your changes incorporated with ease. The additional feature of adding the element of competition adds an interesting spark to this process. The designers out forward their best designs to be able to achieve their prize.
Some Points to Remember
You are free to choose whichever method you prefer for your custom logo but here is some advice that you must consider when creating your logo design. You want your logo to create a buzz, but not in the wrong way. Have you seen the Pepsi logo fail? Make sure the symbols and designs you use in your logo design do not signify anything other than what your brand is. There are many smart and creative individuals out there, waiting to rip your concept apart.
See these great logo designs in contrast to get a better idea of what your business logo should look like. Make sure that you use colors and fonts which suit your identity. Try not to use gradients in your logo design but if you are, keep them minimal as they tend to look tacky. You need to create a good concept without making your logo design too complicated. Using logo makers, hiring professionals, and starting logo design contests help you get professional input and save you from making mistakes and technical errors while also helping you create a logo design that you like.
