With the internet being the primary tool for 81% of consumers before making a purchase or visiting a store, ensuring your business appears on the first page of search results is vital. Given that only 25% of users ever look beyond page one, optimizing your online presence is more critical than ever. This checklist offers simple, effective SEO techniques to enhance your search rankings. Print this out and use it as your reference guide.
Location Data Checklist
- Update Business Information: Ensure your business name, address, and phone number are accurate for each location.
- Confirm Hours of Operation: Verify the operating hours for each location.
- Verify Contact Information: Make sure email addresses, toll-free numbers, and secondary numbers are correct.
- List Services Offered: Provide a comprehensive list of services for each location.
- Include Descriptions: Add brief descriptions for each location.
- Use High-Quality Images: Upload professional, high-quality images.
- Link Appropriately: Add links to relevant pages on your website.
Website Content Checklist
- Essential Pages: Ensure your homepage, About Us, Contact Us, FAQ, and policy pages are clear and up-to-date.
- Location-Specific Pages: Create separate pages for each location if you have multiple sites.
- Service/Product Pages: Develop individual pages for every key service and product you offer.
- Practitioner Pages: If applicable, create pages for each public-facing practitioner or expert.
- Reviews Page: Add a reviews landing page or embed reviews into your location pages.
- Optimize Images: Compress photos and add alt tags.
- Include Videos: Add videos with transcripts.
- Social Media Links: Include links to your social media profiles.
- Title Tags: Add unique title tags on each page (50-60 characters).
- Community Involvement: Highlight charity events and sponsorships.
Technical Checklist
- Mobile-Friendly: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
- Loading Speed: Make sure your website pages load quickly.
- Secure URLs: Use HTTPS URLs.
- Redirects: Ensure proper HTTP redirects are in place.
- Canonicalization: Ensure proper URL canonicalization.
- Header Tags: Check for consistent header tags.
- Optimized URLs: Use short, optimized, and readable URLs.
- Meta Descriptions: Add unique meta descriptions for each page (around 160 characters).
Additional SEO Tips
Reputation Management
- Automate Review Acquisition: Implement an automated review acquisition program.
- Request Reviews: Ask every customer for a review.
- Monitor Reviews: Continuously monitor for new reviews and respond quickly, even to negative ones.
- Resolve Issues Promptly: Quickly address any issues that arise to prevent negative reviews.
- Monitor Sentiment: Track the sentiment of reviews to identify recurring issues.
- Report Spam Reviews: Report any spam reviews.
Optimize Your Google Business Profile
- Claim Your Profile: Ensure you have claimed your Google Business Profile.
- Complete Every Section: Fill out all sections of your profile meticulously.
- Accurate Contact Information: Be precise with contact information.
- Select Categories: Choose primary and secondary categories.
- Add Attributes: Mark off applicable attributes.
- Business Description: Write a comprehensive “from the business” description.
- Google Posts: Publish Google posts weekly.
- Upload Photos: Regularly upload new photos.
- Answer Questions: Respond to questions asked by visitors.
- Add Products/Services: List your products and services.
- Enable Messaging: Enable Google messaging.
- Update Profile: Consistently update your profile with the latest company information.
Create Relevant Content
- Top Questions: Identify the top 20-30 questions your target audience is asking and create content around them.
- Content Ideas:
- Products/Services
- Sales
- Events
- Customer Guarantees
- Customer FAQs
- Company History
- Staff Spotlights
- Community Involvement
- Locations and Directions
- Loyalty Programs
- Awards and Accreditations
Troubleshooting Ranking Issues
- Check Profile Compliance: Ensure your Google Business Profile adheres to guidelines and contains accurate information.
- Monitor Algorithm Updates: Stay updated with Google algorithm changes.
- Technical Errors: Look for technical errors on your website.
- Content Quality: Regularly check the quality, accuracy, and publish rate of your content.
By following this comprehensive checklist, you can improve your local SEO efforts and ensure your business is well-represented online, driving more traffic and potential customers to your site.
