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Local SEO Best Practices for Small Businesses in Austin, TX

Effective local search engine optimization (SEO) strategies improve search engine rankings, increase website traffic, foot traffic to physical locations, and overall business growth. It’s critical for brick and mortar businesses. Local SEO gives you a leg up over the competition and increases local brand awareness. 

SEO.com provides businesses with local SEO services for maximum local business growth. We are the best SEO company in Austin, Texas and SEO is in our DNA. 

Understanding local SEO for Austin, TX businesses

Local SEO involves optimizing a business’s online presence to bring in more business from relevant local searches. These searches often include location-based keywords or phrases such as ‘restaurants near me’ or ‘best SEO company Austin TX.’ Using the words ‘near me’ and the city name are some examples of words used in local searches.

Search engines prioritize local results for these queries, making it crucial for small businesses to optimize their digital footprint locally. Local SEO and organic SEO are not very different, both having an ultimate goal to direct customers to a physical store. Prioritizing both form of SEO helps your website see positive results. 

Optimizing your Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business, is a free tool provided by Google that helps businesses manage their online presence across Google. This presence includes search maps. Optimizing your Google Business Profile is crucial for local SEO success, and you can achieve it through a few easy steps: 

• Claim and verify your listing: Start by claiming your business listing in GBP if you haven’t already. Verify your listing through phone or SMS. Answer the call or open the message with the code. Enter the code in your profile. 
• Complete your profile: Fill out every section of your profile thoroughly, including your business name, hours, category, and a link to your website URL to drive traffic and improve SEO. 
• Add photos and videos: High-quality images and videos of your business, product, or services increase engagement and showcase your offerings to potential customers. Photos allow potential customers to determine whether your business is a good fit for their needs. Listings with images are more reputable and get 35% more clicks. 
• Manage and respond to reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on your GBP, as Google Business star rankings positively impact search rankings. Responding builds credibility, boosts customer retention, and even attracts new customers. Thank customers for their feedback and encourage them to visit again. Address concerns politely and offer solutions or apologies if needed. 
• Post regular updates: Post updates, promotions, events, and offers directly on Google Search and Maps. Google posts no longer expire — before they expired after seven days. We recommend two to three posts per week to keep your audience up-to-date and informed. 

Proven strategies to dominate local SEO in Austin TX

Local keywords are phrases that include geographic terms relevant to your business, such as ‘best coffee shops in Austin, Texas.’ A general keyword is ‘best coffee shops’ without the location. Using these keywords strategically in your website content helps improve visibility in local search results. 

You can do local SEO by following these steps:

1. Keyword research: Identify local keywords that potential customers are likely to use when searching for businesses like yours. Tools like Google Keyword Planner help you find relevant keywords. This process takes time and experience. If you don’t have the time, consider using local SEO services. 
2. On-page optimization: Include local keywords naturally in your website content, including meta titles, descriptions, header tags, and content. 
3. Local landing pages: If your business serves multiple locations or neighborhoods, create dedicated landing pages optimized for each location. To enhance local relevance, include location-specific information, testimonials, and case studies. 
4. Leverage local link building: Attract backlinks from other websites to your site’s content. The higher the quality of your backlinks, the more established your credibility will be within the search engine algorithm ranking criteria. 
5. Engage in community activity: Get involved in local community events, which boost your company’s visibility and add an interactive element to your business persona. You could also participate in local festivals or charity runs, providing you with content for your social media pages. 
6. Use local keywords: Use keywords relevant to your business’s location. Incorporate the name of the city or town, neighborhood, and other local places to use as identifiers. 
7. Claim your local directories: Claiming your business on local directories boosts your visibility in local search results. A few local directories you can use are Yellow Pages, TripAdvisor, and Yelp. Search for any other local directories where you could mention your business. 
8. Optimize for mobile: Optimizing for mobile search is critical as a large amount of searches happen on mobile devices — smartphones. Google uses the mobile version of your site for indexing. 

Optimization is an ongoing process that requires a ton of attention and effort. 

How do you write local SEO content?

Include your target keywords in your web page URL and your website’s title tag. Your meta description should be informative and concise, and your content should be useful and keyword-rich. Use local keywords in your H1, H2, and H3 tags on relevant pages of your website. 

Why choose SEO.com?

We provide flexible, custom solutions for businesses of any size. Our SEO agency has thousands of reviews praising our communication and transparency, with a 95% customer satisfaction rating — which is above the industry standard of a 72% average.

Our professional SEO services in Austin TX help you rank higher and grow your business by driving leads, traffic, and sales. Learn what makes us one of the best SEO companies for businesses worldwide.

Learn more about the benefits of local SEO

Local SEO is not a one-time effort as it requires ongoing maintenance and optimization. 

For more information about the importance of local SEO for businesses in Austin, TX like yours, check out our blog or contact us to request a custom SEO plan. With our SEO agency, you’ll grow the metrics that matter most.