Every time someone in your community types “[Your speciality] near me” into Google and you aren’t working on your local SEO, you lose money. That prospective customer who would likely love your brand and business ends up spending their money with a competitor of yours and your chance at winning them over in the future becomes slimmer and slimmer.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

In this article we’re going to share the key to creating a balanced local SEO strategy for your business – so you can snatch up as much local business as you can manage!

1. Claim and perfect your GMB profile (Google My Business)

The first step in mastering your local SEO is claiming and perfecting your GMB profile. This is the central foundation upon which your local SEO campaign will grow which is why this is the most important step.

Here are some GMB optimizations that can help you improve your rankings significantly:

• Fill out each section of your GMB.
• Add the relevant contact information (and make sure it perfectly aligns with your official business contact details, your website, and any other online profile such as your socials).
• Tick off the primary and secondary categories that best apply to your business.
• Select all applicable attributes (e.g., a bar / restaurant may select dog-friendly, for example).
• Write an awesome “from the business” snippet.
• Add lots of great photos and videos of your premises, employees, and customers.
• Add the relevant products and services with unique and engaging descriptions.
• Set up messaging and respond to all enquiries as quickly as possible.
• Encourage and collect positive reviews (respond to all, including the negative).

2. Choose your focus keywords

You also need to think carefully about your focus keywords (they should be included in your GMB profile as well). Here are a few handy pointers to help you get the most out of your local keyword research:

• Choose industry-specific keywords.
• Add plenty of keyword modifiers (e.g., best / affordable / organic / portable etc.).
• Decide on your specific service areas (you can only choose one physical location for your address unless you are a franchise with multiple branches, however, you can select multiple service areas).
• Mix and match, choosing a balance of low volume and high conversions with high competition and relevancy.
• Conduct competitor research and see what the biggest players in your area are targeting.

3. Create geo-centric content

The rules of SEO apply to local SEO in that you need to create high-value content including your focus keywords. Make sure that you are doing this consistently and creating content that is relevant to your community.

For example, an SEO company in Los Angeles could talk about case studies of local businesses they have helped succeed, the various events taking place in LA in digital marketing and entrepreneurship, and so on.

It has to be relevant and feature geo-centric information that the local community can get excited about and engage with.

Publish these on your blog, your GMB profile, and your socials in order to engage with your local audience and get as many eyes on your content as possible.

What is the key to a balanced and successful local SEO campaign?

The key is consistency.

If your information and NAP citations are all on point, you maintain your GMB weekly with regular updates, respond to reviews, photo uploads, and you are consistently creating awesome and genuinely valuable geo-centric content, you will notice your rankings climb significantly.

Just turn up. Turn up every day and be influential in your local community. The rest will follow.