LaunchUX, Author at LaunchUX

Importance of Link Building

February 19, 2021 LaunchUX

Search engine optimization or SEO consists on page SEO and off page SEO. On page SEO is everything you can control about your website. This would be all of your content, user experience, internal links, meta descriptions, and title tags. Off page SEO consists of factors that you don’t have full control over – these are mostly brand mentions and links pointing to your site.

What is link building?

Link building is the process of gaining links from other websites pointing to yours. You can think of it like having connections in real life. Google wants to recommend a website with good – high quality links. Another important aspect of link building is to require relevant links. If you have an ecommerce website selling construction equipment – a link from a construction company would be more relevant than a cosmetology website.

Theoretically, if you have two websites that are identical with the same on page SEO, Google is going to rank the one with better backlinks above the one with worse backlinks. That being said, link building is one of the most difficult aspects of SEO. You need to have a proper game plan / strategy when trying to acquire links.

Why are links important?

Google searches are based around links. The more high quality and relevant links pointing to your website – the higher your site will appear on searches. By acquiring high quality and relevant links, you are building your site’s authority score. The higher your authority score, the more recognized you will become in your field. Links will also drive referral traffic to your site from other sites.

Links can also boost your keyword rankings. For example, if a website links to our website with the text “SEO Experts in Chambersburg” Google can recognize the text and recommend our website next time someone searches that phrase.

How to build links

The first step of creating your link building campaign is understanding what your website has that is worthy of a link. Some people call this the “hook” of your website. This can be content (blogs), products, services, or any information. The content that you create for your website should be relative to the audience you want to attract. Again, if the purpose of your website is to sell large machinery, a blog about cryptocurrency is worthless to the overall objective of your site. Sure, you may get a tiny bit of traffic from the blog, but are they going to buy your large machinery? Probably not.

Once you determine what the hook is for your website – you need to find who will link to your hook. The websites you want to target will have to have something in common with your hook. If they don’t have any reason to link to you, they won’t. These websites can range from professional bloggers to service providers. Any website that has a customer base relevant to your website is worthy of a backlink.

Why Should they link to you?

Another factor you need to understand is that it takes effort for the website you’re contacting to link to you. That means the content you want them to link to will have to be worthy of their time and effort. The higher quality your content the more likely they are to put in the effort in to link to your website.

The last step is to contact the website to obtain the link. It’s very important to word your message in a way that it doesn’t look like an automated email. Do some research about the website you’re contacting to personalize the email as much as you can. Also, remember that they’re doing you a favor — they don’t owe you anything. They will link to you if they believe your website is worthy of a link. You can also send a follow up message if they don’t respond.

What to avoid

Avoid any shady SEO providers who try to build backlinks by spending money on spam links. Google knows when you try to do this – they actually implement constant updates to their ranking algorithm to catch people trying to take advantage of their system. Once you get caught (and you will) your rankings will plummet and traffic will drop to a fraction of what you were getting before. The easy way out is never the answer when it comes to SEO.

Links are still a very important ranking factor. Some providers only do on-page SEO and don’t put in the effort required to obtain links. Doing 50% of the job will only give you 50% of the results. Your SEO provider should be focusing on their off-page SEO as much if not more than on-page SEO. If you don’t already have an SEO provider or believe your current one isn’t focusing on off-page SEO, you should contact LaunchUX to find out what we could do for you!

6 Parts of a Well-Optimized Webpage

December 15, 2020 LaunchUX

Google is constantly changing its search algorithm. This method keeps websites from cheating the algorithm to get a Top 4 ranking, but it can make the average SEO copywriter’s job difficult. In this blog post, we’ll be discussing 6 components that will help you increase your rank on Google while still producing quality content.

1. Site Speed

The loading speed of your site may be one of the most crucial parts of a well-optimized webpage. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got the best content with the catchiest title. If your site takes too long to load, people will abandon the site before they get a chance to engage. According to Kissmetrics, 47% of users expect a webpage to load in 2 seconds or less. Any longer than 2 seconds, and your users will back out of the page and find something else.

Faster site speed means better conversions. If you’re unsure about your site speed, you can enter your URL into a load time tool like Google PageSpeed Insights. Most site speed tools will show your page loading time on both desktop and mobile. You can improve your site speed by removing old site content or plugins. Even the smallest improvement can make a difference; every second counts.

2. Headlines

The majority of copywriters write their headline last, brainstorming a title that is vaguely attractive and fits the bulk of their subject material. On the contrary, a headline should be the first thing you write. A well-optimized page features a headline that anchors each subject point together to explore an overall idea.

The headline is the first thing that users will read, and many readers use it to determine whether it is worth their time to continue reading. They won’t want to read your content if your headline looks like an afterthought. To increase the impact of your headline, we suggest being catchy and concise. Preferably, your headline should be 72 characters or less. Adding numbers to your title (when applicable) is an added bonus for attracting readers.

3. Content

One of the ways to please the Google Gods is by producing continuously fresh content. We don’t recommend publishing every day, but you can increase website traffic by posting relevant content 2-3 times per week. This will tell Google that your page is active and worth sharing.

For content that makes both Google and your readers happy, you should be tactical with your keyword placement. Over-optimization and keyword stuffing is a red flag to Google and will likely be hidden. For best practice, we suggest including your focus keyword in the headline, introduction, and conclusion. The keyword density in your content should be at or below 5.5%. If you use WordPress, installing tools like Yoast SEO can help you keep track of keyword frequency. Above all, your keywords should read well through your text. If you’re too concerned about keyword stuffing, your text will seem fragmented and inorganic.

Above all, know your readers and the issues they experience. Your content should be something your users enjoy reading and can use as a point of reference. Producing quality content can establish brand loyalty and demonstrate your field expertise. If your content is perfectly optimized but lacks substance, you’ll likely see a drop in website traffic and click through rates.

4. Page Links

As previously mentioned, quality content is a great way to establish yourself as a trusted industry expert. Adding page links can help your readers learn more about a topic while enhancing your page optimization. Whether it be a link to a related blog post or a deep dive into a certain keyword, adding links to your webpages and other sites tells Google that you are well connected across a certain online community. Adding links to useful tools or supplemental texts will further increase your credibility and relevance. Double check that your links are active, and anchor them to relevant keywords. It is also important to periodically audit old posts, removing any dead or broken links.

5. Meta Description

A meta description is the 1-2 sentences under a website’s title tag on Google. It acts as a brief content summary and guides the search engine toward your page. A meta description consists of a subject preview, a keyword or two, and a call to action. This is the place where you tell readers, “We have the information you’re looking for. Call us!” If you use WordPress, Yoast SEO can help you create an impactful meta description for your page. Again, place your keywords so that the meta description reads well. When you develop an eye for SEO, the fragmented and keyword-stuffed efforts will become harder to ignore.

6. Title Tags

A title tag is the phrase on a Google search that links to your page. When someone searches a keyword or series of keywords, your title tag and meta description tell Google whether your page would be beneficial for the keyword query. To create an impactful title tag, we suggest keeping it between 50-60 characters.

Users tend to search with either intent to learn or intent to buy. When a user has an intent to buy, they may use specific keywords to find the right make or model of a product. For e-commerce sites, it is important to use these specific keywords to connect users with your specific products. Users who are searching for information may use less specific keywords, especially when they are unsure of the correct name of something. For sites providing information about a topic, it might be wise to use related keywords as well as your target keyword.

Overwhelmed? LaunchUX Can Help.

These six parts of a well-optimized page may not launch you to the number one spot on Google, but they can help to improve your ranking. If all the technicalities and techniques are too much to remember, LaunchUX can help. We pride ourselves in SEO and web development, delivering quality results, fast. Our team has the experience and resources you need to boost your page and connect you with potential customers. Ready to improve your online visibility? Request a free review of your website today.

Case Study: Fastest Web Hosting

November 2, 2020 LaunchUX

Page load speed is a critical factor that search engines use to determine ranking and end users experience firsthand. This case study demonstrates how LaunchUX offers better page load speeds than two national competitors and what that means for our web hosting clients.

Why Does Page Load Speed Matter?

For a professional website, there are two primary concerns when it comes to web page loading times:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

It is often said that page loading speeds affect SEO, but exactly how it factors into a web page’s overall SEO score is rarely depicted clearly as it is in these side-by-side comparisons where the results are expressed in easily-understood letter grades. Search engines – in this case Google and Yahoo – want to provide their users with the best possible experience, which includes sending them to pages with the fastest page load times (among other factors). In other words, these scores could be said to express how search engines experience the technical aspects of a website.

User Experience (UX)

On the other side, are the human visitors to a website, and the major factors of consideration here are impressions and page abandonment. A recent survey found that 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load. Another found that 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than three seconds to load. Not only does a slow page load speed increase bounce rates and reduce conversions, but it also affects the overall brand image of the company.

The Page Load Speed Test:

To conduct this triple-header page load speed comparison, we loaded an identical fresh install of WordPress using Namecheap, GoDaddy and LaunchUX. The sessions were then graded using the testing platform GTmetrix.

About the Independent Testing Platform:

GTmetrix uses 27 recommendations from Google’s PageSpeed and 18 recommendations from Yahoo’s YSlow. GTmetrix performs the tests simultaneously and distills the results into general performance scores assessing various factors affecting the web page’s load time, which can be further examined in detail.

Page Load Speed Test Results:

With the fresh install of WordPress, Namecheap and GoDaddy both took 3 seconds to load and got a PageSpeed score of 95% (A) and a YSlow score of 89% (B).

According to GTmetrix, the average PageSpeed score is 74% and the average YSlow score is 77%.

LaunchUX loaded in 1.8 seconds and received a PageSpeed score of 98% (A) and a YSlow score of 94% (A).

Key Takeaways:

LaunchUX’s hosting service beat Namecheap and GoDaddy’s page load times by 1.2 seconds and scored higher in both PageSpeed and YSlow.
Keep in mind that these results are based on a blank, fresh install of WordPress. Once a website is built on this foundation, these times will only grow because more resources like system memory are being used, so it’s important to shave as many seconds as possible wherever you can.
LaunchUX uses commercial-grade software and web building tools like LiteSpeed [learn more about why we use LiteSpeed here] so businesses can put forth the best possible online presence without sacrificing their page load scores. Namecheap and GoDaddy rely on open source alternatives such as Apache, which aren’t as effective at maintaining an ideal page load speed. Professional businesses should rely on commercial-grade software solutions – both customers and search engines will notice the difference.
Once you factor in the add-ons such as SSL-certificates, backups, etc. (all included with LaunchUX), Namecheap, GoDaddy and LaunchUX are competitively priced but LaunchUX gives you more speed for your money.

Conclusion

When we’re talking about overall web optimization, we’re talking about:

“Secure, fast-loading websites that deliver quality, regularly-updated content whether it is accessible on a computer, a smartphone or a tablet while maintaining an active social media presence.”

These test results demonstrate and confirm LaunchUX’s detailed efforts on the “fast-loading” component of that sentence because users and search engines respond to everything – even if they aren’t consciously aware of it.

To learn more about our comprehensive approach optimization that puts equal emphasis on human users and search engines and put your current website to the test (the consultation is free!) contact us today.

Why We Use LiteSpeed at LaunchUX

October 7, 2020 LaunchUX

WordPress is one of the most common Content Management Systems (CMS) available. When it comes to hosting a WordPress website, there are three common options: Apache, LiteSpeed, and NGINX. When it comes to hosting a WordPress website – the best choice is LiteSpeed. Since WordPress is one of the most common CMS used – any website built on WordPress is vulnerable to hackers. WordPress is also open source, meaning hackers can shut down your site by infiltrating through plugins.

There are plenty of reasons why LiteSpeed is our preferred web server software. Here are a few:

LiteSpeed Offers Built-in Security:

Like I said earlier, websites built on WordPress are vulnerable to hackers. That’s why the built in security of LiteSpeed is so important. They protect the most important and vulnerable files. The security can also block login attempts by IP address. This is done by setting an automatic quota of login attempts allowed. Once the user fails the certain number of attempts they will be IP banned from attempting to log into your website.

LiteSpeed Increases Performance:

The speed of your website is very important. You don’t want potential customers to be waiting up to 10 seconds for your website to load. Most people don’t have the patience to wait 10 seconds. It’s also not uncommon for website visitors to even leave within three seconds if your site isn’t loading fast enough. LiteSpeed is perfect for busy websites. They serve static content faster than every other web server. It also increases performance for your PHP files by using its PHP LSAPI. Websites are built using numerous programming languages – but PHP is one of the more common languages used. That’s why it’s so important for your site to be optimized for PHP.

LiteSpeed Provides Better Caching for Static Content and Ecommerce:

LiteSpeed is perfect for websites that contain a lot of static content such as images and descriptions. This built in cache really helps the load times of your website. The Web Server’s cache engine is built into the server core and even has its own LSCache plugin. This plugin optimizes the pages, images, and CSS (styling) for your website. This allows you to not have to download other plugins to optimize your website. The less plugins your website uses – the better. If you have an ecommerce site, it’s very likely that you will use woocommerce if your site was built on wordpress. The built-in LSCache provides support for woocommerce as well.

Better All-Around Hosting Results:

Overall the benefits of LiteSpeed hosting is that your site is more secure and loads faster. This gives your customers the peace of mind knowing that your website is secure while also keeping the instant gratification of your customers by having faster load times.

Why LaunchUX Recommends WordPress

August 6, 2020 LaunchUX

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to most people that WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS). It’s a great tool for creating and managing your website, and any company can benefit from its features. When creating a website there are so many CMSs to choose from each with their own pros and cons.

Here are five reasons why LaunchUX recommends WordPress as the best CMS:

WordPress is Free

It is an open source software, which means it’s free to edit, use and redistribute. You can use it for any kind of project you like – blogs, eCommerce stores, personal use, advertising, and much more (although some of those will require plugins that are paid). On its own, it is completely free – no matter how much traffic your website brings in. You’ll never have to pay a penny unless you want to upgrade to a better version or have a site professionally designed.

It’s the Most Popular CMS

With such a large user base you can be confident that WordPress developers will continue to support and upgrade it. If you choose to pay for it, you will have 24 hour customer support Monday to Friday. Because the website building platform is so popular, there are endless guides and tutorials online. People will have already produced numerous guides and tutorials for pretty much anything you might need to learn how to do.

WordPress is SEO Friendly

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is how you increase traffic to your site through organic search engine results. The better the SEO of your website, the higher you will appear on Google searches. The framework for WordPress makes it easy for search engines to crawl your websites so that websites built on the platform will rank higher than websites on other CMSs. There are also some very useful free SEO plugins to help you grow your website’s SEO. And you can always contact LaunchUX for SEO assessments and advice – it’s kinda’ our thing.

It’s Safe and Secure

WordPress is a very safe and secure platform. WordPress has a high security standard for their platform. They continuously update their platform and the plugins that integrate with it to avoid all efforts by hackers to get into websites built on their platform. Keeping your WordPress version up to date will also fight off bugs and potential security threats.

And It Keeps Getting Better

WordPress is evolving by the day to improve its user friendly interface and features. As time goes on they will continue upgrading their systems and fixing any bugs that may be present at the time.

You can expect that all of the features I listed above will continue to improve as well.

Overall, you can use WordPress for both personal and commercial websites. There’s very little that you can’t do on WordPress. If you aren’t already using this CMS then we highly recommend considering it for your business’s website.

Benefits of Subscription-based Websites

July 30, 2020 LaunchUX

Subscription-based websites are becoming more popular for business owners. There are many reasons for businesses to build membership sites: supply replenishment, creating a private area for your customers, creating a stable income, creating relationships with customers, easier forecasting, and much more.

And subscription-based websites are very convenient for your customers as well. The majority of people either don’t have the time or just can’t be bothered to constantly have to re-order their online supplies. It’s also not uncommon for people to just simply forget to re-order online supplies.

These are the main reasons why you should consider integrating subscription-based services to your business’s website:

Subscription-based Websites Offer More Reliable Income

Members pay a monthly (or quarterly, yearly, etc..) fee in exchange for access to your content, which also means you can continuously build upon your revenue every time you get more signups. Subscriptions can easily be marketed within your strategy, and there are also new web design software and tools to make it easier to offer tiered subscription services. Adding subscription services to an already existing website isn’t difficult (ask us how). The overall value of a subscription-based website is much higher than the time and money it will take to add to your website.

Memberships Help Create and Maintain Customer Relationships

When you create subscription-based websites, you are really creating communities. Your members sign up in the first place because they are committed to your business – whether it’s for entertainment or convenience. They are likely to be interested in anything your business is offering. If you create value for your customers by treating them well and exceeding their expectations, then you are adding value for your customers and getting loyalty from them. Loyal followers are customers who believe in your company and are more likely to share your website and services with their friends and family. Having a loyal customer base is worth a lot these days.

Subscription-based Websites Can Grow Your Audience, Brand and Overall Value

Whenever you are creating subscription-based websites, you will need to keep up with an ongoing flow of content for your subscribers. As you add more content, your website and community will grow, more people will sign up, which will increase your revenue and free up your time to create even more content, which attracts even more subscribers, and so on.

Subscriptions Make Financial Forecasting Easier

Subscription-based websites provide a steadier baseline of revenue to work with, which allows businesses build out with confidence. While it’s true that members will come and go, the revenue is generally more predictable and reliable than other business models. Knowing that your business has a strong base of subscribers makes it easier to try new things, like ad campaigns or products, because the recurring income stream can serve as a safety net should new projects underperform or even fail.

E-commerce is Critical During the COVID-19 Pandemic

July 23, 2020 LaunchUX

For a while now, consumers have been embracing the convenience of online shopping. It’s one of the primary reasons why malls are closing in favor of Amazon and other large online retailers. But for small and medium-sized businesses that rely on local residents for sales, it’s possible that there hadn’t been a need to have an e-commerce option. Until now. As long as COVID-19 remains a factor, it will be necessary to have an e-commerce option for your customers.

Nobody knows what the future holds for small businesses, but it’s safe to assume that even after the pandemic:

E-commerce isn’t going anywhere
There will be an advantage to offering multiple sales paths for your customers

Here’s why adding e-commerce functionality is the best option for retailers who are hoping to ride out the storm and keep their businesses afloat as well as some advice on how to do it.

Customers are quickly adapting to e-commerce on account of COVID-19

All US residents have been affected by social distancing and stay at home orders the past five months. These reactions to COVID-19 have had a large impact on online sales and will forever change e-commerce. Eventually all of the restrictions will be lifted, but that won’t change the habits consumers have developed during quarantine. People will still continue to use online sales from their favorite retailers purely for convenience. Just like the businesses who hesitated to transition into adding online sales – there were plenty of consumers who used to hesitate to order products online. Fortunately for you, quarantine has made those consumers transition to ordering their products online. Businesses who have already added e-commerce to their websites have already seen the benefits.

Satisfy your customers and Google through mobile optimization

Not only are your customers online, but they’re also mobile, and an increasing number of e-commerce sales come from these mobile users. It’s important for your e-commerce-enabled website to be designed accordingly. If your website has too much clutter or is too difficult for mobile users, then they will be discouraged and abandon your e-commerce site in search of an easier one within seconds. Search engines also consider how mobile-friendly your website is when determining their ranking. The more mobile-optimized your website, the higher it will appear when customers Google it – wherever they happen to be.

During the COVID-19 pandemic (and after) the checkout process needs to be as simple possible

When designing your e-commerce website, be sure to make the checkout process as efficient and streamlined as possible. This may seem like a no-brainer but transaction abandonment increases with each additional step. Ideally, a customer should be able to find what they’re looking for, make the product selection and go through their entire checkout process in five clicks or less.

That said, payment options are nice

The last tip to increase your online sales is to provide as many payment options as possible. Consumers have more control than ever before in terms of how they actually pay for products online. Additionally, for the foreseeable future, cash will be problematic and contactless payment systems will be increasingly appealing to both customers and businesses. By offering a variety of payment options, especially newer services that are becoming increasingly popular on mobile, you’re making it easier for customers to actually give you their money. The last thing you want is a customer to find the product they want and then see that you don’t have the payment option they were looking for.

In conclusion, COVID-19 has been a wake-up call for business owners who had yet to incorporate e-commerce into their websites.

Investing in e-commerce solutions today, will continue paying off in the form of online sales in the post-COVID-19 world.

And it might make it easier to ride out future disasters.

How To Increase eCommerce Sales

July 5, 2020 LaunchUX

Increasing ecommerce sales is a very important goal for every company that has online sales. Fortunately there are plenty of tactics to boost ecommerce sales – many of these tactics can be implemented immediately and others are more of a long term solution for increasing sales. Here are some important topics to consider:

Quality Product Images

Appearance is very important for how your consumers perceive the quality of your products. High-quality images will not only showcase the product but possibly address questions your customer has. The better the quality – the more likely they will buy your product. Also consider having a wide variety of angles of your products.

Understand your traffic

A key ingredient of increasing ecommerce sales is to drive relevant traffic. If you stop wasting time and resources that drive irrelevant traffic to your site, you will increase your sales. Know your customer base and cater everything towards them. There’s no reason to try to pull in people who are less likely to buy your products.

Provide as many payment options as possible

Consumers have more control than ever before in terms of how they actually pay for products online. By offering more payment options, especially newer services that are becoming increasingly popular on mobile, you’re making it easier for customers to give you their money.

Include customer testimonials

While it is possible that negative comments can hurt your sales, positive customer reviews will help boost your sales. Reviews can help sway a customer who is considering buying a product from you. Allowing previous customers to write reviews helps provide insights to the experience of both the buying and using of the product. Having all reviews on your website – including negative reviews – shows that you have confidence in your product.

Design an efficient site

This may seem like a no-brainer but having an efficient site helps boost your online sales. At LaunchUX we like to design a site where at most a customer has 4 clicks: Category > product > add to cart > checkout. The more clicks a potential customer has the less likely they will buy your products.

Optimize your website for mobile

A lot of ecommerce sales come from mobile – so having your website designed for mobile will increase your sales. The more optimized your website is for mobile the higher it will appear on a google search.

Advantages to Websites Designed for TeleMedicine

May 19, 2020 LaunchUX

With the rise of popularity with ordering products and services online – why not add online services for your practice? TeleMedicine, also known as TeleHealth has many benefits for both primary care and specialists. TeleHealth/TeleMedicine is defined as the delivery and facilitation of medical and health-related services via telecommunications and digital communications technologies. LaunchUX has helped several medical practices make the transition to telemedicine easier by incorporating all of their services and forms into their current website.

Here are 5 main benefits of TeleMedicine:

Telemedicine increases access for patients

Distance and travel time between patients and care providers can limit access to healthcare. Telemedicine overcomes distance and geographical barriers to healthcare, especially for specialized providers. Telemedicine can be particularly beneficial for patients in medically underserved communities and those in rural locations where there tend to have less healthcare providers. Telemedicine helps stretch provider networks in new ways to expand access for healthcare.

Improves patient satisfaction

Telemedicine makes it easier for patients to stay engaged in their healthcare. Patients tend to enjoy telemedicine for the convenience of not having to travel to the physical location. Patients also save money due to telemedicine which adds to their overall experience and encourages them to come back to your practice. Patients love the flexibility of real time care with their providers.

Improves the quality of healthcare

Technology can improve the service and delivery of treatment for acute conditions that before would have required an unnecessary ER visit. Telemedicine also reduces the expenses of caring for a patient or having to transport them to another location. It also makes the process of receiving treatment easier for patients that have to travel long distances to receive care.

Reduces healthcare costs

Online visits are cheaper than visiting the practice in person for both the patient and the provider – the patient saves money by not having to travel, pay for parking, daycare, etc.. and the provider saves money by reducing the expenses of having to care for a person onsite.

Increases the income of your practice

Not only does telemedicine reduce overhead costs but it also decreases the average time of visit – making telemedicine less time consuming than traditional medicine practices. The convenience of telemedicine also reduces the number of no-shows. The convenience of the visits will also encourage some patients to schedule more visits than they normally would if they had to visit in person.

Telemedicine should support and not replace, traditional healthcare practices. With telemedicine, care providers can continue to care for patients in-person while still providing the convenience of seeing patients online for follow up visits and check-ups. Technology can improve the quality of healthcare and make it accessible to more people. Telemedicine may provide opportunities to make healthcare more efficient, better coordinated and closer to home.

Local SEO Tips for Small Business Owners

March 19, 2020 LaunchUX

Local SEO is the optimization of a website for local search results. Smaller businesses who only have local clients should be focusing their local SEO.

Four reasons why small businesses need local SEO:

Helps you target locals.
Local SEO is very important for mobile searches and it helps you grow local connections.
Local SEO adds authenticity to your website. A local searcher is more likely to find your business to be authentic if it appears in a local search.
Local SEO offers a high return on investment (ROI). In terms of ROI, no other form of online marketing is as good as local SEO.

Four ways you can improve your local SEO:

Improve your Google business information

To get your listing to appear on a local search on google search and google maps, you need to create a Google My Business listing with up to date and accurate information.

On page SEO

To have good local SEO you need to get your on page SEO to be correct. Two main things you want on every page are:

The product you are offering
The location you serve

These are some on page SEO topics you should focus on:

Title tags
Header tags
Meta tags
Images
Page content
Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) on every page (this is usually done on the footer of every page). It is very important that your NAP is consistent on every page.

Ask for reviews

Reviews are very important in local rankings. More reviews and positive ratings will improve a businesses local ranking. Good reviews will also stand out to potential customers to help them make a decision.
Here are some ways to get your customers to give reviews for your website:

Create links to review websites on your website. (Google My Business, Yelp, Yellowpages, etc..)
Include links to review sites in your emails.
Ask your happy clients to write reviews for your website.
Have a business card with review site information

If you get any negative reviews you should address them in a courteous yet honest manner in accordance with Google’s Guidelines for reviews.

Optimize for voice search

Voice searches are becoming more popular by the day. It is important to optimize for how people ask questions when they speak into devices, as opposed to how they type out their searches. Your customers use more long tail keywords when they are doing voice searches compared with a regular search. Because of this, you’ll also have to adjust the SEO of your content to fit the more conversational tone of someone speaking.
When people are doing a voice search they tend to use the traditional question starters (who, what, when, where, why, and how).

Author: LaunchUX