You’re doing business in Houston, and you’ve built a beautiful and functional website. You have a great product, but sales are flat to nonexistent and you’re frustrated.
How do you stand out in a sea of websites and get your product or service noticed?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for your business and local SEO in Houston is the place to start. But what is it and how do you do it?
In this guide to local SEO Houston tips, we’ll help you get your Local SEO Houston Commerce store off the ground with the top 10 ways to boost your organic traffic.
What Is Local SEO in Houston?
Google uses algorithms to rank websites. Like everyone else, you’re aiming for the coveted number one spot on the search engine result pages (SERPS).
How does the algorithm work? It checks your site against the search keywords and other on-site and off-site factors. Some of the factors include popularity, relevance, and prominence.
The algorithm matches your search query against all indexed websites. It then determines which site best answers your question. Those are the sites you see on the results pages.
Local SEO Houston is a little different because it focuses on results near you. The search engine does this even if you don’t include a city name like Houston. It’s enough for the search engine to understand your intent.
When you’re searching for a burger place, you intend to find one near you and Google understands that. Mobile phones fueled the explosive growth of local searches, making local SEO more important than ever.
Did you know that half of all people who did a search on their mobile phone went to the actual store within a day of the search? That’s a powerful illustration of why you need to work with a local SEO agency in Houston if you don’t know how to do SEO yourself.
Boosting your own local SEO is doable, though not easy. Here are 10 tips for boosting your ‘local SEO in Houston’.
1. Google My Business and Google Business Profile
Google My Business (GMB) is an essential tool for marketing your business to “Local SEO Houston Tips” traffic. Google is discontinuing the GMB app soon and moving to Google My Business Profile (GBP).
For now, it’s crucial to claim your listing on GMB. You can find the directions here. By filling out the details and adding some relevant photos, you’ll make it easier for locals to find your business.
Experiment with the post feature on GMB to publicize events, make offers, and showcase products.
2. Local SEO Houston Tips will optimize Keywords
Keywords are important to both regular SEO and local SEO. If you use local SEO services in Houston, they’ll help you identify the best keywords for your business.
Use keywords that inform the search engines what your website is about. Google Analytics offers free keyword research tools on the internet. The tools offer insights about the keywords such as how often people search them.
Use keywords in blog posts and sprinkled throughout your website. Only use the keywords in a natural manner on the page. Don’t overuse keywords.
3. On-Page Keywords
On-page keywords are keywords that you use in prominent places. Include them in your meta descriptions, title tags, and heading tags. Avoid overusing them here too.
Always work to include keywords in the most natural way possible.
4. Local SEO Houston Tips For Getting High-Quality Backlinks
High-quality backlinks are important for your local SEO. These are links to other websites that refer to your site.
Do you have a good relationship with others in your industry? Offer to write a guest post for their blog that has a link back to your page.
Getting backlinks from well-trafficked, reputable sites is a great way to build organic traffic to your site.
5. Offer Valuable Content
Do you have a blog on your website? That’s one of the best ways to optimize SEO and provide customers and potential customers with valuable content.
Keep your blog current by publishing a post at least once a week. This helps the search engines and your customers find you.
Not sure what to post about? That leads us to our next point…
6. Local SEO Houston Tips Understands Customer Needs
You must understand your customers’ needs if you want to offer valuable and relevant content. If your customer needs widgets, then discuss widgets on your blog. Give your customer as much good information about widgets as you can.
Keep your content evergreen – content that still has appeal months and even years later.
7. Local SEO Houston Tips Helps to increase Website Appeal
Have you ever landed on a home page only to close it as fast as possible because of ads, pop-ups, and slow loading times? Keep your website appealing with an uncluttered look and high-quality photos.
Infographics with searchable text keep your customers on your site longer. This entices them to explore the rest of your site, hopefully buying a product or service in the process.
8. Local SEO Houston Tips Correct and Consistent NAP Information
NAP is your name and place information. Ensure that it’s consistent and correct across the website.
Did your business move? Correct your NAP information everywhere it appears.
9. Local SEO Houston Tips Optimize for Mobile
Did you know that 85 percent of American adults own a smartphone? Optimize your website for mobile devices or risk losing a huge number of customers.
10. Use a Local SEO Agency in Houston to Focus on Traditional SEO
While you’re busy focusing on local SEO, don’t forget about traditional SEO. A few things you need for traditional SEO include:
- Improve website navigation and structure
- Improve site-loading speed
- Use HTTPS protocol for a more secure site
- Avoid duplicate content
- Traditional SEO and local SEO work together to drive more organic traffic to your site.
Local SEO Services in Houston
Something a lot of website users are forgetting is that those smartphone users are also using voice search. Local SEO Houston tips help you optimize your site for voice search too.
The Best Local SEO in Houston
Want to rank high for local SEO Houston Tips? Local SEO is a big task and you need to know a bit about it. Use these above tips to get started driving more organic traffic to your website today.
Are you overwhelmed? We offer local SEO services in Houston to help you get your website off the ground. Contact us today for more information!