Are you looking for Local SEO Tips for ranking your business higher in search engine results in Ocala, FL? If so, then this is the article for you.
Most of my customers come to me after trying one or both of the following things:
1. Creating a business website, and
2. Spending money on ads.
They have typically spent thousands of dollars on a website (that isn’t ranking organically) and spending sometimes thousands more on Google and Facebook ads (Per Month!), with little to no results, and no hope for a positive return on their investment.
If this sounds like you, listen carefully:
Unfortunately, the “If you build it, they will come” mentality just does not apply to ranking in search engines.
Merely having a website is not enough to rank on the first page of Google’s search results, and running expensive ads doesn’t always translate into traffic and sales.
If you’re like most business owners, you don’t have the time or knowledge to optimize your website for local results.
And most web design agencies are focused on the look of the website more than optimizing for local search engines, because business owner’s are happy with a website that looks good, even if it isn’t performing well.
Why Is Local SEO So Important?
In the above image I break down the Local Search Engine Results Page by the percent clicks that each section receives.
13.8% of Clicks for Local Service Ads
The first section is for Local Services Ads. Local business owners have paid a premium rate for these ads because they come with a “Google Guaranteed” badge, because Google screens these businesses and the ad comes with a money back guarantee of up to $2000.
These are a newer form of ad, specifically for lead generation for local businesses, and are only available for specific industries and in specific areas.
Despite the premium prices and the top slot on the SERP page, these only get 13.8% of the clicks.
11.1-14.1% of Clicks for PPC Ads
Below the Local Service Ads section you have the Pay-Per-Click Ads. These are the typical ads that ad agencies run for businesses when they talk about Google Ads Campaigns. You pay for each click that the ad receives. Costs per click can range from a few dollars to $100 or more, depending on the keywords you are going after, and effective monthly ad campaigns typically cost thousands.
2.0-2.3% Clicks on Map Results
The actual map presented in the Search Engine Result Page only receives 2-2.3% of the total clicks on the SERP.
Up until this point, all of the results have been ads.
The only way you get up there is to pay for it every single month.
28.8%-32.3% Click on the Local Pack Results
AKA – The Three Pack
This is where things start to really get juicy on the SERP’s page, and the first place that we see lots of clicks for organic results.
If you are a local business owner, one of your two biggest goals for Local SEO should be showing up in this organic result.
It gets more clicks than LSA & PPC combined!
43.9%-50.8% Clicks on Organic Search Results
Let’s face it, consumers are getting “ad blind” and head straight for the top result of the Organic Search Results.
The top 3 positions get 75% of all the organic search result clicks, and people on the second page are looked at less than 1% of the time.
The other one of your two biggest goals is to start ranking 1st on Google for your business’s products and services.
74.7-85.4% of ALL Clicks are on Organic Search Results
When you add up the clicks on the Map Results, Local Pack Results and Organic Search Results you have 75-85% of the Total Clicks on the SERP page!
If you’re on page 2… No one’s going to find you…
The 5 Most Clicked Positions in the SERP
- Organic Position 1 (25.5% of clicks w/LSA’s present, 27.4% w/o LSA’s)
- Local Pack Position 1 (16.1%/17.3%)
- Local Pack Position 2 (10.4%, 12%)
- PPC Top Position 1 (8.5%/10.5%)
- LSA Position 1 (7.4%)
How to rank Higher Fast?!
If you’re feeling a little anxious about your own business’s online presence, have no fear. I’ve compiled a list of 5 Local SEO tips that you can implement to rank higher in Ocala, FL (or cities like it).
5 Local SEO Tips for Ranking Higher in Ocala, FL
PC HandyMaam, LLC is located in Ocala, FL, in Marion County. The population of Ocala is roughly 60,000 people, with a little over 350,000 people in Marion County. Because of it’s smaller size and relative distance from any major metropolis, ranking higher in Ocala, FL for a local business is much easier than it would be for a larger city like Orlando, Tampa or Jacksonville.
In fact, I’ve seen a number of larger cities showing up in organic search results in our local area, because so many local business owners are NOT taking advantage of Local SEO techniques like On-Page SEO, or free services, like Google My Business, in order to help rank their business higher.
The following is a list of tips, that you can implement, in order to rank higher organically in Google’s local search results.
1. Claim, Verify, Optimize & Manage your Google My Business Listing
Claiming and verifying your business with Google is the first, best and fastest way for your business to start getting taken seriously by the search engine.
Optimizing your business listing can help it rank higher in Google’s Map results. Make sure your listing is complete and accurate. Upload high quality photos.
Manage your business listing by making sure you respond to all reviews in a timely and appropriate manner. Updating your customers on new products, services, events weekly or more, is another great way to show Google that you provide great customer service by engaging with your customers via their platform.
Click here to learn more about Improving Your Local Ranking On Google.
2. Claim, Verify, Optimize & Manage your other business listings.
Google is not the only place that people go to look for businesses. Bing, Yelp, and Apple Maps are just a few other places that consumers utilize to find your business.
In fact, these business listings are more important than you think. The more high quality business listings that you have linking back to your official business website, the more authority Google will give your business, and the higher you will rank.
The link above only audits a small list of places where you can claim your business.
If your business listing is not found or inaccurate, just head over to the website and claim your listing.
If this sounds like too much work, I would suggest hiring a local SEO service that can offer you a much larger package of business listings at an extremely reasonable rate (considering the amount of time an energy it will take to find the appropriate listings for your specific business and fill these all out yourself.)
3. Get more reviews.
Reviews may not have a large effect on where you rank in Google’s search results, but they are the #1 thing that customer’s look at when deciding which business to purchase from.
Looking back at the SERP image above, the #1 reason why people click on LSA’s is to Review the Rating.
So if you are spending money on ads, and you don’t have a good rating, or no rating at all, then you are throwing away money.
The good news is, over 70% of customers are willing to leave a review for a business, all you have to do is ask (and make it easy for them).
In the SEO industry, it’s called reputation management, and most good SEO agencies will offer it.
4. Create relevant content that is keyword optimized.
Most times when business owner’s come to me their website is what I like to refer to as a “place holder” website. It’s a shell really, with 5-6 pages, and the most basic of information and images.
While this may be all the information that you think your customer needs to know, Google likes content, high quality, focused content.
The best content for Local SEO will be a highly focused article, longer than 2000 words, about one specific product or service offered.
For example, if you are a roofer, you might offer residential, commercial and repairs as types of roofing services. Instead of grouping these all in one page. Have a detailed page on each topic. Go over everything a customer could possible want to know, and provide links to reliable resources.
Keyword research and content creation can be complex and time consuming, especially if you are in a highly competitive industry.
Reaching out to a Local SEO specialist is a great way to get highly optimized content specifically designed to rank your business in local results for your product and service keywords.
5. Include Structured Data in your Web Design
What is Structured Data?
In the simplest of terms, structured data is code formatted in a way that search engines can read it.
There are all types of Structured Data. Local Business is one type of structured data category, and adding things like the business’s name, phone number and address into a Local Business markup, can mean the difference between your business being listed, or not.
Unfortunately, advanced Structured Data is complex, and requires an understanding of JSON-LD (Google’s preferred markup language).
Fortunately, Google has created 2 amazing tools that can help you not only write the markup, but also test the markup before you paste it into your website.
Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper generates the structured data markup for a number of page types including: Articles, Book Reviews, Datasets, Events, Job Postings, Local Businesses, Movies, Products, Question & Answer Pages, Restaurants, Software Applications & TV Episodes.
Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool allows you to paste the Code Snippet created by the Markup Helper, and preview how the data will present in the search results. Use Fetch URL feature after you’ve embedded the code into your website to ensure that the markup is live.
Need Help With Local SEO?
Are you done wasting money on ads, and ready to start ranking higher, organically?
Call Candice (352) 388-1737, to schedule a free consultation, and discuss your local business’s specific goals and needs.