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This guide will walk you through each step to improve your local SEO rankings. It’s important for your business to be found when potential customers are searching for your services.
More than 40% of traffic is captured at the top of the search engine results page in organic listings alone. Having prime real estate in Google Maps is an added bonus and a must if you want to get that phone ringing.
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Search Engine Optimization for Miami Florida Businesses
If you’re thinking about getting your business found online, local SEO rankings is your answer. We want to guide you through every step of the way so your business can benefit from local searches.
Search engine optimization is gaining popularity across the globe. Your business needs to be found on Google, or it simply won’t exist.
SEO is a long process. Depending on the difficulty and competition in your industry, it can take significant time and resources. That being said, our guide is going to focus on getting the fastest results so your business can start attracting warm leads from Google organic search.
Before you go and start optimizing the pages you want to rank, you’re going to need to do some proper planning first.
Having a plan in place sets the foundation for a successful internet marketing campaign. This SEO guide is to help Miami businesses figure out a solid game plan.
Here’s a 5-Step Plan to Help You Rank Fast:
STEP #1: Keyword Research
There are a handful of really good keyword research tools out there, but one of my favorites is the Keywords Everywhere chrome extension add-on tool.
Anytime you search for something in Google, all the key metrics are conveniently placed right in front of you. Most importantly, it shows the related keyword searches in the sidebar.
With related keyword searches, you can find some really good long tail search phrases to help generate more traffic. Long tails also help in ranking for your trophy keyword, or the keyword you desire to rank for.
Another keyword tool you’re going to want to use for local SEO is the Keywords Heaven research tool. It pulls data from Google and displays the level of difficulty for your desired keyword.
If you’re looking for an easy all-in-one solution, go with KW Finder. This tool shows you the level of difficulty, related search phrases and monthly search volume.
KW Finder is one of our SEO weapons and helps rank our clients for buyer intent keywords. Finding the right buyer intent search phrases can really boost sales and conversions for our business partners.
Once you get the tools you need and do the proper keyword research, it’s time you to start planning.
Step #2: Choosing a Domain Name to Help You Rank
We understand that some of you may already have a domain in place, and that’s just fine. However, if you’re looking to re-brand, create a lead generation source or if you’re just starting your website then choosing a domain is extremely important.
Based on your keyword research, you’ll find a common word that is being searched more than others for your specific niche. Our recommendation is to include that word into your domain name.
Why is having a keyword in domain name important?
First of all, having a word that gets searched a lot for in your domain name shows how relevant your business actually is.
Second, for every link you build you’ll have one of your keywords in it. This helps you become super relevant for the niche that you’re in. When you become relevant, you add trust in the eyes of Google.
What if I already have a domain name and it doesn’t include a keyword?
It makes it a little more difficult, but not impossible. It’s just going to take a little more technical work, time, and money to get your site ranking and building trust in search engines.
Our company specializes in SEO for Miami businesses. Contact us today and we can show you how we can add our expertise to your digital marketing plan.
Step #3: Setting Up Your Site Properly (UMAC)
What is UMAC?
The simple answer is we like to give away information that sticks with our readers!
All of these letters represent a solid structural foundation for your website. Understanding what each means can really help you rank much faster, especially local SEO.
The letter “U” stands for URL.
This has everything to do with site structure. Now more than ever in the past, Google is heavily favoring sites that hold major relevance in the niche they represent.
What’s the key takeaway for URL?
Make sure you put your keywords in each URL (For example: mybusinessname.com/miami-main-keyword).
The “M” stands for Meta Data. Meta can be extremely helpful for users when they’re searching for anything on Google.
You may have never heard of Meta Data, but you probably see it all the time in search results. It’s what shows up in the title and description when you’re browsing the list of sites that show up.
Be sure to add your keywords in the Meta Title and Description, but also keep in mind to add an enticing way to get someone to click on your search listing.
The “A” is for Anchor text. It’s mainly used to help visitors on your site to navigate around easier. The best example is to visit Wikipedia. They’re the master at anchor text.
Search engines, like Google, value anchor text to the point where it is a ranking factor. A common misconception is that anchor text on your own website doesn’t help.
That’s not true at all. If you’re strategic in using anchor text on your site, it can absolutely help you rank for a specific keyword.
Lastly, the “C” in UMAC represents Content. You’ll hear many bloggers talk about how “content is king.”
The truth is that good informative content provides value to the reader. This is also a place on your website where you can add longer tail keywords, keyword variations and exact match keywords.
Try your best to not over-do keywords in your content.
If anything, place your keywords in your content naturally and not too many times. If you follow all the steps in this guide, you should already have the keyword in your URL.
You shouldn’t keyword stuff because being over-optimized can get you stuck on page 2. Not having the keyword in there enough will never hurt you. So keep that in mind when you’re writing your content.
How do you find someone to write your content?
There are many content writers out there that will do all the research, optimize and create content in an engaging style that will help it convert.
This is one of the most important elements in ranking on Google, and perhaps the fastest way to get the ball rolling.
Our company provides outstanding SEO content writing services for a Miami based business. Contact us to get started with content that ranks and converts.
Step #4: Building Your Backlinks Foundation
Now that you did all the keyword research and structured your site the correct way, it’s time to start building links!
We like to compare link building to building a home. A sturdy foundation will be essential so your site can bear the elements.
The elements in this case are Google’s algorithm changes and negative SEO attacks from your competition. Unfortunately, it happens.
Proper link building will help your site gain trust from search engines, which in turn, helps you rank at the top.
How do you build links properly?
By using a social fortress. You accomplish this by setting up your main social profiles. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.
These social sites give you the opportunity to insert your URL, or website address.
There are two advantages with doing this:
- You build a backlink to a very high trusted website
- You can actually get traffic from these sources
How many social profiles should I build for my website?
We recommend building at least 100 social profiles to start out with. Going through the setup process is pretty simple and you should be very motivated to do it because it will help your local rankings.
Get Your Local SEO Rankings Going
Citations are one of the most important ranking factors in local search engine optimization.
If you’re looking to rank in Google Maps (which any local business owner in Miami should want), having citations set up properly is a major advantage.
What are Citations?
Citations are links you can get from business directory sites such as Yelp, Yellow Pages and Manta.
These directories allow you to include your business Name, Address and Phone Number in them. This is commonly referred to as your NAP.
Every detail counts when building citations. When including your NAP, you should double check that every citation looks exactly the same.
An Example of NAP would be something like this:
My Miami Business Name
55 Example Road, Suite 506 B
Miami, Florida 33101
786-555-5555
Start with your Google My Business and then make sure the rest of the citations match that listing.
Inconsistent citations can cause a drop in rankings and cause your site to get “stuck.” There are some really good services out there that handle this for you, or you can start building them out yourself.
How many citations do I need to outrank my competition?
Answering this question all depends on many factors.
Knowing every citation your competition has would be a huge advantage, don’t you think?
There are some really good services out there that offer citation audits, along with finding your competitors’ citations. You can also purchase add-ons that will match their links.
The two most popular services are White Spark and BrightLocal.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, our company provides this service and you can contact us to get started on the local Miami SEO process. We have helped many local business owners rank in Google Maps!
Creating your social fortress and local citations will be your ultimate backlinks foundation. It’s important to build these out perfectly because you’ll have them forever.
Step #5: Get Your Website Featured on Relevant Blogs and News Sites
Once you’ve built a powerful foundation, it will set you up for the ultimate ranking booster!
There are many instances where you won’t need to go this far and you’ll be happy with your rankings. That is, of course, if you do all the other steps correctly.
A good way to start is to build a PR campaign. Getting a press release allows your business to be featured on local news sites. It builds brand awareness and you get a backlink out of it.
The next thing you want to do is to start outreaching to blog owners from your niche.
Many of them allow guest posts and if you can add value to their blog they will most likely accept your request.
What exactly is blog outreach?
Blog outreach is a separate topic on its own, but a very important piece of building quality backlinks.
Here’s what you can do:
- Search for niche related blogs
- Contact the webmaster
- Ask if you can provide an informative article that will help their audience in exchange for a backlink.
What are the benefits of blogger outreach?
The goal should be to add value to other blogs related to your niche. Then, in return, get your URL on an extremely relevant and powerful website.
If you’re new to link building, make sure you do some research first or hire a professional to do it for you.
When you hire a digital marketing agency like ours, you get the advantage of placing your link on high authoritative and niche relevant news sites.
That’s because it has taken us years building relationships with site owners from hundreds of niches.
Conclusion
Using our tips to improve your local SEO rankings can really help your business in Miami, Florida.
Nothing beats warm organic traffic, and this guide shows you exactly how to do it.
We hope you learned something today about local SEO rankings. Visit our blog for more articles and subscribe to learn more about search engine marketing!