Local San Diego SEO

Tips from a Local San Diego SEO Expert

The San Diego market is competitive, but as a business owner, you already know that. You probably already know that getting ranked higher on Google and other search engines can increase your profits quickly. Following are a few tips you can use to improve local SEO San Diego for small business owners.

Tip 1: Keep The Content Coming

You already have a website, but are you leveraging its potential? Adding a blog, or a content area, to your website can help you rank for more keywords and get more customers to your website. A little keyword research in your market can quickly uncover phrases your customers are searching for. You can create content targeting these phrases to attract more customers to your site. Many of these phrases are easier to get high SEO rankings, too.

Tip 2: Focus Locally

Since we are talking about the San Diego area, it is critical to keep all of your SEO efforts focused on San Diego, but is that enough? You should consider getting even tighter with your marketing. Google loves to give higher ranking based on proximity. If you are located in Del Mar, Chula Vista, La Mesa or in of the other communities in the area, push to rank in those areas first. It is easier to rank in more precise areas and can result in your phone ringing non-stop.

Tip 3: Reviews

Reviews are critical for your Local SEO San Diego. Yes, it is a bit stressing to know your business is in the hands of what other people say, but it is becoming a necessity. A key way to improve your reviews scores is to start asking your customers to give you reviews, especially your happy customers. Not everyone you ask will do a review, but it will help you get more positive reviews which can outweigh that single bad review that is bound to creep in someday. Focus first on getting reviews on Google, but do not neglect Yelp and Facebook.

Tip 4: Review Your Name, Address, and Phone Number Consistency

How many places have you posted information about your business? Are you sure they are all listing the right business name, the right address and the right phone number? Google looks for consistency in what they learn about your business. If you have different information listed all over the place, Google may believe you are not serious. Take time to review the listing or ask an SEO consultant to do a NAP consistency review for you.

Tip 5: Is Your Google Business Listing Complete?

It is stunning to see how many businesses have not claimed their business listing on Google, or have left it incomplete. This is your big opportunity to tell Google all about your business. Make sure you fill out everything. Include picture in your listing. Make sure you add your website. Are the business hours right? Have you created a FAQ on the listing so you can take advantage of keywords you are targeting? Remember, this not only helps you get ranked for your site, but affects how you are ranked in map listings, too. Do you really care if they call you by finding the number on your website or your Google My Business Page?

Tip 6: Leverage Directories

There are a few directories you need to take advantage of to increase your rankings and get people calling you. Here are the to directories we recommend for Local SEO San Diego purposes:

- Yellow Pages
- Yahoo Small Business
- Local.com
- Yelp
- FourSquare

While still on this topic, are you a Chamber of Commerce Member? Are you in any other business groups? Make sure your member information includes a listing to your website and has all of the proper information. These smaller local business directories can have a big impact.

Tip 7: Site Speed

This is probably one you will need to call the professionals in for help with. Google puts a lot of emphasis on visitor satisfaction, which includes how fast your website loads. Are your graphics bringing your site load times to a crawl? Do you have plugins running in the background that affect speed? Are you on slow hosting? Have your site load times tested.

Tip 8: Mobile, Mobile, Mobile

Yes, we repeated it three times and maybe should have listed this higher in our tips. Your site needs to work flawlessly on mobile devices. It needs to load fast on phones. Google is placing a higher and higher emphasis on mobile optimized sites, as they should. Look around you. Everyone is searching for information and making buying decisions using their phone. Test your site on your phone and on other phones, too. If it isn't working perfectly, get it fixed.

Tip 9: Your Customer Spoke The Word, And Google Answered

One of the hottest trends in SEO and getting more business is voice search. Think about all of those smart speakers that were sold at Christmas time. Google Home devices, Amazon Alexa devices and almost every phone on the planet can be used for voice searches and people are using them. Stop and think about the questions people will ask using their voice, instead of what they would type. Make sure you have content that targets those spoken questions so you are found in voice search results.

These 9 tips will not solve all of your local SEO needs, but will help you get on the right track. If you need further advice on how to implement local SEO in San Diego, consult with a professional. Being listed at the top of the Google listings can transform your business.