How SMBs Beat the Competition With Strong Local SEO Strategy

Good Oklahoma City SEO starts with a strong local search engine optimization (SEO) strategy because it is the most stable way for a small-to-medium business (SMB) to outpace others. The benefits of using local SEO are plenty and crucial to success, making it hard to ignore them.

Here’s what to know about using a local SEO strategy to help your Oklahoma City SMB rise above:

• Defining local SEO for your Oklahoma City business
• Three benefits that make having a local SEO strategy worthwhile
• Five parts needed in a strong local SEO strategy

There’s a lot to discuss, so get ready to take notes.

Let’s go!

Want to learn more about the Digital Authority Partners approach to SEO? Watch this video!

Local SEO for Oklahoma City SMBs

Local SEO is one type of SEO that every business needs. Its major strength is that it heavily emphasizes a target area and helps you rank better in local searches within it. Most people use it to boost their ability to draw traffic (web and foot traffic) to their business, especially their store.

Local SEO raises your target market’s awareness and aids brand-building efforts. Its primary goal is to take your brand from unknown to an established name for your core audience, especially in your target area. Getting started is relatively easy; the issue is consistently doing it right.

3 Core Benefits of a Strong Local SEO Strategy

Local SEO brings many critical advantages to SMBs, making it vital to an Oklahoma City SEO strategy. For instance, it aids in shaping your brand’s unique value to the local people, making it a central player within the area. Here are three core local SEO benefits shown in greater detail. 

• Create a unique value proposition for your business. A brand has to carry value to attract its target market, which is why local SEO emphasizes the customer. Knowing them and their needs allows your business to find new solutions to create and provide.
• Let your brand stand out more. Identity is a crucial part of what makes your brand stand out from the many others like it. A digital brand marketing strategy turns your local SEO into a way to create honest connections by selling the concept of your brand better.
• Become easy to find in searches. As the internet’s store of web pages grows, it changes how users conduct their searches. To meet them, you must refine your approach to SEO. Through local SEO, you solve the issue of location-specific searches. 

5 Integral Components of Excellent Local SEO

SEO has so many possible tactics that how to build a strong strategy for a business becomes a complicated decision. Each way has benefits and strengths but does not necessarily fit every situation or business. 

Here are five steps you need to take to get started with your Oklahoma City SEO strategy:

     1. Develop a Content Strategy

Content is the easiest and simplest form of SEO that any Oklahoma City SMB can use without much issue. It even has the added benefit of teaching you more about your target market’s main concerns. As with general SEO, though, aim to produce content that helps customers first of all.

In addition to the familiar content strategy basics of market and keyword research, a local content strategy must have a unique value for the area, for instance, by featuring writing about annual events in the city or any of its neighborhoods. Show off your expertise and your roots in the community with specific details in the articles you craft for your local target market.

     2. Foster Local Partnerships

Although content is a solid and sure way to get your local SEO strategy off on the right foot, it is not enough. You can only do so much on your own, and SEO content has a limit to how fast it can grow your business. Having local partners can change that and benefit everyone.

Work with and support other local businesses to power up each other’s local SEO strategies and gain more traction quickly by sharing audiences. For instance, writing about a partner business or making special offers helps both parties leverage each other’s brands.

     3. Make Profiles on Listings

The business profile is a staple in local SEO, and much evidence exists for why your Oklahoma City SEO should include it. Google My Business (GMB) sits at the top of this tactic because it is directly tied to Google and Google Maps, which grant the greatest and most immediate visibility.

Other services, such as Bing, Apple, and Yahoo!, are valuable for increasing online reach and visibility. Local listings and directories, such as local sections of large platforms and your local Chamber of Commerce, are also essential for reaching more potential customers and partners. 

     4. Master the SEO Elements

High-quality content is more than just picking the best topics to write about; you also need to do on-page SEO to maximize its appeal and make it easier for search engines to index it properly. It is more than just local SEO keywords; it is a good starting point for improving your SEO rank.

Technical SEO, which refers to your website's user experience (UX) facets, likewise needs your attention. Your website should be dependable and usable for anyone in your target market, especially people on mobile devices. SEO only works when you properly cover all of your bases. 

     5. Manage Your Reputation

Reach is only the first step in applying your Oklahoma City SEO strategy, and it cannot get you far unless you know how to win people’s trust. Your reputation is everything in local SEO. The more reliable and authoritative you appear, the better you can attract potential customers.

Create an action plan for how you want to deal with negative perceptions of your brand. Set up brand management software to monitor your social profiles so you can immediately respond to users and customers. Even a negative review can be an opportunity to show how you handle problems promptly. Keep engagement positive and be proactive in your approach to service.

Summing Up

SMBs can outdo their competition with the right strategy, particularly a local SEO plan. With the right plan, even a small business can develop a wide reach and generate leads, thanks to local SEO keywords and social media profiles that allow better targeting to work in their favor.

Need help creating a strong local SEO strategy for your Oklahoma City business? Contact Digital Authority Partners to learn how we can help.