5 Tips To Improve Your Fort Worth Business’s Local SEO Rank

Your business appears in the search results, but you are still not getting the traffic and conversions you want. How do you improve it?

A Fort Worth SEO agency can give your digital marketing efforts traction with these local optimization tactics:

• Add schema markup.
• Get on TikTok and Instagram.
• Take your local SEO strategies offline.
• Maximize the features of Google My Business (GMB).
• Answer reviews, even the negative ones.

Read the article below to learn how a capable SEO team executes these. Let’s go!

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

1. Add a Schema Markup

Schema markup is an HTML code added to your website to generate a rich snippet, a collection of information that is not found in your meta tags, especially in the description. In other words, it adds more context to your local copy.

Improving the article’s relevance to the search query helps drive more targeted traffic and enhances the user experience. Both support your goal of increasing search engine rankings.

A schema markup has another benefit that increases visibility and conversion. It helps you earn a spot in the local map pack, which is a small business listing of three or more businesses that best match the query. Usually, the criteria include relevance, distance, and prominence.

It is a coveted position for the following reasons:

• Your business appears at the top of the search results. Studies have already shown that sites here get the most clicks.
• Targeted traffic increases because only users who find your business to be relevant and necessary will try to get more information about the products and services that you provide.
• Voice search works with the local map pack.

2. Get on TikTok and Instagram

During a conference in 2023, Google admitted that social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are beginning to outperform the search engine's core products, such as search and maps.

This is to say that more online users are skipping going to Google to search for local information such as, “What is the best Tex-Mex restaurant in Fort Worth?” But why? The reasons for this change are visuals and engagement.

Potential customers can see the food, hear the sound, and see the place in real time. These websites offer a more immersive experience.

Even better, if people like the videos and photos, they will likely talk and share information about the business. They might upload a longer video on YouTube, write a review, or create a blog post. All of which improves rankings online.

To improve your rankings, take advantage of these ideas:

• Create visually appealing and engaging content to showcase your products or services. Use high-quality images or videos to demonstrate their features, benefits, and unique selling points.
• Hop on the trends. Use popular sound bites, participate in some challenges, and include highly searched hashtags.
• Identify influential Instagram and TikTok users with a significant Fort Worth following. Collaborate with them to promote your products or services through sponsored content or influencer takeovers.
• Take your audience behind the scenes of your business operations. Share glimpses of your production process, team members, or day-to-day activities.
• Go live to answer questions or educate your users.

3. Create Unique Content

One of the most common shortcomings made in writing for a local area such as Fort Worth is creating fresh content. Except for minor changes, many marketers and business owners reuse one article for all locations. Usually, it involves changing the area from River Oaks to Forest Hill, for example.

Doing this is not entirely wrong, but it does not help your search engine rankings either for the following reasons:

• Search engines, especially Google, are particular about valuable, helpful content. This requirement is particularly essential if you run a “your money, your life” page. Duplicate content does not add any new information.
• Keyword cannibalization occurs when similar pages compete for the same targeted term or phrase. You might end up ranking for less-valuable content, which does not convert visitors into customers.

Fixing this is easy with many options. One is topic clustering, which breaks down complex topics into digestible ones. It also encourages a better backlink profile and lets you rank for different but related keywords.

A Fort Worth SEO agency can also make local content unique with these ideas:

• Provide essential information about the place. For example, Roanoke is famous for its dining and entertainment scene. Find a way to relate the location to your services.
• Speak the target audience’s language. South Fort Worth, for instance, has a large Mexican population, so incorporating Spanish words or adding translation to your site is helpful for enhancing the user experience (UX).
• Request feedback or testimonials from satisfied local customers or clients. Share their positive experiences and stories in your content to build trust and credibility among potential customers.
• Tailor your content to specific neighborhoods or regions within your local area. Highlight how your products or services cater to their unique needs, preferences, or challenges.
• Use visuals that feature recognizable landmarks or iconic elements of the local area in your content, such as the square in Southlake.

4. Maximize the Features of Google My Business (GMB)

One of the most effective local SEO strategies for small businesses is creating a Google My Business (GMB) profile. It is free, allows you to appear on the local map pack, and makes ranking easier because you are already in Google’s ecosystem.

Plus, it comes with the following features that might place you a few spots higher:

• Reviews and ratings, where customers can directly leave reviews and comments. 
• Q&A to help boost customer engagement.
• Google Posts to share updates, promotions, offers, events, and other relevant content and help trigger the knowledge panel.
• Photos and videos to demonstrate your offerings.
• Messaging for inquiries, appointment scheduling, customer support, and other interactions.
• Booking integration for reservations or appointments.
• Insights and analytics from data such as profile views, customer actions (e.g., calls or website visits), and customer search queries.
• Attributes and amenities, such as wheelchair accessibility, outdoor seating, and Wi-Fi availability.
• Local service ads to promote their services and generate leads through paid advertising.

5. Answer Reviews, Even the Negative Ones

Reviews play a huge role in local SEO, especially if your objective is to improve your ranking.

• Positive reviews and high ratings signal to search engines that your business is reputable and provides a positive user experience.
• They attract users’ attention and encourage them to click on your business listing.
• Reviews provide valuable user-generated content (UGC) that can improve engagement.
• Reviews often contain keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business.
• UGCs add fresh and unique content to your business listing.

The problem is that most business owners or marketers do not respond to reviews. When they do, they ignore the negative ones although many studies show that these are equally as important. A 2022 Frontiers study, for instance, revealed that consumers were more likely to pay more attention to negative comments than positive reviews.

Answering comments is time-consuming, so consider working with an agency specializing in online reputation management.

Summing Up

These five tips show that improving your local search rankings is possible. However, like other digital marketing strategies, it takes time to see the desired results.

It also requires a dedicated, knowledgeable team behind you. Digital Authority Partners (DAP) is a Fort Worth SEO agency that designs and executes solutions based on your business needs and objectives. Contact us today to learn how we can help.