Digital Lab

3 Steps to Instantly Improve Your Local Rankings

The most important Google rankings for service business are…  Local!

Local website traffic is more likely to fit your service offering better, and they’re more likely to go all the way through your sales process.

For many businesses, there is no greater ROI than ranking well for local service-related terms on Google.

So how do you actually improve local rankings?

Here are three methods we’ve used to instantly improve local rankings for hundreds of businesses.

1. Optimize Directory Listings

Most businesses are quick to set up a Google Business Profile, which is a great start.

But few take the time to set up all the directories that could be helping them gain local rankings:

Having a professional approach to directory management means you’ll need to update hundreds of websites with your current business details.

It’s not complex:

1. Name
2. Address
3. Phone
4. Email
5. Description
6. Service Area
7. Photos

This is about all you need to have a thorough presence on every major platform available.

Going from inconsistent to consistent across local directories can have an overnight impact on your local market performance. This is not something to put off just because the work is boring or time-consuming.  It matters!

2. Track Local Data

Looking at Google Analytics or Google Search Console can tell you a little bit about where website traffic is coming from.

It can even tell you a little about local terms you might rank for.

But there’s a lot of unclear or unspecific data available.

However, using a suite of specialized tools, you can create reports like this:

Where each dot on the map indicates your ranking in that area.

Using this type of map, you can plot out every square mile of your service area and see exactly how you are ranking in each individual area.

This helps you understand where within your market you currently perform well and where competitors may still be dominating.

The first step for improvement is  measurement.

3. Get Local PR Coverage

Probably the most obvious ‘hack’ to blowing up your local rankings is getting featured in local press.

Yes, local (digital) newspapers, (digital) magazines, and blogs still carry a lot of weight with Google.

If a publication that’s been around for 20 years  only talks about San Antonio, Texas… It’s bound to rank well in the local market for a wide variety of terms.

In addition, its visitors are going to primarily be from the San Antonio area.

So when you get mentioned, your brand will surface to lots of local prospects, + Google recognizes that you are associated with your service category in San Antonio.

The more that Google sees people and businesses in San Antonio interacting with you or talking about you, the faster you will rise in rankings.

This is often as simple as reaching out to a few dozen publications locally and asking for a feature.

Warning: these things often come with a pricetag

We have an extensive list of thousands of publications across every major city in the US, so we can reach out and get you in quickly.

However, all of these tips today (while time-consuming) are possible without an agency like 2POINT, we’ll just help you get it done much faster.

Do you own your local rankings?

If you aren’t crushing your competitors in local rankings, you’re probably missing one of the three things mentioned in this article (or all of them).

Hit the button below, and we’ll audit your site, tell you exactly what needs to be done, and build a plan for you to take over your market.