Can you help me launch my first local SEO campaign for niche website?
Yes, I can help you with that – as there are many different schemes of optimization and a lot of use-proven approaches to setting up and handling local SEO campaign for niche-oriented business websites. But before we start, I’m betting that too often the lion’s share of novice site owners simply gets frustrated and overwhelmed by a really vast variety of different White-Hat SEO tactics and optimization guidelines available in open access. How to set the main focus? Which ranking factors should be of the most critical importance for their overall optimization efforts? Exactly what elements of the website’s online performance must be always given the strongest priority? But I’m here to finally help you clean up this mess – as below I’m going to outline a short checklist that covers the very basics of the Search Engine Optimization at the level of locales. Use these simple suggestions to set the right emphasis with your own local SEO campaign – and start moving on the right track from the very beginning. That being said, let’s see what’s recommended to that point.
Beginner Guide to Creating DIY Local SEO Campaign for Niche Websites
Tier One: General Website Setup
It may seem like a no-brainer, but the first thing to be done with your own local SEO campaign is getting everything in place with the general setup of your business website. Here is the most foundational part of your ongoing optimization strategy:
- Start with installing Google Analytics (GA).
- Next, set up Google Webmaster Tools for future reference.
- Now you need to have a bigger picture of your online performance and the way people are actually finding your website in Google's organic search results – simply link your Webmaster Tools with GA account for that purpose.
- Work on a robots.txt file creation (for step-by-step instruction check out Google's official user support pages). Once the file is created, upload it to your website's root directory.
- Generate a proper XML sitemap (I recommend using an automated online platform to help you create an appropriate file – quickly, at ease, and without necessarily paying for that).
- Upload sitemap.xml file to the root directory, and make sure it has actually started serving you for better indexing by Google's search crawling bots – all you need is to submit it to Google Webmaster Tools. That's it.
Basic Keyword Research
Everything is nearly self-explanatory over there, so I'll outline only the most foundational steps needed to set the right approach to running the initial keyword research. From the viewpoint of local SEO, your content campaign should be based on the following keyword considerations:
Start with creating the main list of your target keywords and hyper-local search terms to be used for content creation.
- Just think about what products/services are to be offered on your business website, how you would refer to them (i.e., if you were a potential client/buyer) – and simply list the maximum number of related combinations or long-tail phrases you find generally fitting for that.
- Next, get additional keyword ideas using Google's Keyword Planner. That way, refine your main list into the final set that keeps only your best keywords and must-winning search phrases.
- Your keyword selection should be motivated by the following major keyword performance metrics – search volume (it should be relatively high, but without going to extremes), keyword competition (cost-per-click estimate must be not too pricey, as it would be very difficult to rank for highly-competitive keywords with your on-page content).
- Keep experimenting, and you will clearly identify the most suitable keyword glossary tailored to your business industry/market niche, in line with being actually used by many active users looking for the same product/services within your local niche.
On-Page SEO Considerations
Here are some of the most important things to remember when getting down to finally actualizing your local SEO campaign at the on-page level. Make sure you have everything in place with the following elements found directly on your web pages:
- Create unique Title Tags for each page (keep the maximum length within 60 characters in total), in line with making each of them revolve around one core keyword, which is relevant to the main content topic seen on every given page of your business website. Consider including the name of your business (when applicable) over there too.
- Write unique Meta Descriptions for each web page to help Google “read” and “understand” what your web pages are actually about (mainly for better indexing purposes), in line with utilizing your contextual keywords (and particularly long-tail search expressions) over there. Recommended length is somewhere around 155-160 character in total. Note, however, that your Meta Descriptions must be always made fully descriptive yet maximum short & concise – mainly because they will be clearly seen by the live user, being displayed as a part of rich snippet in Google’s local SERPs.
- Create a custom URL structure, reworking every web page default URL into something that makes sense for all – both your visitors and the search engines themselves. Use dashes instead of underscores, and try to make each page's custom URL fit its main content topic, in line with dropping some relevant keywords over there too.
- Polish your website's body page content structure – use H1/H2/H3 Tags to make your plain-text web copy, as well as any on-page articles/posts, easier to read and navigate. Ultimately, every header element should be as short & concise as possible, being embedded with a target keyword that fits its the topic of each content section/subcategory too. Remember, while you're free to create as many secondary H2-H6 headers as you find applicable – there is only one H1 Tag allowed per each single web page.
- Make sure to embed every visual element found on your web pages (such as images, videos, infographics, etc.) embedded with a correct ALT Tag text based on each picture's keyword topic. Doing so, you will help Google scan and index your visual content appropriately (otherwise, the search engines will be simply unable to "look" at this type of your on-page content, and therefore leave it without indexing). Hint: much like with image ALT tagging, occasionally putting some keywords in the filenames of your on-page images will also improve the effectiveness of your local SEO campaign at some point.
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