What is Local SEO in Florida & How Do You Choose the Right Agency/Services for Your Business

Florida business owners understand the importance of social media and website design for attracting customers in your local area. Local SEO (search engine optimization) is equally important and should not be overlooked.

We will describe local SEO and how your business can appear in a local search. We’ll also talk about what to look for when choosing an SEO company in case you want to save your time and talents for running your business and let marketing experts handle your SEO services.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO refers to optimizing your website to be found in online searches in your specific local area. Local refers to a geographical area of a city, county, and sometimes even a state. Regions broader than that are typically considered regional, national, or global SEO.

Why is it Important to Your Business in Florida?

Local SEO services for your business in Florida is different from search engine optimization in general. A different strategy is used for SEO when your focus is to be found in local searches vs. non-location-specific searches.

For example, if you own a dive shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, you care about being found when someone local to Fort Lauderdale searches for scuba diving. Being found in a search for scuba diving when the searcher is in California, for example, is not relevant.

Also, since Florida is a hotspot for vacationers and seasonal residents, location-based optimization tactics should be a focal point of your SEO strategy. Local searches can be done by people who aren’t local to your business but are still looking for information.

Someone planning a vacation to Boca Raton might search for “outdoor activities in Boca Raton” while sitting on their couch at home in Michigan.

What are the Most Important Factors of Local SEO?

Search engine optimization can seem like an ever-changing moving target. Most of the things that will impact SEO that you can control are your business’ website. But there are some things you can do to help local customers find you that don’t have to do with your website design.

Google My Business

Google My Business (GMB) is a relatively new free tool for local SEO. Create a GMB profile to tell Google and your local audience things about your business, like its address, phone number, and hours.

Updating your Google My Business listing regularly with posts about events, offers, or updates is one of the easiest things you can do for your business’s local SEO.

Citations

Citations in the context of local SEO mean getting your business mentioned by data aggregators like directories and industry-specific databases. Citations typically consist of your business name, address, and phone number, commonly known in digital marketing circles as NAP.

Citations can be done in a structured format like you would see in a local directory. Or they can be mentions of your business name, address, or phone number in a blog post or other type of article.

Acquiring citations can take time. Consistent effort toward monitoring and obtaining them should be an ongoing piece of your local SEO strategy. It’s best if your business NAP is formatted the same in most places. For example, the address shouldn’t be listed as “West Ave.” in one place, “W. Ave.” in another, and “West” in yet another. Keep it consistent.

Optimized Locations Pages on Your Website

Speaking of NAP, one of the first places databases and directories look for your business information is on the “Locations” page on your website. In addition to your business’ name, address, and phone number, here are some other ideas from Search Engine Journal (SEJ) of things to include on your website’s Locations page:

  • Photos
  • An embedded map and directions to your business
  • Services/products offered to each location if you have multiple locations
  • Helpful call to action (CTA), like “make a reservation” or “get directions” that link to those pages
  • Internal linking. Link to other pages in your website from your Locations page.

Backlinks

Backlinks and inbound links mean the same thing to an SEO specialist. Backlinks are links to your website from another website. They’re important to local SEO for many of the same reasons as external links (links on your website to another website) are: they convey the trust and authenticity of your business.

The most valuable backlinks are ones that come from trusted, authoritative websites (referred to as domain authority). The best way to get authoritative websites to link to yours is to create content on your website that they want to be associated with. This is called “linkable assets” in marketing speak.

Quality Content

Content related to local SEO can be in the form of written copy, photos, videos, and other methods of communicating with your audience. Content should be strategically planned and continually updated as part of your web design. Creating rich content that’s relevant to your product, service, and location is one of the best things you can do for the local optimization of your website.

Here are 3 things to keep in mind when deciding on what type of content to publish for local SEO.

  1. Relevant. The most important thing to search engines is to provide users with the most relevant results possible. The content on your website should be related to your product, service, or industry. It should also be place-specific. Otherwise, it could cause confusion or mistrust by search engines.
  2. Informative. The more helpful information you can provide for your audience the better. Try to anticipate what your potential customers want to know and provide the answers.
  3. Interesting. Attention span these days is shorter than ever. Your content should catch users’ attention and make them want to stay on your site to learn more. People have different preferred types of media they enjoy consuming. Some people love pictures and videos. Others would rather read descriptions. Make sure there’s a good mix of content types on your website.

5 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Local SEO Agency in Florida

Local SEO is not complicated, but it can be time-consuming. As a business owner, you have better things to do with your time than worrying about search engine optimization. However, not doing it is equal to leaving money on the table. It’s worth it to hire an agency to manage it for you.

Here are five things to do when choosing a local SEO agency in Florida to help with local search management.

Search for Local SEO Agencies in Florida

The agency you hire to handle your local SEO service should be easy to find in search engines. How an SEO company manages its local SEO can be a reflection of how good they are at it.

Check Reviews

Check reviews, both online and offline. It’s easy to find online reviews with a search of the company name.

Keep in mind that one bad experience reported by a client doesn’t mean you should not use them. Sometimes a company/client relationship gets off on the wrong foot, or they are otherwise not suited to work together. But the majority of the reviews you find should be positive. And it’s even better if the reviewer describes the experience in some detail.

Another idea is to check for other companies in your industry who are doing well with local SEO and ask for recommendations and reviews.

Check the SEO Company’s Social Media Activity

A company’s reputation tends to be on stage on its social media pages. Some things to look for:

  • How do they manage negative posts or comments on their pages?
  • Do they engage their audience consistently and appropriately?
  • How often do they post on their pages?
  • How often do they post and engage on other people’s and companies’ posts?

Active engagement and positive management of their social media conversations could indicate their level of professionalism and competence as a company.

Compare Pricing

When shopping for any service, it’s important to remember to compare apples to apples, so to speak. Cheapest isn’t always best. Decide what level of service and specific goals are important to you and compare price with those things in mind.

Meet Face-to-Face with the SEO Team

And finally, when you’ve narrowed your search down to one or two candidate local SEO companies, have a face-to-face meeting with them to meet the team. In-person (even virtually in person) interviews can reveal a lot about what it will be like to work with a company. During the interview, make sure to ask all your questions. By the end of the meeting, you should have a good understanding of the expectations for the relationship.

Final Thoughts

Doing local SEO well for your Florida business takes diligence and consistent attention. It isn’t difficult to do. But it takes time to learn and stay up to date on what works. A local SEO services Florida specialist can be invaluable to your business. Hiring a local SEO company to handle this part of your marketing can save you precious time and money in the long term.