SEO Orange County continues to be a malleable and mutable concept. It changes rapidly with the times, and as a business owner, you or whoever is running your website must be aware of those changes. If you have a smaller business in particular, then you must be mindful of how Google’s latest algorithm operates, as much as it is possible to do so. To that end, let’s talk about what you can do to make sure that you’re getting noticed on the local level.

TripAdvisor and Yelp

When we’re talking about local SEO, part of that is aggregation sites and directories. That means favorite sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp, where lots of people go to try and find the best restaurant, hotel, etc. where they live or where they’re visiting. The Google algorithm values these sites. If your company is well-reviewed on Yelp or TripAdvisor, then it will mean a boost to your website, particularly if you claim the business. If you do so, then you can link the external site to your own as a way of generating extra traffic. It’s also not a bad idea to reply to reviews and comments. If you get a glowing review, you can express appreciation for that. If you get a negative review, you can say you’re sorry that your business wasn’t able to provide the guest or customer with the experience they wanted, and you can talk about what you’ll do to make it right next time. What you want to do is make it clear that you value the input and the business from those who have visited.

Hyper-Localize Your Content

What this means is that you want to use neighborhood-specific keywords, as Google has become better at identifying terms that apply to localized geographic locations. Don’t use the names of cities and states. Incorporate the names of local festivals, streets, parks, libraries, etc. into your posts. It’s almost a guarantee that the big chains aren’t going to be doing that, so you’ll be able to outrank them when potential customers are searching for local businesses to fulfill a particular need they have.

You want to do everything you can to continue becoming a local staple. That means striving for positive feedback on review sites. It means engaging with your customers on your website, via social media, and when they come to your place of business. You need to be mindful of SEO, but you’d also be well-served to physically take to the streets to try and make people aware that you’re a neighborhood addition that is on the rise and is hungry for their business.