Tacoma SEO

You might have just launched a business in Tacoma. Your Tacoma-based business might be years old. In either case, your efforts to increase Tacoma SEO rankings might need to be revamped. But where do you start?

In today’s digital world, there are just so many elements of a good marketing campaign. The marketing team must conduct local keyword research.  Perhaps hyperlocal marketing is also one of your team’s priorities.

Even when the going gets tough and you’re not seeing your rankings increase like you want them to, you may just need to go back to some tried and true strategies. Continue reading to find out more about these strategies.

Keyword Optimization Tacoma

Keyword optimization is an important part of any search engine optimization effort. It helps customers (current and potential) easily find your business’s site by creating content on your site that is optimized for search engine results.

Of course, keyword selection is a delicate and often time consuming process. It depends on numerous factors: the industry your business belongs to, your location, the services or products you sell, etc. For this reason, you must make your Tacoma SEO efforts location and industry specific.

You can start with your keywords.  Luckily for you, not all of your keyword selection will be difficult.

Let’s take a thrift shop in Tacoma for example.  You wouldn’t target “thrift shop” in general, as this is a very difficult term to rank for and is typically utilized by national thrift shop chains.  Also, doing so could be a huge mistake, because there are thrift shops everywhere. That keyword is highly competitive as a result.

You’ll instead target “thrift shop Tacoma” or “Tacoma thrift shop.” Not only that, but you’ll also target local districts or Tacoma neighborhoods if possible. For instance, if your shop is located in Proctor or the Lincoln District, perhaps you’ll consider adding that one extra word.

There are several tools which will help you with this kind of keyword optimization. Google, for instance, has some nifty tools.  And if you’re struggling with your keyword research? Entrepreneur contributor Perry Marshall has some tips on conducting keyword research.

Local Google Ranking Tacoma

As we mentioned above, Google has some useful tools for you. As a matter of fact, they have so many that there are too many to list here.

To narrow the list down, we’re going to focus on some of our favorites.  In this section, we’ll be bringing attention to Google My Business.

We’re sure that you’re familiar with the tool, even if you don’t think you are. Have you ever searched for a local store or business and found it in the little map area that comes up in the search results? If so, Google no doubt provided you with a list of local options based on your IP address.  That could be where you are browsing from at a coffee shop on your laptop, or where your phone is connecting to a cell tower.

The owners of those businesses certainly used Google My Business to get that information there.  And crazy enough, it’s FREE!  Yep, totally free to list your business in Google My Business.

There is, however, a right way to go about getting that info there.

Generally speaking, you don’t want to leave any important information out. This means that everything from your business’s phone number to its hours will ideally be listed.  Don’t forget to list your website too!

What happens when all of that information isn’t present?

Well, for one, people are more likely to doubt your business’s legitimacy. If they doubt your business, your site probably won’t get many hits and your business won’t get calls.

Secondly, your business might not pop up in the results because of the shortage of information.

Lastly, Google’s algorithms look at all kinds of factors including the consistency amongst your listings across the web.  You’ll want each one to be exactly the same.  I mean exactly.  If not, your site’s ranking will suffer.

Want to make sure that your business shows up in search results? Follow Google’s guidelines on how to improve your local ranking.

Hyperlocal Marketing Tacoma

In this article we’re talking about something extremely specific right now: Tacoma SEO. That said, hyperlocal marketing might be just the thing you small business owners need.  Before we begin, though, you need to understand what hyperlocal marketing is.

According to Steve Olenski, hyperlocal marketing “allows brands to communicate to a group of individuals with similar interests in a specific community or neighborhood.”

Consequently, it requires deep community engagement on your part.

Yes, deep community engagement is time-consuming. Not only that, but sometimes the payoff is not immediate.  If you stick with hyperlocal marketing for long enough, however, you might be pleased with the results.

Consider, for example, how your company’s involvement in a local charity event or community group would ultimately be useful.   Yes, you’re volunteering for free. Even so, you are endearing yourself to the locals and building your community. You’re getting your business’s name out there and caring for more than just the money you put in your pocket.  We all should be doing this right?  Even if it is for our business or not.  And it’s a great place to network.

You’re bettering your company’s reputation in the Tacoma area by doing so.

Hyperlocal marketing might require more effort, but it’s certainly worth that kind of payoff. Wouldn’t you agree?

Local Citations

Have you ever used Yelp or anything similar to it? If so, you’ve come into contact with other businesses local citations.

Now it’s time to start building some of your own citations.

Technically speaking, your Google listing we talked about earlier is a local citation as well. But there are many more to claim.

There is, after all, nothing wrong with claiming every legitimate citation that you can get. We’re talking every social media site you use and every credible review site.

Further still, if you can find a legitimate directory of Tacoma businesses, you should definitely claim your citation there too. It’ll greatly help your Tacoma SEO efforts.

We must, however, caution you against choosing to claim “illegitimate” citations.  The ones that are too good to be true?

These come in the form of paid links on shady sites. These sites might brand themselves as “directories.” Inexperienced site owners probably think these “directories” are helpful, but they are definitely not.

These sites, however, will only hurt your business in the long run. Stay far away from them.

Social Media

As we discussed, your social media pages count as local citations. Your use of social media platforms should, however, go beyond mere citations. There are so many uses of social media and it’s great for getting better rankings for SEO in Tacoma.

For one, social media can be used to help build confidence in your business to the South Sound. In this way, it’s similar to hyperlocal marketing.  In addition, you can use your social media pages to create unique calls-to-action(CTA’s) and stay in touch with your customers.

Or you can just use your pages to remind people that you’ll be at the upcoming Ballard Jazz Festival. It’s up to you.  Social media strategy should be well thought out and consistent.

We recommend enlisting the help of professionals here since they’re specifically trained to use social media to your advantage. We’ve actually already talked about how social media specialists increase traffic to your site.

You’ll Have Great Tacoma SEO Results In No Time

Search engine optimization is a challenge anywhere. We hope, though, that your Tacoma SEO techniques will improve because of some of the ideas brought forward here.  There is a ton to know and learn, and with the 600+ algorithm changes Google makes every year, we’re all shooting darts into the dark at time hoping we find the right mark and utilize it to our advantage.

One location at a time, right?

And if you need a little extra help? Try a content marketing agency like us to help give you that boost you need.

Our specialty is, after all, helping you rank higher, get more customers and ultimately succeed in business.

If on the other hand, you just want to start small, you can use our site to find out your SEO score. It just might put you on the right track.