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Market competition gets more intense every year, and no one feels it more than geographically closed markets with high barriers to entry. In other words, the business market in Hawaii. So how do business owners and entrepreneurs in Hawaii climb to success?
Mastering Local SEO is one critical component. Improving your business’s SEO increases visibility, grabs market share, and increases sales.
Before we jump into how to improve your SEO, let’s cover a few basics at a high level. SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and includes the different factors that help search engines give people relevant search results. Since Google is the most popular search engine, most SEO tips cater to Google’s algorithm.
Search engines reward:
Here are a few tips to increase your online visibility based on those points.
It’s essential to strategically use keywords relevant to your industry, but it’s likely more complicated than you’d think. People often search using stripped-down phrases that aren’t grammatically correct, and you need to get as close as possible while keeping the grammar natural.
For example, a phrase like “surfboard rentals near me” may be challenging to work naturally into your website or blog posts. So you or your content writer must get as close as possible while keeping your sentences flowing and conversational. Keyword-finding programs are excellent tools that make picking the right keywords and phrases much easier.
A warning: Working those phrases naturally takes effort to avoid keyword stuffing violations.
Having the right general keywords is essential, but so is having local markers in your keywords. This includes things like your city, state, or other popular geographical markers people may use in their search. Use these local keywords naturally as well– don’t use words like “Maui” more than a few times if your goal is to come up in a local search.
Most people shopping for local solutions (like a physical store or restaurant) do so with their phones. And studies show that 78% of organic local searches result in a purchase, so optimizing your website for mobile searches is critical.
A mobile-friendly website means your content and formatting easily translate from how it looks on a computer screen to a smartphone. So you aren’t maintaining two sites. Instead, you’re strategically using one website to work equally well on a phone as it does on a computer.
Top tips include:
Learn more about mobile optimization here.
Another easy way to increase your SEO is by updating your “Google My Business” profile. “Google My Business” is Google’s directory of businesses– and you don’t even have to register to have one. Google uses bots to crawl the web, and it will automatically create a profile for you once a bot discovers you.
The problem is that it may automatically fill in your profile incorrectly or leave critical information blank. Having a correct profile is a freebie SEO boost! Learn how to claim your business profile and how to update it here.
Large corporations and big businesses spend lots of money on SEO, making it difficult for smaller companies to compete. So you need an ally to help you get your website live with optimized content soon!
At Moonlight Labs, we’re in the business of helping entrepreneurs in Hawaii get their websites up and running, prototype their digital products, and create a strong foundation for their online presence. Contact us for a free consultation today!
