Increase Visibility and Gain Customers with Local SEO For Locksmiths
Updated on August 23, 2023
As a small business in today's age, it is increasingly important to be visible to potential customers who are searching for your services online. Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best ways to achieve this visibility and can help you grow your business organically through increased visibility.
Plus, with 83% of small businesses reporting that SEO is an effective part of their marketing tactics, you can't afford to be putting SEO on the back burner.
That's why we've written this post, in which we will discuss what your small business can do to improve your SEO and gain more customers organically.
We'll also talk about how and where your locksmith business can appear in search engine results pages (SERPs), how to claim and manage your Google Business Profile, and improvements you can make to your website and content strategy.
Getting Back to the Basics of SEO
Search engine optimization is an important part of digital marketing for any business. In the locksmith industry, it's no different—if you want your locksmith business to grow, SEO is one of the best ways to do it.
However, before we dive into how you can use SEO to increase your customer base, let's take a look at some of the basics.
At its core, SEO relies on using keywords and other techniques to raise a website's ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
To get the most out of it, locksmiths should aim to maximize keyword density (the number of times keywords appear relative to total content) and make sure your page titles are descriptive.
Other aspects such as link building, creating meaningful backlinks, and optimizing images can also have an impact on SEO rankings.
We'll dive deeper into these concepts throughout this blog, but this brief intro should help get your feet underneath you when it comes to the basics of SEO.
Where Can You Appear Organically on Google?
It's important that you understand the two places where your locksmith website can appear organically on Google: the Google Maps results and the SERPs.
With Google Maps, you can easily let customers know where to find your business.
If a customer searches for something related to your business, your location will pop up on a map in the search results—along with key contact information like phone numbers and hours of operation. Then if they click on the listing, they'll be taken directly to your business website.
With 42% of local searchers clicking on Google Maps results, this is a key area to focus on with SEO.
Additionally, by actively managing your content and website, you can show up for organic queries in the SERPs when potential customers search online.
This involves optimizing different elements such as titles, meta descriptions, and backlinks—all of which can help push your website higher up in the rankings of SERP listings.
So whether it's through Google Maps or SERPs, appearing organically on the web takes some work but it can be worth the effort if you want people to find your site quickly and easily.
Managing Your Google Business Profile
When it comes to having your locksmith website appear on Google Maps, your top priority should be claiming your Google Business Profile if you haven't already.
It's crucial that you keep your listing up-to-date and accurate so that the customer can find you with ease. This includes ensuring that contact information, hours of business, and physical locations (if you have multiple) are included in the profile.
Additionally, keeping an eye on reviews posted to the profile is key. A customer who reviews your services positively will drive more people to reach out for business from your locksmith company.
Claiming your Google Business Profile is the best first step for any business—but especially for a locksmith website looking to appear prominently on Google Maps!
Always Keep Your NAP Accurate
Keeping your NAP (name, address, phone number) information up to date on your Google Business profile is essential for staying connected to potential customers.
Your business's online visibility is dependent on having accurate contact details and giving customers an easy way to contact your locksmith business, find its location, and stop by during working hours.
Doing so also sets the expectation of professionalism and trustworthiness in customers' eyes. If they see that you're making an effort to diligently update your information and don't have any outdated details listed, it can make all the difference in their perception of you as a business.
TIP: A common frustration that customers have is not knowing a business's hours during the holidays. So, you can really help your locksmith business stand out by updating your profile with special holiday hours whenever necessary.
So be sure to double-check that your information is correct—it could be just what helps customers decide to take the plunge and trust your locksmith company over any others.
Focus on Getting Reviews and Responding to Them
For locksmiths, one of the key steps in optimizing your SEO is to ensure you have as many good reviews as possible on your Google listing.
This is essential because many customers looking for a locksmith will go online to do research, and if they see conflicting, sparse, or negative reviews, they are likely to move on and take their business elsewhere.
That's why it's so important to display as many high-star reviews as possible to set your business apart from the competition.
Of course, you don't want to neglect the bad reviews either. Responding promptly—and politely—to every review sent demonstrates that you care about customer feedback and helps create an overall positive brand image.
How Do You Get More Reviews?
A common problem that many small businesses have is figuring out how to get reviews in the first place. Fortunately, the answer is simple: just ask!
71% of satisfied customers said they were likely to provide a review if the company made it easy for them to do so.
Providing customers with a direct link to your Google Review page immediately after service is one way to make it easy for customers to review.
Keep Your Business Profile Updated At All Times
Keeping your Google Business profile regularly updated is a key part of SEO and reputation management. Doing so will ensure that potential customers get the most accurate information about your business and that they’re exposed to a positive user experience.
To keep your profile up-to-date, you should regularly add new:
- Photos and Videos
- Posts
- Reviews and Responses to Reviews
- Services
- Discounts or Specials
- Hours/Days of Operation Changes
Plus, with 36% of businesses reporting that they do not devote any resources to optimizing their Google Business profile, you have a clear opportunity to get ahead of the competition.
Put simply, make sure and give your Google Business profile the attention it needs—it just might pay off!
Improving Your SERP Ranking
Keeping your organic SERP ranking as high as possible is an incredibly important element for locksmiths if you want to be found online.
Google takes a lot of factors into consideration when determining placement, so it's crucial to stay up to date with the latest changes and trends in SEO.
Additionally, you'll want to keep your website optimized with keyword-rich content, regular blogging, and high-quality site performance. In the end, there is no set formula for getting your locksmith website higher in SERPs, so you'll need to figure out what works best for you.
As long as you take the time to research optimization techniques and understand Google's algorithms, you'll be ready to launch your locksmith listing to the top of the results pages!
Make Sure Your Website is High Performing
When it comes to SEO, you cannot overlook the importance of website performance.
Ensuring that your website is fast-loading, secure, and mobile-friendly can go a long way in keeping your visitors engaged, as well as helping you rise to the top of organic search rankings faster.
Taking the time to create a high-performing website and regularly monitoring performance will help give you an edge over the competition and make sure that potential customers not only find but also continue to visit your site.
After all, a great website experience is worth its weight in gold!
Dive Deeper Into Google With Metadata
Learning the basics about metadata and meta descriptions can be an incredibly useful tool when it comes to boosting your organic ranking.
Metadata is typically made up of individual page titles and description tags and helps search engine bots identify what your locksmith web page is about, while meta descriptions give users a quick summary of the page's content.
When optimizing a website, make sure that each page has unique titles and descriptions, as this helps search engines understand which pages are most relevant to the keyword query that searchers may have.
Using up-to-date metadata and modern SEO tactics will ensure your website is easily accessible and properly indexed by search engines, resulting in improved rankings, higher visibility, and more traffic.
Optimize Your Content for SEO Success
By optimizing your site's content, you can set yourself up for success with locksmith SEO.
Implementing and utilizing keywords on your website is essential—it helps not only draw more traffic, but it also helps direct relevant traffic to your site.
Blogging and backlink acquisition are also going to be two invaluable tools to use in your content optimization.
Ultimately, just putting in the effort to optimize each page with the right keywords and connecting them across your site will set you up for SEO success.
More On Keywords and Keyword Research
If you feel at a loss for where to start with keyword research, you're not alone. In fact, 24% of businesses report that keyword research and content planning is the biggest challenge when it comes to SEO.
But, with a little bit of work and the right tools in your back pocket, you'll quickly get the hang of utilizing keywords in your SEO strategy.
When you use relevant and frequently searched keywords, you help your content rank higher in SERPs and get more eyes on your site. And when used strategically, these keywords can also allow you to make specific targeting decisions to reach the right audience.
However, it’s important not to overdo it when it comes to keyword usage—Google is always looking for quality content that reads naturally, otherwise, they’ll rank your page lower or eliminate it altogether (see Keyword Stuffing).
If done correctly, implementing keywords in your SEO strategy can take your content to new heights and help engage more visitors.
Site Pages Are Your Keywords' Best Friends
Once you've completed all the keyword research, it's time to insert them into your content.
Your first instinct may be to put them on your locksmith homepage, but you're most likely going to run out of room long before you've included all the relevant keywords you want to feature.
Example: popalock.com
That's where site pages come in. Having specific pages dedicated to high-value locksmith keywords is a great way to include those keywords without running out of room or being flagged for keyword stuffing.
If You're Not Blogging You're Missing Out
Regularly blogging provides fresh content, which is appealing to search engines and customers alike.
When people search for the keywords and topics associated with your website, they are more likely to find your site if it has been frequently updated with new blog content.
Blogging also helps you form relationships with potential customers by providing valuable information that they can read and consider. In fact, 40% of consumers said being able to read more about a company via its blog would make them more likely to patronize the business.
Put simply, regular blogging allows you to maximize the reach of your website, as well as show up higher in rankings; making it an essential element for any effective SEO plan.
Boost Your Reputation With Backlinks
Backlinks are a powerful tool in driving organic SEO efforts, as they are key signals that tell search engines how important your website is. So, the higher quality and quantity of backlinks that you have pointing to your site, the higher your rankings will be.
This is because search engines use backlinks as an indication of how trustworthy your content is and how much value it can provide to users. Plus, having other websites link to yours serves as a form of endorsement.
And with only 34% of companies focusing on link building, you can really get ahead of the competition by implementing this strategy.
The best way to obtain quality backlinks is by creating compelling content that other people want to talk about and recommend. It can seem daunting at first but once you get started with acquiring backlinks, you'll see how valuable it is.
Get Clicks With Schema Markups
Using schema markups is a surefire way to take your locksmith SEO strategy to the next level.
Schema markups are a way of improving the readability and coding of your website, so it can be understood better by search engines, meaning they will be more likely to feature it in organic searches.
Not only that, but users benefit too—displaying rich content from related sources enhances user experience. Plus, it helps your website's listing stand out in the search results, which improves click-through rate.
Even though schema markups can seem complex at the outset, they are definitely worth the effort by contributing directly to building visibility, traffic, and overall performance of your locksmith's website in organic search results.
In Conclusion
Growing your locksmith business through SEO doesn’t have to be as complicated or time-consuming as you might think.
By focusing on optimizing your website, claiming and managing your Google Business profile, and creating content with SEO in mind, you can organically attract more visitors to your site and generate quality leads for your business.
For more digital marketing tips specifically for locksmiths, download our free guide now.
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