
Let's start by talking about local SEO. You need to know how local SEO works if you own a small business in Houston and want people to come in and talk to you online.
The main goal of local SEO is to get people in your area to find your business. Google My Business (GMB) local citations and customer reviews are the most important parts according to Moz. Setting up and confirming your GMB listing is the first thing you should do. Make sure that all of your directories have the same name address and phone number (NAP).
Once local customers find your website it needs to keep them interested. It's not enough for it to look good it also needs to work well and feel good.
The time it takes for a page to load can make or break how good it is for the user. Think with Google says that a page should load in less than three seconds. When things are slow users get mad which is bad for SEO. You can use Google PageSpeed Insights and other tools to find out why your pages are loading slowly and fix the problem.
Putting keywords in articles is not the only way to write good content. It's about being helpful relevant and getting people involved.
Know who you're talking to. What do your customers in Houston want to know? Find out what questions people are asking with tools like AnswerThePublic and then write content that answers those questions. Your content shouldn't just try to sell your services it should also give people ideas or answers.
More and more people are using voice search to find what they want. They are using things like Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa.
Voice search uses natural language. Instead of just searching for "best BBQ Houston " people usually ask full questions like "Where can I find the best BBQ in Houston?" Use tools like Google's Search Console to find voice related keywords.
Work with other businesses in your area to put on events write guest posts for local blogs or pay for community newsletters. Not only do these activities help people learn about your brand but they also give you more chances to get valuable academic and . edu backlinks.
Make content that other people will want to link to like studies how to guides or useful resources in your field. Backlinks can come naturally from good content. Want Links?. Google gives priority to content that shows these traits. This in depth article on Quality Content What It Is + 10 Actionable Tips for Success will help you understand the idea of E A T better.
For Houston's small businesses to do well online they need to find the right balance between SEO strategies and a great user experience. It's important to be easy to find and useful to your audience. The digital world can be scary but these strategies give you a clear way to move forward that is based on real world use and real customer interaction. Even though your business is small you can make a big difference if you use the right strategies.