Local SEO In Houston
At Design In Houston, we provide a variety of SEO services for our clients that help to boost their presence and relevancy in the local Houston market. An eclectic, vibrant, diverse city that appeals to a wide range of different customers, local SEO could not be more important in a city such as this that has so many different potential markets to target and tap into. Having said that, there are quite a few misconceptions about SEO in which some believe that it doesn’t ensure fast enough results and could be a potential waste of money. SEO is something that must be approached strategically and over a long period of time (a minimum of six months) to ensure maximum results. It must be a priority embedded within a company’s overall structure so that the client’s vision can evolve with the ever-changing digital and online space. When done correctly, SEO can be extremely beneficial resulting in increased traffic to the website and ultimately resulting in more customers. Our team of SEO experts at Design In Houston are well equipped to ensure the success of our customers given the extensive research and on the ground experience on industries within the city.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it essentially determines where your website will rank on Google, affecting your visibility to potential customers. Local SEO is even more specific and determines your potential customers within a specific city or community. It is very important to have localized content, in order to have a targeted campaign of a select group of people, even if you have multiple locations for your business. It is always best to start with a very specific target group and then expand outwards from there. For example, Design In Houston is hosted under the “Design In” Brand. We have locations in DC (Design In DC) as well as Chicago (Design In Chicago), Atlanta Design in Atlanta, and New York Design In New York. We have separate landing pages and domain names for each which further emphasizes the importance of local SEO and appealing to your local target audience while still having the vision to expand nationally or even internationally.
At Design In Houston we follow a clear and systematic approach to achieve effective local SEO results so that it is cost effective for our clients. Below we offer some of our basic strategies and tips that we utilize for our clients as well as in house for Design In Houston.
The SEO process begins with local keyword research where we determine which words and phrasing potential customers are using to search a given business. Once that has been determined, we research the competitors of a given site to determine which keywords are ranking on their sites. Since your competitors exist in the same industry as you, it is important to note the keywords they are using because they are likely to be relevant to your business as well. Next, you will use a keyword overview tool to determine if it is difficult for your content to rank locally for the targeted keywords. These tools will generate local data and help you understand how easy or difficult it is for your company to rank with these targeted keywords. This is how you will build your targeted keyword list that will be used extensively throughout the SEO process.
Optimizing your Google Business Profile is by far one of the most important local SEO tasks that you can do. Your Google Business Profile contains the basic information about your business that users can see when they search for your business. At Design in Houston we advise our clients to make the Google Business Profile a priority and include the business hours Monday through Sunday including any holidays that may be closed, describe any special features of the business (WIFI, outdoor seating, etc.), and of course upload photos and videos routinely to help boost ranking. Make sure that existing customers are submitting online reviews to increase visibility as this is essential to building customer loyalty and trust. It is important to respond to customer reviews, whether positive or negative, so that it reflects positively on the business in that they care about customer feedback, and the company is constantly working to improve and build meaningful, long term relationships with customers.
It is truly inspiring to witness how our SEO services can truly help the visibility of an otherwise small business to one that is well known, and a core component of the Houston community. Oftentimes, it is not about whether a given business venture is appealing or a good idea, but rather the fact that people are just not exposed to it or able to see what others are doing in a given space. SEO truly helps local communities to be able to better understand the changing landscape of their city as newcomers arrive, development increases, and new business pop up. Given that our team is made up of Houston natives who are aware of the local tapestry of the city, we are able to add that research and knowledge as an additional advantage in appealing to the customer base here, and helping to raise visibility of otherwise unknown companies. These companies in turn will serve a wealth of resources to help uplift and transform the community on the terms of the people and residents of the city.