If you want to get noticed online, you're going to have to get your website ranked high on the search engine results page. 

How do you do this?

By doing everything in your power to please Google. 

You can get on Google's good side by improving your SEO (search engine optimization). 

Making the appropriate improvements to your website will help you enhance your SEO. It'll also help you get noticed by Google and push you up the rankings. Nobody wants to be stuck at the bottom of the search results or worse, the second page! Only 0.78% of Google users click on results from the 2nd page - so make sure this doesn’t happen to your website by improving your SEO. 

But SEO is incredibly complicated, right?

It might sound like a lot of complex jargon, but SEO isn't as complicated as you might think, or at least it doesn't have to be.

With the right strategy and a bit of professional assistance, you can improve your SEO and soar up the rankings ahead of your competitors. 

Today we're going to show you exactly how your shop can rank better in both local and organic search results.

How to use local SEO to get to the top of Google

Local SEO is where you optimize your online presence to attract more business from your local audience. 

Here are five ways you can optimize your local SEO:

1. Optimize your Google My Business listing 

One of the best ways to improve your local SEO is to create a Google My Business Listing (GMB) if you haven't already.

Google My Business is a free tool by Google that you can use to list your shop. 

You can list all the details your audience needs to know about your shop on GMB. 

These details can include: 

• Opening times
• Address
• Phone number
• Website
• Email address

Optimizing your Google My Business will help improve your Google Maps 3-Pack results. A Google Maps 3-Pack is the little boxed area that appears on the first results page. 

It shows your audience details about your company, star rating, phone number, and opening times. 

If you don't have a GMB listing set up then you're missing out on a huge, free marketing opportunity.

2. Build high-quality local citations & links

Citations are online mentions of your business, but these can't just be mentions on any old site or web page. They have to be from reputable, local sources to build up your local SEO. 

The same goes for local links. If a company links back to your shop's website, you should ensure that they're trustworthy businesses in your local area and not just some random company you found deep within a Google search. 

Remember, if somebody is offering you hundreds of backlinks for a small price, they're not going to be high-quality and could end up damaging your shop's reputation on Google. This will only push you further down the search results. 

One of the best ways to build links to the pages that matter is by guest blogging. 

3. Get more reviews from customers 

Getting reviews on your Google My Business won't just show your audience how amazing your company is to work for. It'll also show Google that you're a great shop to do business with. 

The more reviews and interactions Google sees, the better your ranking in the local search results. 

4. Use high-quality keywords

Adding local keywords and keyword phrases is key to getting recognized on the local search results. Try to include the names of local areas, local slang or colloquialisms, and location-specific phrases. 

The best way to figure out what keywords you should be using is to do some in-depth local keyword research.  One tool we use is Ubersuggest, an easy to use tool that shows top keywords for a website, and where those keywords are ranking.

5. Improve on-page SEO 

After your in-depth local keyword research, you can also start to improve your on-page SEO. 

The best way to do this is to take your local keywords and include them in your H1s and H2s. Be careful you don't want to stuff your headings with random local keywords, so make sure everything still sounds and looks okay. 

How to rank better in organic searches

To start with, the best way to rank higher in organic searches is by paying attention to the best practices of SEO. 

These can include making sure your website is:

• Mobile-friendly
• Fast loading
• Easy to use - easy navigation good UX design
• Secure 
• Well-structure
• High-quality content 

Take a look at these three ways you can improve your shop's SEO and get your website noticed by the search engines. 

1. Pay attention to your competitors

Ranking on Google isn't a single-player game. If you want to rank high you'll have to fight your competitors for the keywords that matter most to your business.

You'll have to surpass every company ranking on the first page because they're all your competition. So, to get the top spot, you'll have to check how intense your competition is in relation to your site. 

How do you do this?

Simple. Just search for a keyword you're using and take a look at the companies that come up. 

If they're bigger shops, you might have a bit of trouble taking the first spot, but if they're smaller or the same size as yours, then you can fight to seize control of those top keywords. 

2. Align your website with content stocked with search intent

Search intent is the reason why your audience is on the internet and the reason why they're looking for your services.

By providing your audience with the answers to their questions, you'll be able to attract them to your site with ease. 

You can do this by identifying the three Cs of your keyword's search intent:

• Content-type: are the top-ranking results for this keyword blog pages, YouTube videos, or websites?
• Content format: is the content how-to guides, step-by-step tutorials, reviews, or something else?
• Content angle: is there a prominent USP (unique selling proposition) used by these top-ranking pages? 

By using the three Cs and creating content your audience is looking for, you'll be able to improve your organic search ranking quickly.

3. Build high-quality backlinks and internal links

Like with local SEO, backlinks are an excellent ranking tool that can help get your shop's website high up on the search engine results page. Did you know that 91% of websites never get any organic traffic from Google, mainly because they don’t have any backlinks? 

It's not about quantity, though, and to rank high on the search engine results, you need to have high-quality backlinks. Links from untrustworthy or unprofessional sites can get you penalized. 

Backlinks aren't the only way to boost your ranking.

Having relevant internal links from other pages on your site can also help win Google's favor.

We hope our blog has helped you understand a little bit more about how to rank better in local and organic searches. 

If you want to get to the top of Google but still don’t know where to start then our team is here for you. If you need some help figuring out the details, then the team at Motorhead Digital can provide you with the perfect strategy. 

We can help you get to the top of the search engine results page for your local keywords with our SEO services. 

Get in contact with our team of experts today to start improving your SEO.