Local Business Website SEO Checklist - In Order

Follow These Steps To Set Your Business Up For Success

Search engine optimization is a hot buzzword these days. It can mean a lot of things to different people. At Launch Kit, we make an effort to educate our clients on the topic so they can understand what tactics are being used and why.

In this article, we’re going to list out the website-related search engine optimization tactics we use with each client. If you’re not a client of ours, that’s cool too; feel free to use this as a framework for improving your own site. Everyone wins. There’s plenty to go around.

To help bring this complex topic down to earth, we break SEO into three categories:

1. Website static pages.
2. Website CMS content.
3. Off-website.

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Website Static Pages

These efforts are done on the back end of your website.

1. Website Architecture - Set up a navbar that is easy to navigate, making it crystal clear what your business provides, who you are, and how a customer can get started.
2. Meta Titles - Write a unique title for each page that focuses on the key topic of the page.
3. Meta Description - Write a unique description for each page that focuses on the key topics of the page.
4. Heading Tags - Use one H1 tag for each page followed by subsequent H2’s, H3’s.
5. Alt Text - Write a brief description of every image on the page.
6. Convert Images to WebP - This reduces file size and better optimizes image files for web browsers.
7. Schema Markup - Add local business schema to the head tag on your home page. Test your site using this tool. (https://validator.schema.org/)

Don’t move forward to CMS content until you cross off each of these items. If you have any questions, email kevin@launchkitdesign.com.

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Website CMS Content

Now that we have the fundamentals set up on our static web pages, we can begin creating content such as blog articles, portfolio case studies, team bios, etc. Do this via your website content management system. It helps keep everything organized.

1. Identify Your Content Areas - We create one blog post per week and one portfolio case study per week. You’ll have a CMS collection for each of these recurring groups.
2. Meta Titles - Set your meta title to be dynamic. For example, Launch Kit Blog - {Article Name Here}
3. Meta Descriptions - Make your meta description dynamic by adding a plain text field to your CMS collection called “Brief Excerpt.” After writing your article, summarize it in 200 characters and use this as your brief excerpt. Then use that CMS field as your meta description.
4. Make A Plan For Writing Content - Recurring to-do list items or recurring calendar events are great for making sure you stay on track.
5. Create Content - We recommend using a tool like ClickUp or Notion for brainstorming ideas and writing. For example, I (Kevin Kamis) wrote this article on my phone using Notion, then copied it into ClickUp, where the Launch Kit team has a list for content marketing.
6. Post Content - Add your content to the CMS as a new item. Publish. A bonus tip would be to turn your article-based content into social media content. Give social media viewers a preview of the content (like a movie trailer) and let them know that if they find the topic interesting, they can read more on your website.

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Off-Website

Beyond the back end of your website, there are additional efforts that will significantly improve your search engine optimization.

1. Digital Profiles - Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google My Business. Set each of these up. These platforms carry highly rated domains and are great at driving top-of-funnel users back to your website.
2. Business Listings - Any website that functions as a business directory is a great place to have a profile. These profiles count as a backlink and are great at leading users back to your website. A few examples of sites would be BBB, Yellow Pages, and Clutch.co
3. Link in Bio - To help Instagram and TikTok users successfully navigate to your website, create a unique page that is designed for mobile that has the URL “www.youbusinessname.com/bio-link”. On this page, introduce your business, then vertically stack buttons that go to your essential website pages. For reference, here https://smartlink.metricool.com/public/smartlink/launch-kit is a link to Launch Kit’s.
4. Backlinks - A backlink is another website including a link that directs users back to your website. These are golden. It gives credibility to your site. This would be an example. We had a ton of fun working with Green Shield Decks, a local deck-building company here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. That just counted as a backlink to their website and helped their SEO.

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If you manage to cross off each of these items, congratulations, you’ve just passed probably 90% of the competition. Is there more you can do? Yes. There is always more you can do. You can always go to the gym one more day. You can always cold call one more person. However, if you’re a local business owner, this an outstanding starting point for you to build a sustainable online presence that you can be confident in. Congratulations, you just made a meaningful difference in your business.

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