LOCAL SEO IN PORTLAND & CENTRAL OREGON

Your investment in Local SEO can set your business up to attract customers looking for exactly what you offer – where you offer it – for years to come, thus eliminating your need to spend money on advertising.

Why Is Local SEO So Important?

If you have a business that provides services locally, or you have a physical store location, you’ll most likely want Google to trust your business info enough to rank it well for local searches. If Google doesn’t trust the into or is confused by the online signals they find – your customers will have difficulty finding you!

Your Google business listing needs to be accurate & up-to-date and managed properly.
Does your website do a good job of informing Google where your business is located? THAT’S A MUST.
Are your business details accurate and consistent across all platforms that Google trusts? THIS IS CRITICAL.

Local SEO is all about dialing-in your online business listings & what we call “foundational Website SEO”. If you are going to succeed at ranking well online – those are the two places you should start. It’s not advertising – it’s an “investment” with long-term dividends. This is all about creating “relevance” and “prominence” for your business online.

We recommend that businesses first get their “foundational SEO” dialed-in. Investing in Search Engine Optimization first will take you far and you may never need to advertise to grow your business. That’s true for many of our clients! After that, if you still have room to grow, then explore some advanced SEO tactics, Facebook or Google Ads, lead-generation websites or billboards, print-video-radio or even Super Bowl commercials.

The very first step is a free consultation to discover is we’re a good fit for your business.

Are you ready to grow your business?

 

Best Practice Local SEO Strategy

Here are a few things we tell our clients every day:

  1. Google is evolving so rapidly and they are always trying to stay one step ahead of the spammers. So what they can learn & understand about your business is now mind-boggling.  Your Local SEO expert must be staying current with this evolution and know what is paramount for your businesses top rankings.
  2. “Location Signals” and “Recency Signals” are important now more than ever. Google knows how many people are literally inside your store – right now. The pandemic had mixed affects on various businesses worldwide. Many business owners did not keep their Google business listings updated. Has someone reviewed your business recently? That’s a good signal that you are still in business!
  3. Google is constantly looking for positive signals about your business and will only rank the businesses at the top that they trust 100%! Recent business listing updates, new reviews, fresh website content are all positive ranking factors. Conflicting business info is one sure way to lose trust. An out-dated website does not help either.
  4. One of the primary jobs of your website is to SPOON FEED Google with exactly what you do – and precisely where you do it. It’s not just a brochure or a pretty design. Your website also must have effective calls-to-action to encourage folks to take the action you want – is that a phone call or a form filled out? One should never assume that your customers know what to do. Your website needs to lead people to take that action.
  5. Local SEO Best Practices include things like responding to all new reviews, responding to messages on Google and Yelp and of course your website. Getting help with combating spammy business listings (WE DO THIS), having current professional photos of your business online, keeping current with Google Posts, Products & Services. The days of set-it-and-forget-it are over.
  6. It’s important for your Local SEO professional to be familiar with the city and surrounding areas of your business. Not all cities are alike. Portland, Oregon is unique and has unique cultural & weather nuances and many people in Portland search for businesses in unique ways. The same is true for Sisters, Oregon. It’s not just any small rural town! Sisters has tens of thousands of potential customers driving through on the way to other places – sitting in their cars on their phones. The good news is that we understand how important location uniqueness is!

Frequently Asked Questions

How quickly will my website rank on page 1?

This is a valid question full of pitfalls. And we hear it a lot! It's complex so let's break it down into two parts:

How long does Local SEO take to work? Time is a component with any search engine optimization effort. We make an edit to a page, then Google has to find it, crawl it, trust it, and index it. The same is true for new links from other websites pointing to your pages. While Google updates happen quicker than it used to be, time and trust are still factors. Generally we see improvements within 30-90 days. Google also wants you to buy their advertising products so new new websites have to overcome an unofficial new-website negative ranking factor - And that's a real thing. It's complex.

Ranking on Page 1 - Of course this is where everyone wants to be and this is not up to us. It's up to Google where your pages are ranked. If you ever get pitched a page 1 SEO guarantee from another Local SEO agency you should simply RUN in the other direction. The truth is, rankings are in a dynamic state of continual flux. Page 1 rankings are wonderful, but we're focused on increasing your customers and revenue regardless of where your site ranks. We track your rankings and can shift focus to keywords/pages/topics that matter most to boost your ability to capture new leads.

How long does this Local SEO subscription last?

All Local SEO subscription packages are month-to-month, paid in advance. As long as we're still providing value, you may wish to continue for a long time. We'll complete our tasks in the calendar month paid for - some months will see more effort than others depending on your needs. (We don't have long-term contracts). You can switch your subscription level any month, pause or cancel at any time. Add-on services will have clear task-items for us to complete within 30 days. If you are dissatisfied at any step along the way, we expect that you'll let us know - and we'll resolve it. We're actual caring professionals who sincerely care about your business.

Website design projects are not included in the subscription packages and will have a separate services agreement.

How much does Website SEO Cost?

There's always more SEO that could be done. So if your goals, timing, & budget allow for a deeper SEO effort, we'll create a plan that will focus on the best next steps to optimize your website. We offer Add-On SEO projects usually in the $1,000 - $2,000 range which are added on to the next month's subscription. Whether it's foundational or Advanced SEO, we're confident we can complete SEO projects of this size within 30-40 days. 

Do you build websites?

Actually, Yes! If you don’t have a website or need to upgrade the one you’ve got, our content development team has got you covered. If you contacted us for Local SEO but you honestly need a new website, we'll let you know. Old out-dated websites can be challenging to update and manage - and likely will struggle to rank as well as a new website. Search behavior is changing online! Your online appearance matters and also your site usability - on desktop & mobile matters for SEO. Our designers build websites on Wordpress & Wix primarily. 

"Bighorn Local SEO has been instrumental for my medical practice. They were able to get my rankings on google up to the top in every area of my expertise. Jeffrey's ability to have my google listing and website rank among the top was absolutely magical!  I’m so grateful for him and his talent and genius. They brought my small functional medical practice into a flourishing, busy active clinic, reaching the people that I could help most!"

Terri Fox, MD, ABIHM

Owner, Boulder Holistic

"Jeffrey has helped my business get found online! My views on google searches have really skyrocketed since he and I have started working together. I just needed someone to walk me through the parts I couldn't do on my own. That was Jeffrey at Bighorn. He has been a great help in finally optimizing my website from being lost in the world wide web to discoverable."

Mary McKnight

Owner, Turf Tamers Landscaping

"I had no idea how tricky it might be to get our business listings online and accurate! Bighorn Local SEO worked with Google to get our listing claimed with a video walk-through with Google! Now at least the world knows we exist! Great Job!"

Ann Griffin

Owner, Bigfoot Wellness

"Jeffrey at Big Horn joined the marketing team for my small veterinary clinic 4 months ago. I swear he is magical with the Google Gods and feeding them whatever it is that they need to increase traffic. My traffic to my site is booming! For many reasons we are now at capacity in our new building that we just moved into 1 year ago!"

Mandi Blackwelder

Owner, Healing Arts Animal Care

"Working with Bighorn Local SEO is AWESOME. I recently worked with them for a second time having them do SEO for me. Having just had them help me with my new site, I can say it was a great experience. They were incredibly patient with me, and made sure I understood everything I needed to. I was worried that SEO would negatively impact the look of my site but it has not at all ( I like it more!) and I am thrilled with the outcome. I feel so relieved knowing that their team is handling my web business needs. I highly recommend them. They are worth every penny."

Erica Geller Jordan

Counselor, Erica Geller Jordan Counseling

"Bighorn Local SEO does great work, and are always available for whatever we need!"

Jennifer

Executive Assistant, Kari Whitman Interiors

About Bighorn Local SEO

We offer proven & affordable ongoing Local SEO packages for small businesses in Portland, Oregon and beyond. We co-create a powerful online presence for your business so you can attract new customers and leads for years to come. We work closely with you each month to seize the next opportunity and take the next step towards better rankings and visibility. Our unique Local SEO process has helped numerous local businesses all over North America grow their business. From our offices in Portland and Sisters, Oregon we provide SEO services for local businesses and national brands, retailers and chains with multiple locations. We also build great websites, offer great website maintenance and can steer you in the right direction for online advertising, social media strategy. You can follow our blog for local business tips and if you are interested, reach out to our clients and ask them what it's like working with us. You can also visit our comprehensive nationwide list of Local SEO clients.