It’s probably no surprise to you that most people find what they want online by using search engines. This means that if you want your assisted living business to be discovered, you’ll need to make it easy to locate your website.

You can do this by using search engine marketing techniques, which help you increase your rankings on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). However, generic search strategies won’t be enough. To attract the right audience, you’ll also want to implement some ‘local SEO’ best practices.

In this guide, we’ll explain what local search engine marketing is and why it matters. Then we’ll explain how you can start applying it to attract more leads for your assisted living facility. Let’s get to work!

An Introduction to Localized Search Engine Marketing

As we mentioned earlier, local search optimization is the process of optimizing your online content so that it ranks more highly in search engine results. While you can’t guarantee a high placement, you can do a lot to improve your chances.

Traditional search optimization revolves in large part around using keywords effectively. There are plenty of other search engine strategies, of course, and they’re all important. You’ll definitely want to use them to enhance your senior center business’ website and social media profiles.

However, given that you’re running a largely offline business with a physical location, you’ll also want to look into local search engine marketing. This involves optimizing your content so that it appears in localized searches. That way, it will be easier for your target audience to find.

To elaborate, when conducting normal search engine optimization you’d focus on attracting the attention of anyone who enters a keyword like “assisted living facility” into Google. Local search, on the other hand, involves targeting those who enter searches such as “assisted living near me” or “senior living centers in New York” (or wherever your facility happens to be located):

With local search marketing optimization, you’re targeting a smaller base of potential leads. However, they’re a lot more likely to be interested in what you have to offer, as they’re already located nearby. This means you can significantly increase your leads-to-conversions ratio.

The Key Search Advertising Elements to Discovering Nearby Businesses Online

So, exactly what does local SEO marketing involve? As with traditional search optimization, there are plenty of strategies you can use. However, let’s look at a few of the most important and effective options.

First, you’ll still want to focus on optimizing your content using keywords. In this case, however, you should be researching and using keywords that are specific to your facility’s location.

This means keywords that include your city, state, region, and so on. Many of these will likely be ‘long-tail keywords’, which simply means that they are longer and more specific than the traditional keyword you may be used to.

After that, some other key strategies to pursue include:

• Creating location-specific content. This is content that’s likely to be interesting for those in the same region as your facility. You might cover local events, for example, and share the news that’s relevant to your audience.
• Set up and optimize online directory listings. These listings make it easier for people to find out details about your business quickly – such as its location, hours, and contact information. The best place to start is by making sure you have a Google Business Profile profile set up, and that all the details it contains are accurate.
• Solicit plenty of ratings and reviews. People select assisted living facilities for themselves and their loved ones very carefully. In particular, they’ll take into account local reviews from existing residents and family members. Having lots of positive reviews available online will help leads feel more confident about trusting your business.

This is just a start, of course. If you can implement all of these techniques effectively, however, you’ll be well on your way to attracting more localized traffic.

How to Get Started With SEO Optimization For a Retirement Center

At this point, you understand why local search SEO is so valuable to your senior retirement center. You even have a broad idea for what it involves, and the strategies you’ll need to use if you want to optimize your online content for local searchers.

Still, it can be tricky to pull off local optimization successfully. You may struggle to decide what keywords to focus on, or how to optimize your directory listings.

Even if you’re familiar with the process of traditional search optimization, the localized version introduces plenty of new challenges and potential obstacles.

That’s why it can be smart to get some help in implementing search marketing optimization. Although the initial investment will be a little higher, you’ll be starting off with a huge advantage. With search engine marketing experts on your side, you’ll know exactly what strategies to use and when, and you won’t miss out on any key opportunities.

Here at Lead to Conversion™, we’re highly experienced in the local SEO requirements for retirement community businesses. At Lead to Conversion™, we offer senior living marketing consultations to help you plan and carry out all the work you’ll need to do:

With these services, you can save time, avoid mistakes, and optimize your content more effectively. In other words, you’ll have a better chance of securing those coveted top spots in relevant searches.

Get Your Senior Center Found Online With Senior Living Advertising

These days, performing generic search engine optimization on your website and social media profiles aren’t enough. Particularly if you’re running a business with a physical location, you’ll need to optimize your content for searches originating from your city or region.

For that reason, local search SEO is essential to assisted living facilities and retirement communities. You’ll need to use relevant localized keywords, claim and optimize your online directory listings, and a lot more. Fortunately, our digital advertising agency can help out with this entire process, saving you time and increasing your odds of success.

Do you have any other questions about local search engine marketing, or how we can help you get started? Ask us anything in the comments section below!