Local SEO Checklist: 10 Best Practices for Preschools

As we live in a highly digital and tech-driven world, quality SEO is one of the best ways to promote a business. If you want parents to know about the preschool you run, you must have some (online) publicity. There is general SEO, and it would be best if we focused specifically on local SEO practices to improve your online presence. While general SEO aims to improve the ranking of a website in search results, local SEO aims to help people searching for services you offer in your area find you. Keep reading to learn more about the local SEO checklist and ten best practices for preschools.

One of the first things you should do is create Google My Business. When it comes to title tags and meta descriptions, you should carefully craft them. Another thing that is a must is making your website mobile-friendly. Moreover, you should use local keywords throughout your website. Also, you should constantly work on adding fresh content to your website. Photos and videos of your preschool are crucial, so add them to your website. It would be best if you also listed your business in local directories. Other things that will help boost your online presence are encouraging parents to write reviews, advertising your preschool online and investing in PPC. You must be consistent and persistent in your SEO practices to see results.

Create Google My Business

One of the first things every business should do is create a Google My Business profile. It has several benefits for all businesses, especially for childcare centres. When searching for quality childcare, parents usually research online by typing ‘ childcare near me‘. After this, they go through the results and choose the best option. When you create a Google My Business account, your business can be listed as a potential result. Local SEO is quintessential – it reaches the relevant target audience. Creating a Google My Business listing is pretty simple. You need to enter essential information regarding your business, such as your name, address, phone number, email and website.

Carefully craft title tags and meta descriptions

When it comes to title tags and meta descriptions, you should pay special attention to them. They are vital elements of every website that help define the type of business for search engines. To clarify what they are, a title tag is the text displayed as a blue bar at the top of the browser, while a meta description is the text appearing below the link in SERP (Search Engine Page Results). Both of these elements should contain essential keywords. They should also be persuasive and sound interesting. Moreover, they should accurately describe what your business does and prompt potential clients to be interested in learning more.

Make your website mobile-friendly

Many people use their smartphones to browse for various things. That’s why one of the quintessential things is making your website mobile-friendly. More and more people use their phones for browsing as phones nowadays have the same features as computers. Using phones is handy as you can use your spare time while waiting in line or running errands. If your website is not mobile-friendly, people accessing it from a mobile phone will have difficulty navigating it. And they will most definitely give up on it and find another preschool with a mobile-friendly website.

Use local keywords throughout your website.

Remember specific words related to your business, such as ‘ preschool, childcare centre, daycare, early learning centre’, and so on. Try to incorporate these words throughout the entire website. Use them in content, titles, headings, meta descriptions – everywhere on the website. These words include any word a parent would use when searching for a childcare centre. It will help you rank higher in local search results.

Create high-quality content regularly for your website.

Creating content for your blog section is also vital for your online presence. Publishing high-quality content regularly is one of the best ways to improve your local SEO. Use Google to find out people’s frequentIt. It would be best if you integrated to answer them in your blog posts. The topics you cover should be relevant and hot to have traffic. You should cover informational, educational, entertaining and helpful content. Quality content is a green flag for search engines as they view you as an authority website. It helps attract new visitors to your website and build a loyal community.

Include photos and videos of your preschool.

Everybody loves looking at photos and videos, especially when choosing an institution such as a preschool. It gives parents would be best if you listed how a typical day at your preschool looks. You should integrate multimedia into your website. Of course, ensure you have the parents’ permission if children will be featured in photos. Both the photos and videos should be in high resolution. You should show off the rooms, different areas in pre-school, and some activities you engage in. The website should also display a curriculum, program, and menu.

List your business in local Directories.

As far as local directories are concerned, there are plenty of directory websites where you can list your website. You should list it in geo-specific directories. Using local directories is an excellent way of getting your business in front of potential clients. You can find them online. Some of them are free, while others need to pay. Besides link-building strategies, where other websites link to your website, local directories is another great way of building your online presence.

Encourage parents to write reviews.

There are so many options online – how do you choose which one to go for? Besides browsing through the website, searching for essential information, and looking at photos, we also look at online reviews. If people are satisfied with our services and say it online, others having second thoughts might be convinced to contact you about all the choices. To get positive online reviews, you should do your job well and be very kind and polite with people. Also, encourage parents, who are your clients, to write their honest reviews online. When you do your job exceptionally, and people are satisfied, you will also get many personal recommendations, which is priceless.

Advertise your preschool online.

Along with the SEO optimisation of your website and all the things we mentioned so far, another thing you should remember is advertising. It would be best if you had an advertising plan in place. This encompasses advertising on relevant social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. There is also some advertising you can do for free. You can start by defining your target audience and focusing on the social media channels they use. Then, you should create business pages on relevant social media and post content regularly. You can repurpose blog content or organise giveaways, among other things. Remember to be active and respond to comments and questions.

Invest in PPC

The last thing we will mention is investing in PPC or pay-per-click marketing. This is a great investment as you only pay for ads people click on. It can be an effective way of reaching local parents.

Nowadays, every business’s online presence is equally essential to the quality of services offered or products sold. Ensure you are working on boosting the online presence of your preschool business.