As a local service business, it’s essential to make sure your business stands out online, especially when you're trying to reach local customers. While many business owners focus on onsite SEO (the things you can directly control on your website), offsite SEO is often even more important for local service businesses like yours. Here’s a breakdown of the difference between onsite and offsite SEO, and why focusing on the right tactics can boost your business growth.

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Onsite SEO: What You Control on Your Website

Onsite SEO involves optimizing the content and structure of your website to make it as search-engine-friendly as possible. This includes things like:

• Using relevant keywords on your site
• Optimizing meta descriptions and titles
• Ensuring fast load times
• Writing informative blog posts
• Improving mobile-friendliness

While all of these are important for any website, they’re just one piece of the puzzle. For a local business like a landscaping or lawn care service, onsite SEO alone isn’t enough.

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Offsite SEO: What You Do Outside of Your Website

Offsite SEO is everything that happens outside of your website to improve your search engine rankings and visibility. For local service businesses, offsite SEO is where you should focus most of your energy. This includes:

1. Google Business Profile (GBP): This is arguably one of the most important offsite factors for local businesses. Make sure your GBP is fully optimized with accurate business hours, phone numbers, photos, and services. Regularly update your profile and post to keep your business active in search results.
2. Proximity: Your business’s location plays a key role in local search rankings. If you’re targeting a specific geographic area, make sure your content (on your site and elsewhere) mentions the areas you serve. This helps search engines match you with the right local customers.
3. Reviews: Positive reviews not only build trust with potential customers but also impact your SEO ranking. Encourage satisfied clients to leave reviews on your GBP and other review platforms. Responding to reviews also shows that you’re engaged with your customers, which can boost your credibility.
4. Backlinks: Having other trustworthy websites link back to your site signals to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant. For local businesses, getting backlinks from local organizations, businesses, or local news outlets can significantly boost your local SEO.
5. Citations: These are mentions of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) on other websites, such as online directories, maps, and local business listings. Consistency is key—make sure your NAP is accurate across the web to help search engines recognize you as a legitimate local business.

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Why Offsite SEO Matters More for Local Businesses

As a local area service business, your customers are likely searching for “lawn care near me” or “landscaping services in [your city].” Since local searches are primarily based on proximity and relevance, offsite SEO factors like your GBP, reviews, and local citations weigh more heavily in local rankings than on-site tactics.

For instance, if you have a fully optimized website but no Google Business Profile or reviews, you might not show up in local search results, which is where most of your customers will be looking for services. That’s why local businesses must focus on building a strong online presence through offsite SEO.

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Key Takeaways:

• While onsite SEO is important, offsite SEO (especially your GBP, reviews, backlinks, and citations) plays a bigger role in attracting local customers.
• Make sure your Google Business Profile is complete and actively updated.
• Ask for reviews, build local backlinks, and ensure your business information is consistent across directories.

By investing in offsite SEO, you’ll not only boost your online visibility but also attract more local customers, ultimately growing your lawn care or landscaping business.