You probably know about how your local Chamber of Commerce helps you generate business through its many benefits, such as referrals and networking. But, did you hear your Chamber membership also has SEO benefits? Read on to learn how everything from your membership profile to fun social events can make a big impact on your rankings.
Your Membership Profile
Search engines like Google use an algorithym to produce a free "organic" listing of links with each keyword search from every user. Using on and off-site Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques can result in your website receiving a higher ranking on the organic returned list for those searched keywords that may be found on your site. One of these techniques is to have your business listed on other credible websites. This is called backlinking. By completing your Chamber membership profile, your business information becomes posted on a trusted site telling the search engine bots your website is a credible source of content.
Additionally, when your address and other important business contact information matches that found on your Google My Business profile, the search engine bots take that as a strong indicator your business is legitimate. This is important because the Google algorythm will rank links from trusted sources higher in the organic listings since Google's goal is to return helpful content to the requesting user. In other words, if you type the keywords "Dr. Navarro in Ormond Beach", you are likely hoping to find a business listing for Dr. Navarro with his clinic's name, phone number, address, and website. However, you may not appreciate receiving inaccurate contact information for a Dr. Navarro who no longer has a practice associated with the listed address and phone number. Hence, providing the same contact information in your Chamber member profile as your Google My Business profile tells Google the Google My Business profile content is not only relevant and current but also verified.
Benefitting from Chamber Partner Backlinks
While we are talking about your link being posted on the Chamber's website as a benefit of being a member, there are other backlinking opportunities you can pursue as a member of the Chamber of Commerce that will further increase your SEO ranking. One example comes from the Chamber's partnerships. Many Chambers use partners to print a business directory to share within the local community. Those partners may add the directory to their website giving your website a backlink that, again, tells Google that your site content is both useful and trustworthy. You guessed it. The more backlinks placed on sites that are already considered by Google to be trustworthy, the better your site will rank on Google.
Getting Member Backlinks
Another example of a backlinking opportunity for Chamber members is the result of networking at Chamber hosted events. You may find your Chamber has many related business owners who would be willing to post your website link on their sites.
Building a Reputation
As a bonus, the more people you tell about your business at the Chamber events, the more traffic your website will likely receive and the number of shares for your social media posts may increase. Higher traffic flow and longer user time spent on your links will further improve your SEO rank because that means your website content is in popular demand. Be sure to bring business cards to hand out with your website, Facebook page, and Instagram page listed to make it easy for them. After all, remembering names is hard enough, much less having to recall a website URL!
Receiving rave Reviews!
Lastly, don't be afraid to ask for help on reviews from your fellow Chamber members. Everyone who joins the Chamber of Commerce ultimately has a desire to see local businesses flourish. When you acquire a new customer from attending a Chamber event, request a 5 star review on Google from that individual. The higher your review score, the more trusted your website and business appears to both the SEO bots and potential customers. It's a win-win!
To conclude, there are a myriad of benefits to becoming a Chamber member, including a greater potential for a higher SEO ranking through completing a membership profile, mingling with other business owners to generate buzz about your website online, and asking for help with reviews and backlinks from peers who understand how hard it is to establish your business as credible to the search engines online. That improved ranking can then turn into new customers as your website link pops up for relevant keyword searches inviting users to explore your products and services. Plus, you may acquire more customers through your Chamber member events. So, what are you waiting for? Get started with your Chamber membership today!