How to Get Your Business Found Online in Ferndale, Michigan
Ferndale is a town that punches above its weight. With roughly 20,000 residents, it’s small, but its downtown is packed with independent restaurants, boutiques, breweries, and service businesses. The local economy runs on foot traffic and word-of-mouth. But here’s the problem: if you own a business in Ferndale, you’re competing against every other shop on Woodward, Nine Mile, and in the surrounding Detroit suburbs. And most of those businesses are invisible on Google.
Why? Because small business owners in Ferndale are busy. They’re good at making coffee, cutting hair, or fixing cars. They’re not good at SEO. And Google doesn’t care how good your food is if it can’t figure out what you serve or where you are. The result? A potential customer searches “best tacos in Ferndale” and sees a chain in Royal Oak instead of your spot on Allen Road.
Here’s how to fix that. You don’t need to hire an agency or learn code. You just need to do a few things right.
1. Claim and fill out your Google Business Profile
This is the single most important thing you can do. Go to Google and search for your business name. If a box appears on the right side with your address and hours, claim it. If not, create a profile at google.com/business. Fill in everything: address, phone number, website, hours, and category (e.g., “Mexican restaurant” not just “restaurant”). Add photos of your storefront, menu, and team. Google uses this info to decide when to show you in search results.
2. Get more reviews (and respond to them)
Reviews are like social proof for Google. More reviews = more trust = higher rankings. Ask every happy customer to leave a review. Put a sign by the register, send a follow-up text, or add a link to your email signature. Then respond to every review—good or bad. A simple “Thanks, Sarah! Glad you enjoyed the nachos” shows Google you’re active.
3. Make your website mobile-friendly
Most people search for businesses on their phones. If your site takes more than three seconds to load or looks squished on a small screen, people leave. Google notices this and drops your ranking. Use Google’s free Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check. If your site fails, ask your web host or a local developer to switch to a responsive theme.
4. Use local keywords on your site
When you write about your business, use phrases your customers actually type into Google. Instead of “We serve premium coffee,” try “Best coffee shop in Ferndale near the farmers market.” Mention neighborhoods, nearby landmarks, and local events. Put “Ferndale” in your page titles, headers, and image descriptions.
Now, about backlinks
Backlinks are simply links from other websites to yours. Think of them as votes. If a local news site or a Ferndale blog links to your business, Google sees that as a sign you’re worth showing. The more quality votes you get, the higher you rank. But you can’t just buy links from random sites—Google is smart enough to ignore those.
That’s where BacklinkUSA.com comes in. We publish articles about local businesses on high-authority websites. Those articles include a link back to your site. It’s a simple, honest way to get the kind of votes that help you show up when someone in Ferndale searches for what you offer.