How to Get Your Business Found Online in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city built on hard work. From its railroad and coal roots to today’s mix of healthcare, logistics, and small manufacturing, the people here know what it takes to get things done. But if you own a local business—a diner on Lackawanna Avenue, a plumbing company in West Side, or a boutique in Green Ridge—you’ve probably noticed something frustrating: customers can’t find you when they search Google.
Why? Because most small businesses in Scranton are invisible online. They have a website from 2012, no Google listing, or they’re buried under bigger competitors. The good news? You don’t need a marketing degree to fix it. Here are four things you can do yourself to start showing up.
1. Claim and fill out your Google Business Profile This is the single most important step. Go to google.com/business and claim your listing. Make sure your name, address, phone number, and hours are correct. Add photos of your storefront, your team, and your work. If you’re a bakery, post a picture of your best cake. Google rewards businesses that look active and accurate.
2. Ask for reviews—and reply to them When someone searches for “best pizza in Scranton,” Google shows businesses with lots of recent, positive reviews. So ask your happy customers to leave a review. A simple “Hey, if you liked our service, would you mind leaving a quick Google review?” works. And when you get one—good or bad—reply. Thank them. If it’s negative, apologize and offer to make it right. That shows Google (and customers) you care.
3. Make your website easy to use on a phone Most people search for local businesses on their phones. If your site takes forever to load or looks tiny and broken on a mobile screen, people leave. And Google notices. Use a tool like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check your site. If it fails, ask your web developer to switch to a responsive design or a simple template that works on any device.
4. Use local words on your website When you write about your services, mention where you are. Instead of just “we fix furnaces,” say “we fix furnaces in Scranton and Dunmore.” Use phrases like “near me” naturally. If you’re a landscaper, write a page called “Lawn Care in South Scranton.” That helps Google connect your business to local searches.
One more thing: backlinks You might hear the term “backlinks” and tune out. But it’s simple. A backlink is just a link from another website to yours. Think of it like a recommendation. If the *Scranton Times* links to your business, Google sees that as a sign you’re trustworthy. The more quality recommendations you get, the higher you rank. That’s where we come in.
At BacklinkUSA.com, we help local businesses get featured in articles on high-authority websites. Those articles link back to your site, which tells Google your business belongs near the top of the search results. If you want to be the first name people see when they search for what you do in Scranton, that’s the kind of help that works.