Let’s be honest. If you’re running a business in Oklahoma City and your website’s traffic looks like a tumbleweed rolling across Reno Avenue, something’s off. Whether you’re a bakery in Midtown or a tech startup wedged between breweries in Automobile Alley, you need more than just a pretty homepage; you need eyeballs. Local ones. Preferably the kind attached to wallets.
Here’s how to actually get them.
Start with Local SEO, then make it even more local
People aren’t just Googling “plumber.” They’re typing “plumber near Paseo District” or “best brunch OKC.” That’s your signal to stop thinking nationally and start thinking neighborly.
First, claim your Google Business Profile. Fill it out like you’re applying for a passport—accurate, complete, and with no weird abbreviations. Next, sprinkle Oklahoma City-specific keywords throughout your site. Not just in blog posts, but in your title tags, headers, and meta descriptions. If your homepage says “Smith & Sons Plumbing,” it should probably also say “serving Oklahoma City” somewhere obvious.
Then there’s the citation game. You want your business listed in local directories like the OKC Chamber of Commerce, Yelp OKC, and even Nextdoor. Yes, the same Nextdoor where people complain about fireworks in July.
According to BrightLocal, 87 percent of consumers used Google to evaluate local businesses in 2022. That’s not a trend; that’s how people shop now.
Geo-Fencing: Because location still matters
Geo-fencing sounds like something out of a spy movie, but it’s really just a smart way to advertise to people in a specific area. Say you’re a restaurant near Scissortail Park. You can set up ads that only show to people within a mile radius. That’s especially handy during lunch hours when stomachs start growling.
Use Google Ads with location extensions, and Facebook Ads with radius targeting. Want to get fancy? Layer in behavioral data. For instance, target OKC Thunder fans during home games with a “show your ticket, get a free appetizer” deal. It’s not rocket science; it’s just good timing.
Write like you live here
Content marketing works better when it feels local. A blog post titled “Top 10 Things to Do in Oklahoma City This Weekend” will get more clicks than “Fun Ideas for Any City, Anywhere.” And yes, you can absolutely sneak in a mention of your business while you’re at it.
Other ideas: cover local events like the Festival of the Arts, or write up case studies featuring Oklahoma City clients. People love seeing their city reflected back at them, especially when it feels real, not copy-pasted.
HubSpot found that companies that blog get 55 percent more website visitors than those that don’t. So if you’ve been avoiding it, maybe it’s time to open that Google Doc and start typing.
Micro-influencers: Small followings, big impact
You don’t need to book a Kardashian to get results. In OKC, micro-influencers—those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers—often have more sway than the big names. Why? Because they’re real people. They go to the same coffee shops, walk the same trails, complain about the same potholes.
Reach out to local creators on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. Use a platform like Collabstr or just send a direct message. Be clear about what you’re offering and why it matters. “Hey, we love your OKC food reviews. Want to try our new menu and share your thoughts?” That kind of thing.
Backlinks: The unsexy secret to better rankings
Backlinks are like digital referrals. When a respected local site links to yours, Google takes notice. So aim to get featured in places like The Oklahoman, university business directories, or local blogs.
You can also use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to see where your competitors are getting their backlinks. Then, reverse-engineer it. If they’re on a local podcast or listed in a community guide, you should be too.
Host something. Anything. Just make it local
Events are underrated traffic machines. Host a webinar for small businesses in OKC. Set up a pop-up in the Plaza District with a QR code that links to your site. People love free stuff, snacks, or just an excuse to leave the house.
Promote your event on Eventbrite, Facebook Events, and Visit OKC’s calendar. The goal isn’t just attendance; it’s awareness. And ideally, a few backlinks while you’re at it.
Speed and mobile aren’t optional anymore
If your site takes more than three seconds to load on a phone, people aren’t waiting. They’re bouncing. And possibly muttering something unkind.
Use Google PageSpeed Insights to check your performance. Make your site
mobile-friendly, not just mobile-accessible. Buttons should be thumb-sized. Text should be readable without zooming in like a detective.
Statista says 63 percent of U.S. organic search traffic came from mobile in 2023. That number isn’t going down.
Email, but make it local
Email marketing still works, when it’s done right. Segment your list by location and behavior. Send OKC-specific promotions, event invites, or even just a “Hey, we saw you checked out our site from Nichols Hills. Here’s a 10% off code.”
Tools like Mailchimp and Klaviyo make this surprisingly easy. And automated. Which is great, because nobody wants to manually send 300 emails.
Schema markup: The nerdy thing that helps a lot
Adding local schema markup is like giving Google a cheat sheet about your business. It helps search engines understand your location, hours, and services.
Use the JSON-LD format, and double-check it with Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool. It’s not glamorous, but it works.
Track what matters, not just what’s easy
Google Analytics 4 lets you segment by location, so you can see which neighborhoods or zip codes are bringing in traffic. Combine that with heatmaps from tools like Hotjar, and you’ll know exactly how local visitors are moving through your site. And where they’re getting stuck.
Once you know that, you can fix it.
So, what now?
Driving website traffic in Oklahoma City isn’t about throwing money at ads or stuffing your site with keywords. It’s about showing up where your people are, speaking their language, and making it easy for them to find you. Whether that’s through a well-placed blog post, a timely Facebook ad, or a QR code taped to a taco truck, the tools are there. The question is, are you using them?
That’s the view from the ground.
We’ll be back soon with more real-world insights.
Until then, keep building.
– Perfect Sites Blog