Local SEO is relevant for smaller companies that operate at a regional level, as opposed to a national one. Although national SEO focuses more on search ranking across the world, in a particular area, local SEO prioritizes appearing on SERPs. This approach is focused on appealing to local leaders and consumers for your brand, goods, and services.
Optimizing your local SEO means more website traffic, leads, and conversions since the strategy is more relevant to your base of local customers. Think of this focused strategy as a way to help you compete more effectively against larger national brands that have unlimited resources to spend. By focusing on specific local-SEO to-dos, you can neutralize the advantage of bigger brands that routinely optimize for broader keywords and rely on brand recognition, instead of value propositions, to bring in traffic.
In addition, according to an estimate in a 2017 survey by ReviewTrackers, 35 percent of all search traffic is local. Your company may be missing out on a large amount of traffic without local SEO.
Here are the top 10 ways you can be effective with your local SEO. Note: If you’re looking for pandemic-specific SEO advice, head to COVID-19’s 13 SEO Strategies for SMBs.
1. Create a Google My Business Account
The most successful way to rank higher on Google Maps as well as gain visibility in Google Search local results is perhaps to customize your Google listing (aka your Company Profile). However, you need a Google My Business account associated with that profile in order to have access to your Business Profile to make these optimizations.Once you provide all of the requested information in your Google My Business account dashboard, all of that information will be added to your Business Profile, which appears in Google Search local results, the Google Search Knowledge Panel, and Google Maps.
To optimize your Business Profile on Google, ensure that you:
- Create a Google My Business account and verify ownership of the business
- Provide accurate and up-to-date information
- Include your logo, hours of operation, acceptable payment methods, the product or service you sell, and plenty of images
- Encourage your customers to review your business online
- Respond sincerely to customer reviews
- Publish posts (announcing products, events, and special offers) to your Business Profile using the Google My Business dashboard.
02.Get Regular Reviews from Happy Customers
It doesn’t just optimize your Google My Business presence to get your customers to write glowing reviews for your company; it also encourages more local customers to buy from you. The 2017 Local Consumer Review Survey by BrightLocal shows that 85% of consumers trust in online reviews as well as personal recommendations.
Here are some tips to encourage customers to leave reviews:
- Ask for a review in person after the close of a sale.
- Send a post-purchase email or text asking customers to write a review (but only after you’ve screened them via an internal survey to ensure you’re not approaching dissatisfied customers).
- Respond to existing reviews in a professional way, thanking reviewers and addressing complaints in not-so-favorable reviews.
Note: Google says it’s okay to ask your customers for reviews while Yelp actively discourages it.
LocalSEO
03. Optimize for Voice Search
In the coming years, voice search will develop quickly. also local SEO, therefore, it is important to refine how individuals ask questions while talking to computers, as opposed to how they type out their searches.
In essence, when doing voice searches, the clients use more long-tail keywords compared to standard searches. Because of this, to suit the more conversational sound of someone speaking, you will also have to change the SEO of your content. You’ll want to account for the typical question starters, for example (who, what, when, where, why and how).
It’s also crucial to consider user intent when optimizing for voice, as these searches are most often performed when the user needs a specific piece of information. If they’re baking and ask Alexa to convert tablespoons to cups, they’re expecting a quick and useful answer. If a potential customer uses voice search to ask what your business’s hours are, this information should also be readily available
04. Create Content Based on Local News Stories or Events
There’s nothing quite like writing content that speaks or relates directly to a local problem to catch the interest of your local customers.
Some strategies include:
- Writing blog posts around local news stories, activities, or events
- Creating videos about local charities or causes that your business supports
- Setting up location-specific webpages on your website with high-quality local content if you serve different parts of a region.
Let’s claim that you’re a local real estate firm. You can build multiple pages, one for each of your places, where hyperlocal content can be featured around news events or improvements in the local real estate market. This method may also help you get ranked for each particular position.
05.Optimize Your Website for Mobile
A 2018 Stone Temple study that looked at the smartphone vs. desktop patterns of 2017 found that the mobile change is happening faster than anticipated. Mobile website visits rose from 57% in 2016 to 63% in 2017, and total desktop website visits declined from 43% in 2016 to just 37% in 2017.
Another Acquisio 2017 study showed that local search traffic can be extremely lucrative, with a remarkable 75 percent of all mobile searches that indicate local intention to actually deliver in-store, offline visits within 24 hours.
This confirms that you need to customize your mobile website to be a local SEO player (and, really, for good SEO period).
Here are some tips to achieve this:
- Ensure your website loads quickly (no more than three seconds).
- Use bigger fonts that are easy to read.
- Use images and copy sparingly, conveying only the information you need (no room for filler on a mobile screen!).
- Ensure intuitive UI for great UX.
06.Hone in on Local Keywords.
For local clients, your keywords should be important. That just makes sense, doesn’t it?
Google’s own Keyword Planner lets you filter keyword searches based on location so you get an idea of the popular search terms for a given region. This lets you create a list of locally relevant keywords to target. Once you have them, they should make appearances in your site’s meta content, copy, and URLs.
Also, provide references in your content to region-specific landmarks and hotspots. If your local restaurant serves dinner in downtown Seattle, for example, provide references on your blog to “dining by the Space Needle” or “just steps from the Space Needle.”
07. Use Location Pages or a Location-Specific “About Us” Page
Location pages are a must if your business has more than one location in an area. These pages need to provide the following, at a minimum:
- Store hours.
- Name, address, and phone number.
- Individualized descriptions.
- Testimonials.
- Promotions.
- Parking availability.
- Google Maps attached to each location page.
Take care when you have several places, since each page allows you to build unique content.
If you only have one location, creating an “About Us” page that focuses on local, relevant information is essential. For example, if you have a florist shop, your “About Us” page is the perfect spot to mention your shop’s involvement in supplying the flowers for any parades in your town or city.
08. Take Advantage of Online Business Directories.
Websites like Yelp, Foursquare, MapQuest, and YellowPages are online business directories, just to name a few. Even more are there.
Visibility will not only help get your business name, address, and phone number into these directories, but it will also improve your local SEO.
Your company listing should include the following basics:
- Accurate business name, address, and phone number consistent across all directories
- A backlink to your website
- A thorough description of your business
09.Focus on Link Signals (Get High-Quality Backlinks)
Link signals are the first and second most significant factors for local pack (or snack pack) results and for localized organic results, respectively, according to Moz’s 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors report. Backlinks pointing to your site are connecting signals.
It’s vital to get links to boost your local SEO, but their quality is important.
Here are some tips on getting high-quality backlinks:
- Create high-quality content on your site so others want to link to your content
- Guest blog on reputable sites with a high domain authority
- Engage with local influencers on social media or by email to get them to link back to you
10. Create a Dedicated Webpage for Each Product/Service You Offer.
Although it can be tempting to merely bundle all of your goods or services together on one broad tab, avoid doing so. Alternatively, devote one page to each specific item or service you give.
If you lump everything into one tab, your local SEO juice isn’t as effective because search engines prefer not to see your brand as an authority in one particular region. It reduces the ranking opportunities.
If you’re a business without different products or services, but have various locations, simply utilize location-based copy for each page. For instance, “dental marketing” will become “New York dental marketing” or “Buffalo dental marketing.”
Local SEO: More Important Than Ever
SEO changes quite rapidly. You never know when Google will introduce new features on its SERPs for local searches, but you can count on these changes coming. That’s why it’s essential to always stay on top of local SEO. By implementing these 10 actionable items, you will ensure that your business doesn’t just take advantage of lucrative local searches but also has a solid foundation when new SEO features are introduced. And if you don’t have the bandwidth to make these adjustments, you may want to look into a small business SEO service provider.
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