Local SEO holds vitalness for a small business that operates on a regional level. The national SEO focuses on ranking searches country-wide. The local SEO, on the other hand, prioritizes the results appearing in a specific location. This strategy works wonders for a business as it helps in marketing the product, services, and brand, at large to local customers and leads.
Now that you know that SEO strategy is more relevant to your local customers, optimizing the same holds importance. And, why not?
Your business needs more traffic, conversions, and leads. Just think of this strategy as a maxim of helping your business compete against brands. Yes, the ones which are much larger and reputed, in comparison to yours.
Nevertheless, by focusing on specific local SEO, you can reap the benefits of more prominent brands. Know that these optimize for broader keywords and rely on brand recognition. They consider value propositions as the second important factor when it comes to bringing traffic.
“97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else, according to a report by SEO Tribunal.”
Without local SEO, your business has the probability of losing a significant amount of traffic. Don’t want to make that happen? Well, you never will once you know the ways of making your local SEO successful.
Create a Google My Business Account:
One of the most effective ways of ranking on Google Maps is by optimizing your Google listing. With this, Google Search local results also help in giving you visibility.
All you need is access to your Business Profile to make optimizations. Now associate Google My Business account associated with that profile.
Explore the platform a little. Provide all the required information in Google Search local results, Google Maps, and Google Search Knowledge Panel.
Ensure having the following for optimizing your Business Profile on Google:
- Create a Google My Business account. Verify the business ownership after this.
- Ensure providing up-to-date as well as accurate information.
- Include your hours of operation, business logo, acceptable payment methods, your products or services, and images.
- Encourage regular customers to rate and review your business.
- Be responsive to customer reviews.
Gather Happy Customer Reviews:
When your customers write good reviews, your Google My Business presence optimizes. But, it also encourages other local customers to buy from your store.
Studies show that around 85% of customers rely on online reviews and prove similar to personal recommendations.
You can encourage your customers to review your business by:
- Asking for in-person review after closing the sale.
- Sending a post-purchase email encouraging customers to write a review.
- Responding to existing studies in a much professional way, thanking the reviewers, and addressing complaints in a friendly manner.
Optimize your Voice Search:
Voice search has been increasing in recent years. Thus, it is necessary to optimize your website and other resources. See how people ask questions while speaking to devices like Google Assistant, Alexa, etc.
Studies show that customers make use of long-tail keywords during a voice search. Because of this, the business will require adjusting the content SEO to adapt to a person’s conversational tone.
For example, you’ll have to create an account for question starters. These may be who, when, what, where, and how.
Also, take into consideration the user intent while optimizing your content for voice search. It mainly comes into play when a user demands a specific piece of information.
For example, if customers are baking, they ask Alexa to convert two tablespoons of sugar into cups. In a situation like this, the user expects a quick and helpful answer, which you need to provide for good SEO.
Create content based on Events and News Stories:
Nothing is as valuable as content that relates to a local issue or grabs user attention. Write blogs covering the news story, event, or activity as marketing experts consider this an apt SEO strategy. You can also create videos around local charities or the causes that you support.
Let’s assume you’re a real estate business. As an effective SEO strategy, you can create different pages, one for each of your locations.
Now you have the ease of featuring hyperlocal content around the news event or local real estate market. Consider using this strategy, as it can help you rank for a specific location.
Create a Mobile-friendly Website:
With the advent of modern technology, there has been a tremendous shift to mobile.
“61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site according to HubSpot Marketing Statistics.”
This statistic sheds light on the importance of optimizing your website for mobile. Some tips to help you achieve this are:
- Ensure a quick website loading time. Note that it shouldn’t be more than three seconds.
- Use bigger fonts as they are easy to read.
- Use images that convey only the needful information- you don’t need fillers on the mobile screen.
- Ensure intuitive User-Interface for a great User-Experience.
Hone your Local Keywords:
Your keywords make sense only when they’re relevant to your local customers.
With the help of Google’s Keyword Planner, you can filter your keyword searches based on your location. And, why not? You need the most popular search terms for a given region.
Also, this platform helps you in creating a list of locally relevant keywords, which you need to target.
Once they’re available, they’ll make an appearance on your site’s copy, meta content, and URLs. Also, include mentions of the region-specific landmarks and popular hotspots in your content. By doing so, your business recognition will boost to unexceptional levels.
Key Takeaways: Local SEO- a Powerful Tool
SEO has been changing rapidly. Google has been introducing newer features on the search engine results page for local searches. But, counting on those upcoming changes makes all the sense.
By implementing these strategies, you’ll be able to ensure a solid foundation for your local business.
And, if you don’t have the bandwidth for making those new-fangled adjustments, looking out for a small business SEO service provider can be a lucrative option!
