To help you optimize your business for local SEO, we’ve compiled some tips and tools that you can easily apply to your business strategy.
Google My Business Profile
Google My Business (GBM) has become in the jewel of the crown for local SEO. This Google tool allows you to create free business listings and it’s one of the top factors that Google will consider when ranking businesses in organic local search.
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.
Ensure that the information in your profile is updated, including your logo, business information, hours of operation and plenty of images.
Don’t be shy, ask for a review
An only review is almost as powerful as a personal recommendation. Now you have your GBM profile ready, encourage your customers to review your business online via post-purchase emails.
Respond sincerely to customer reviews and monitor them. If your business works locally, this would have a direct impact on your brand image.
Responsive Website
According to Statist, 61% of all Google searches are performed on mobile, in fact, 82% of the people surveyed in a study conducted by Uberall confirmed that they use their mobile devices to conduct a “near me” search, being the most common searches to find reviews, directions or contact information. Therefore, it’s crucial having a responsive website optimized for mobile screens.
Links are important
Same as with regular SEO, local SEO requires a good linking structure and domain authority so try to gain valuable backlinks relevant to your target location.
Some tips to gain high-quality backlinks are: to create valuable content that others want to link to their websites, participate in other blogs with a high domain authority or engage with local influencers on social media.
Be consistent, don’t mess up with NAP
NAP is the acronym of Name, Address and Phone Number of a business. Avoid the common mistake of only including the NAP within an image — images can’t be crawled from search engines like HTML text.
It is very important to be consistent across all the platforms and websites; look out for any misspellings, address and phone number discrepancies, and duplicate listings and resolve them to improve your local SEO.
Based your content on local news and keywords
Focus your content on local or industry news to attract a local audience. Promote local industry gathering, news, educational content…
Also, plan your content around local keywords. Google has its own platform to find keywords, Keyword Planner. You can filter keyword searches based on location so you get an idea of popular search terms for a given region.
Have a location page
Location pages are a must, especially if your business has more than one brick-and-mortar location. If so, you should have specific pages for each of your locations and you should create unique content for each of them.
These pages provide visitors information about your business name, address, phone number, store hours, unique store descriptions, parking/transit information, promotions, and testimonials from happy customers.
These are the essentials to take your local SEO strategy to the next level. Local SEO is a key part of your SEO strategy, it will help you to improve your visibility and help your audience to find you. If you need extra help pushing your SEO strategy, contact us! We are here to help you strategize, plan and execute.
