Local SEO is something every marketer should be focused on in 2019. According to Google’s latest data, 6 in 10 consumers search for local businesses on their mobile devices. In fact, Google research shows that 61% of consumers who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit a store within a day. That’s a huge opportunity!
In this article, we’ll discuss how to optimize your Google My Business profile, create a localized link-building strategy, identify your geo-specific keywords, and create geo-specific landing pages.
While these steps might seem time-consuming, they’re essential for a successful local SEO strategy. Listed below are 8 of the most important strategies to get your business found online. Make sure to read through each step carefully before you begin.
With local search being so prominent today, local SEO strategies must be at the forefront of every digital marketer’s checklist. Here are eight basic steps to improving your local SEO strategy.
Optimize Your Google My Business Profile
When creating a Google My Business profile, make sure to include your business name. This should match the business name on your website and on any citations.
Use keywords to improve your listing and add location modifiers. For example, if your pizza restaurant is gluten-free, include “gluten-free New York” in your address field. This will help customers find your business and avoid confusion.
Create a thorough Google My Business profile. Completing your profile will make your business appear higher in local search results and increase the number of actions customers take. It requires a lot of information.
Make sure the name of your business is accurate and the same as the name you use in the real world. You don’t want to add your location name or keyword-rich descriptions as these are considered spam by Google.
Add photos. Photos tell your business story and give you a chance to brand yourself visually. Photos also help with GMB SEO. According to Google, listings with photos get 35% more clicks.
Additionally, you can label the photo as your business logo or cover photo. It’s also possible to add other details that will help your listing show up higher in local search results. However, this will require more work and more money.
Establish a Localized Link Building Strategy
When it comes to local link building, it is important to remember that you don’t need to get links from high-authority sites. Local bloggers, local events, and local suppliers can all be great places to build your link’s popularity.
Local business websites typically receive low domain authority and little traffic. To increase your link popularity, target local publications, forums, and communities and offer your products and services for trade.
First, analyze what your competitors are doing and see if you can create content that outranks them. Next, review the pages you’re competing for in the search results for your targeted keywords. The hardest part of link building is promotion – convincing people to link to you.
If you’re having trouble convincing people to link to your content, consider purchasing a book called The Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing.
Local link building is similar to general link building. It’s important to build backlinks from local websites that are relevant to your niche. More local links will help power up your backlink profile and improve your search engine rankings.
Although it’s important to generate links from high-quality sources, it doesn’t have to take a lot of effort. A local link will help you generate more word-of-mouth referrals, which will lead to more customers.
Identify Localized Keywords
The first step in any SEO strategy is identifying your targeted localized keywords. Keywords are the terms that people type into search engines to find products or services. For example, a customer searching for “black dress shoes” might type in “black leather dress shoes size 10” instead of the generic phrase “black dress shoes.”
To make the most of local SEO, it is vital to determine which keywords will be most valuable for your business and target customers. You can use keyword research to refocus your products or services, and even find related markets and target audiences.
Once you’ve determined which keywords are most relevant for your business, you need to create content for them. Using content that is tailored to local audiences will boost your organic rankings.
Besides, localized keywords are better suited for local audiences and are more likely to be shared by visitors. One of the best ways to find keywords in your area is to use Google Business Insights and Google Analytics.
Create Geo-Specific Landing Pages
When building your local SEO campaign, it’s important to create geo-specific landing pages for different areas. Whether your audience is from one city or several, creating a page for each area is a key element.
Depending on the type of business, geo-specific landing pages can be a great way to attract targeted customers. For example, if you’re a mobile app development company, you might want to create pages for multiple cities.
Another great way to increase ROI is to geo-target your website to specific neighborhoods. The world wide web is a vast space compared to the real world.
It’s not difficult to target a specific area, and many mobile users have the ability to pinpoint where they’re looking for a specific product or service. But building hundreds of location pages can be a daunting task, so it’s worth working in phases to get value quickly.
The key to creating geo-specific landing pages is to answer your audience’s inquiry. Google will gladly slurp up useful content in exchange for website visibility.
To accomplish this, you need to publish the most comprehensive and useful response to their inquiry. Once you publish that, you’ll have an excellent chance of ranking highly. Make sure to add the query in the meta title tag.
Be Visible On Directory Listings
Being visible on directory listings is an essential part of your local SEO strategy. The more directories your business is listed in, the more trustworthy search engines will consider it.
Here are some of the most important factors to consider when listing your business in directories.
Make sure you use keywords in your business descriptions and website content.
- The right keywords can boost your local SEO strategy.
- Your business’s listings can help potential customers find you online.
- If you own a business in a neighborhood, consider listing it on local business directories.
- Other directories can be used to advertise larger areas.
Be sure to create a profile on each directory with a compelling bio and relevant images. Remember to include your business’ contact information and pricing information consistently throughout your listing.
Also, make sure you follow the directory listing rules, as broken links and outdated information can lead to fewer visitors and lower rankings.
Make Your Website Responsive
One of the most important aspects of a local SEO strategy is mobile responsiveness. Google’s mobile-first indexing system picks up mobile web pages first, so your website needs to be responsive.
Your website should have the same content and use the same meta descriptions and titles on both desktop and mobile versions. This will allow Google to serve the appropriate content to mobile users in search results.
Using a mobile-responsive design will give your website a higher ranking in the search results because your website is accessible to users regardless of the device they are using.
First, you must optimize your website. While you can use free website-builder software to create a website, you should consider hiring a professional to design it for your business.
While it might seem expensive, it’s worth the investment to have a responsive website. After all, most web traffic is now mobile, so it is important that your site be optimized for these devices.
Implement On-Page SEO
You can implement an On-Page SEO strategy in 4 simple steps to make your website rank better in search engines.
Write an interesting title
Your title should be relevant to the content on your website, including the target keyword.
The Meta Title tag is one of the most important parts of on-page SEO. It’s displayed prominently in the search results and is the first thing users see when browsing your site — so it needs to grab their attention and make them want to click through to your site!
This is particularly important for local SEO because the Meta Title tag is the first thing that appears in search results and plays a major role in whether searchers click on your listing or your competitors’ listing instead.
Include natural variations of your target keyword
Include natural variations of your target keyword in your title tags and meta descriptions. For instance, if you sell running shoes, your title tag and meta description should read: “Best running shoes for women” and “Best running shoes for women” respectively.
Natural variations of your target keyword help search engines better understand what your page is about and rank your page according to relevancy and user intent.
Remember to avoid keyword stuffing. Make sure that your content is engaging, and that it explains what you do.
Focus on producing interesting and informative content that your audience will find helpful and engaging, and that will be more likely to drive traffic to your site and increase sales for your business.
Create quality page content
Google is looking to reward websites that give consumers high-quality content that matches their search intent and answers their questions directly. The best way to do that is to create content your audience wants to engage with and share with their friends.
Page content tells Google and readers what your website is all about. Developing high-quality content starts with keyword research. You can conduct keyword research using Google or other websites, or use tools like Ahrefs or AnswerthePublic to find relevant keywords.
Write for SEO, incorporating long-tail and short-tail keywords naturally and addressing buyer personas.
Monitor Customer Reviews
While many of the benefits of Monitor Customer Reviews as part of your local SEO strategy are largely irrelevant, incorporating them into your content is important. By doing so, you’ll give your visitors a sense of social validation.
Make sure that your local pages are marked with the appropriate schema, so that ratings and reviews appear on organic search results. In addition to this, integrating customer reviews into your content will also boost your ranking in Google search results.
A well-balanced mix of review signals can catapult your local business to the top of Google’s local search results. When used effectively, this tactic will boost your local SEO efforts more than traditional SEO activities such as keyword research and blogging.
Still, you must not forget about other mediums, such as social media, in your local SEO strategy. While keyword research and blogging remain important, they are not sufficient.
Conclusion
Local SEO can help companies reach new customers and build stronger relationships with existing ones. By implementing a local SEO strategy, you can rank higher in local search results and generate more traffic to your website and stores.
This article outlines seven ways for you to improve your local SEO strategy. However, your ranking in Google search results depends largely on the reputation of your website and the quality of its content.
By following the seven steps previously outlined, you can optimize your website for search engines and increase your visibility on search engines. With more people finding you, you’re more likely to convert them into customers and increase your bottom line!
