Many customers want to buy from local businesses, but getting eyes on your business is sometimes easier said than done. If you’re a small business whose clientele comes primarily from local areas, having a local SEO strategy in place will help you draw in foot traffic. In this article, we’ll go over some important local SEO ranking factors and how you can prioritize them.
What Is Local SEO?
You’ve likely heard of SEO, but have you ever heard about local SEO and wondered what the difference is? Local SEO refers to the process of optimizing your online presence to draw in your ideal, local customers. This is done by creating content that is relevant to local search traffic on Google and other search engines.
Local SEO works by increasing your website’s visibility for searchers in a specific area. In other words, it helps your website show up in the search results when people look for in-person customer service businesses or brick-and-mortar stores. An effective local SEO strategy involves a myriad of things such as content, on-site optimization, reviews, and digital PR.
What Are Local Search Ranking Factors?
The term “local search ranking factors,” simply refers to the factors that Google and other search engines consider when deciding where your business appears in the local rankings.
Some common local ranking factors include reviews, citations, an active Google Business Profile, and various on-page website elements.
Why Is Local Search Ranking So Important?
Google suggests that 80% of its users conduct online searches for local businesses, and nearly half of mobile device users doing local searches also call or go to the business within a day. The numbers speak for themselves; showing up online isn’t just important, it’s essential. And where you show up in local search results—your local search ranking—can have a huge impact on your business.
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On-page SEO
Optimise Your Website for Mobile
Local business owners must stay on top of their website game. Most local searches are performed on a phone or other mobile device and are purposeful. Because of that, having a website that works well on mobile is absolutely necessary. If someone finds your website for the first time but can’t view it properly on mobile, they might never come back to it.
Add Localised Content to Your Website
You can tell search engines that you are relevant to specific searches and phrases by adding content that incorporates those phrases to your website. This will help search engines keep your website contextualised to the niches and services it provides.
You should also add an interactive map widget to further improve your local SEO ranking.
Some companies include a news section on their site and post content related to local events that are relevant to their industry. This can also help your organic local SEO ranking.
Reviews
Online reviews are the bread and butter of turning a viewer into a customer. The majority of people nowadays use reviews to form their opinions of brands, products, and businesses.
Google Business Profile reviews are critical for your local SEO. You will need a minimum of five reviews for Google to start showing your reviews.
Once you’ve established a good base of Google reviews, turn your eyes to Facebook reviews. They are the next source online users turn to for trustworthy reviews.
Some local businesses may find it difficult to get more reviews. While an influx of positive reviews likely won’t happen overnight, there are a lot of things you can do to increase your number of reviews. Consider trying to:
→ Solicit on-the-spot reviews to sites such as Yelp or Zomato and offer an incentive such as a discount for their doing so.
→ Use email marketing with links for reviews and offer incentives such as coupons.
→ Use social listening tools like HootSuite and get alerts for business mentions.
→ Consider online reputation management tools.
You can even up your review game by embedding reviews on your website.
Conclusion
Your Local SEO ranking is important. If you haven’t come up with a local SEO strategy yet, it’s time to change that. First, spend some time creating a solid keyword list and then work on creating content that incorporates those keywords. Increase your number of backlinks and citations and start encouraging your happy customers to leave you a review.
You don’t have to be a local search marketing expert to get started. There are plenty of tools and guides that can help you get the ball rolling.
Many customers prefer local businesses and are willing to go out of their way to buy from them, but if people can’t find your business, that won’t happen. Making sure your online business visibility is good will help you grow your customer base in no time.
