When people hear about SEO, what comes to mind is the organic type. While the global reach of organic SEO is important and shouldn’t be ignored, the importance of local SEO shouldn’t be equally ignored too. A 2020 report by HubSpot showed that 50% of consumers who did a local search on their mobile phone went down to a store that day.
Having a proper local SEO strategy will not only help you have higher website traffic but also garner leads and conversions.
Improving your SEO if you’re a newbie might take some time, here are some relatively useful tips you can take to improving your business’s local SEO.
1. Input Keywords Across Various Listings
You need to make your business visible via different local listings. That can be done by inserting local keywords into unique descriptions across those listings. Just ensure that the photos you’re using are current and include the category of your business. Make a list and promote it; you’d also need reviews as they are essential in boosting your ranks and motivate viewers to take action.
2. Optimize GMB
GMB is short for “Google My Business.” Remember the listings in the first point? Well, GMB is the tool you’d use to get your business listing on Google. It is where you can:
- Claim a listing for your business if it’s existing, or create a new one if there isn’t.
- Carry out management of reviews, comments, or questions and answers.
- Include name, phone number, address, and website (NAP+W). It also comprises operating hours, Google Posts, photos, and videos.
Claiming each location, GMB profiles, and ensuring the basic business listing information is only the beginning. Using a tool like Persuaded.io would gauge the performance of GMB listing. Go further by including menus, create various types of Google posts, and define service areas.
3. Demand for Customer Review
You might not have realized this, but according to SmallBizTrends, as many as 97% of clients go through online reviews before purchasing a product or service. Your business would be responsible for developing this kind of referral by encouraging customers who were satisfied to rate you online.
The volume and diversity of product reviews are a form of search signals. It’s easy to get them because yours is a local based business. Just put it out there that you want more reviews.
Now, why do you need truly need a review? Because every review is another chance to communicate with your customers. By responding, you’re helping your business rank higher and can capitalize by responding. In replying, you can include keywords in the most organic form possible and don’t overuse them.
Online reviews from your customers would help your business become more visible on local search. Show your customers you’re concerned about what they think and improve rankings on the other hand.
4. Associate The Business With a Locality
Begin with Google Maps, proceed with your website, then to citations and local listings. Ensure you clarify on the search engine the area your business is situated or expanding to so when people search for business there, yours pops up. This is something that will work for small local businesses.
If your visibility ranking is not high in your vicinity as a local business, you just might be losing out to your competitors. Research on more tips and capitalize on the ones listed here to top the local SERP.