What is Local SEO
Local SEO stands for Local Search Engine Optimization, and it’s a highly effective method of creating an online presence for your business. It’s essential to help local consumers find your business easier when they are searching for your keywords. Having solid Local SEO is paramount to standing out from the rest of the competition in your local area. For example, when searching on Google, most people don’t even bother with the second page of the results; 92% of customers only pick businesses from the first page of Google Maps.
Why Does Local SEO Matter
Regular SEO can help the overall exposure of your website on a global scale. However, local SEO is arguably more important as many consumers are only willing to travel 20 minutes or less to purchase daily essentials. In addition, local SEO dictates where you rank on Google maps. In other words, it affects your visibility, increasing your client traffic and sales.
A local search is a powerful tool for small businesses; nearly half of all Google searches are for local information. Over the last few years, the “near me” and “close by” keyword searches have increased roughly 800%, which means if your business isn’t optimized for local search, a considerable amount of potential local customers don’t even get a chance to see your business. Therefore, local SEO is critical for your business to be seen and is an ongoing process that needs to be maintained to stay relevant.
7 Simple Ways To Optimize Local SEO today
NAP is Accurate
The first and easiest step to optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) is making sure the basics are correct. For GMB, the most basic information would be your business Name, Address, and Phone number, which is referenced so often that the people in the SEO industry have given it a shorthand, the NAP. Making sure they are correct and up-to-date is crucial as people are generally lazy and won’t make an effort to research harder to find the valid number or address.
Claim Your Business Listings
Business directory submissions are a crucial step because they are the foundation of your SEO. Business directories will give you a link from their database to Google, and in turn, when someone searches for your business name on google maps or performs an address search, one of these links is likely to show up first. By claiming and managing all the listings that pertain to you – your business will be more visible and rank higher on google, also known as citation building. Citation building is when your business name, address, or phone number are mentioned online. Citations help consumers find your business. It feeds Google the information it needs to rank your business. If any of your NAP is incorrect, it will derail the entire network of connections making it more difficult to find your business. To claim your business listings, you need first to check if your business is listed on places such as Yelp, Yellow-pages, BBB, 411, and other local business directories. If they are listed, you’ll need to claim the listing and ensure all the information is up to date and accurate. If your business isn’t showing up, you would have manually claimed the listings by adding your business information precisely as it’s listed on Google. Once you have added your business to as many listings as possible, Google will see your business as an authority in your local area and increases your chances of ranking higher on google.
Google My Business Short Name
After filling out the basic NAP information, the next step is claiming a short name for your business URL, designed to make it easier for your business to be found. Google requires that your short name is something that refers to your business name. It is also highly recommended to include your location, usually a city or region, to help people identify your business. For multiple locations, a different short URL is a must. There is a general format for these short names, which usually looks like the company name and branch location, for example, Starbucks Newmarket.
Categories and service areas is another way to improve your local SEO rankings today is by ensuring your business categories and service areas are up to date. To do this, simply sign in to your google my business, and under info, you’ll be able to see your category and service areas. You want to be as specific and accurate as possible and add as many relevant categories to you. Also, don’t be afraid to add secondary categories as this will allow your business to show up for more services and thus increase the likeliness of showing up on google. Local SEO is location-based, so you want to make sure your service areas are updated. Add as many cities that you service on your google my business, as this again gives your business a better chance of showing up in search.
Business Description and Photos
The business description is another fantastic opportunity to include keywords. It should tell search users about your company’s brand story, mission, and even a little history. However, Google guidelines prohibit any promotional content and links like sales. Adding photos will also help significantly with local visibility; Google reports that “businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions to their location, and 35% more clicks through to their website compared to businesses that don’t have photos.”
Google Posts
Google posts are essential for local SEO because they allow you to promote your business on the Google search engine. You can share videos, photos, and posts that are relevant to a topic or location. Also, if you needed to update customers, if you have a new offer, you can use google posts to reach your customers. Google is more likely to rank businesses that are active on Google, so by creating and promoting google posts monthly; you increase the likeliness of your business ranking on google maps.
Reviews
Reviews are essential for local SEO because they are a way of gauging customer satisfaction. Like in the offline world, google likes to promote a business spoken highly by customers and consistently receives 5-star reviews, increasing your online reputation, which is vital for SEO and branding purposes. When people search on Google for the services you offer or products you sell, reviews help them decide whether to work with your company or not. The more positive reviews you have, the better chance of ranking higher on google maps. A simple way to increase your thoughts on Google is by collecting your google review link and sending it to regular customers, staff, family, and friends. People are usually open to leaving feedback on a business if it’s quick and easy. By sending out a direct link to your immediate family and circle, you can expect 20-30 new high-quality reviews. Then you can create a campaign in which you email your existing customers asking for a review. When done correctly, this can widen the gap between you and your competitors in terms of review count and star rating, making google show your business higher.
Summary of Steps to Increase your Google Map Ranking:
Create a professional profile on Google My Business and fill in as much information about yourself, the business, location hours of operation, service areas, etc. This will make you more searchable for customers looking for what you have to offer near them.
- Upload as many pictures and google posts monthly
- Add your business to significant directories like Bing Places and Yellow Pages, so you are indexed. It would be best if you were listed in as many relevant directories for this strategy to work well.
- Send a direct review link asking for feedback to your existing customers and encourage customers to leave a review or ratings for you online after they have made their purchase
Conclusion
Local SEO optimizing is essential for businesses, and luckily, many things can be done to make sure your business ranks. Ranking on Google is more competitive than ever, and if you don’t optimize your business, you’ll miss on the highest converting stream of inbound traffic – Google.