Many businesses underestimate the potential of local SEO, missing out on its numerous benefits. It’s crucial for businesses with physical locations, such as restaurants, cafes, car services, retail stores, and physician and clinical services providers, to realize that local SEO can be a game-changer for them.
Local SEO is often overlooked due to a lack of awareness. However, with the right information, businesses can easily understand how to implement it, reap its benefits, and choose affordable local SEO services. That’s why we’ve prepared a comprehensive guide on local SEO to empower businesses to get started and make the most of this powerful tool.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is like a beacon, guiding local customers to your business. It’s a proven process that boosts your business’s visibility in local search engine results, ensuring it appears at the forefront and top of the list when searched locally. For example, if your business implements local SEO strategies, it can attract more local traffic, generate leads and sales, and significantly increase brand awareness in your local area.
Moreover, the start of local SEO would definitely shock you, as about 46% of Google searches are focused on gaining local information, indicating a high demand for local businesses. 76% of the customers opt for reading the reviews online when searching about a local business, highlighting the importance of online reputation. And 42% of searches were navigated to Google Map pack, showing the relevance of physical location in local searches.
Are you shocked yet? Here’s how you can execute local SEO.
How to Execute Local SEO?
Various activities must be implemented for a complete local SEO, as follows.
1. Optimizing Google Business Profile
Google business profile is a type of listing; a business that uses these would become apparent on Google Maps. Creating a Google business profile would enable your business to be included in local searches, and if you optimize these listings, you will surely appear in the top searches. Here are the steps you need to take to set up your Google business profile.
- Go to Google Maps and enter your business name.
- Click on your business, and choose “Claim this business.”
- Then click on “Manage Now.”
- Next, you would have to verify your business.
- After that, enter the essential info about your business (Name, business address, phone, URL, and service hours.
- Choose the right category according to your business and its services.
- Once this is done, you must add high-quality images of the physical location, details, and images of products and services.
2. Local Keyword Research
You might already know about the keywords’ impact on onsite and offsite SEO, and the exact significance is also common in local SEO. If you want your business to rank better on the local SEO, performing local keyword research is crucial.
Performing local keyword research and integrating it into your web content would improve your website’s SERP. As people do relevant searches related to the keyword, there is a higher chance that your business and its website will appear in the search results.
Here is how you can do the local keyword research:
- SEO tools can be pretty effective in listing high-performing local keywords that can be used in the website’s content.
Pro Tip: One key thing to remember while researching keywords is to consider determining their difficulty, search intent, search volume, and CPU before using them in your content.
3. Local-Specific Content
Another key consideration for your business should be using area-specified keywords. These keywords include the name of your city, town, or neighborhood, and they are particularly important for businesses with a physical existence and website.
When you use local-specific keywords, you can enhance your targeting of a specific geographic area. This can greatly benefit your overall search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and help potential customers find your business more easily.
This targeted approach can significantly benefit your overall search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and help potential customers find your business more efficiently.
4. Ensuring Mobile-friendliness
Local SEO is about improving the web and online content in terms of local searches and enhancing your website’s mobile friendliness. Mobile searches and local SEO are parallel; about 64% of Google searches are made from mobile devices, and the surge in “near me” searches has increased by 250% since 2017.
Considering the statistics above, you will know the importance of mobile-first optimization. As a large proportion of your local targeted audience uses mobile phones for local searches, your business must have its website compatible with mobile devices.
5. Inbound Links
Inbound links are vital to local SEO; these can help inform Google that your business is credible and authentic. Furthermore, inbound links can improve the domain authority of your business’s website. There are a few ways through which you can get inbound links; these are as follows:
- Sponsorships (local events)
- Partnerships
- Offsite Blog (promotional blogs and content on third-party websites)
6. Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Reviews are also essential for local SEO; many web surfers read reviews and testimonials before purchasing. Your business should aim to get as many positive reviews as possible; not only would these enhance your local SEO, but they would also be a great tool for improving your business’s reliability.
Positive reviews can boost your business’s reputation and attract more customers, while negative reviews can be an opportunity for improvement and show your business’s commitment to customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
Local SEO is becoming increasingly crucial for businesses with physical locations to increase their visibility and attract more local customers. To ensure your business stands out in local searches, optimizing your Google Business Profile, conducting local keyword research, creating local-specific content, prioritizing mobile-friendliness, and building inbound links are essential.
If you need help implementing these strategies to boost your business’s local online presence, contact Design Mania, your local SEO expert. Let’s work together to elevate your business and dominate the local search results!