Here’s how local SEO works: what’s the first thing you’d do when searching for a nearby restaurant? You Google ”restaurants near me” of course!
This is an example of a local SEO which happens when a search contain local keyword phrases or when the search engine infers a location based on the search input.
Why Should I Bother With Local SEO?
But why do you need to care about local SEO?
Local SEO services helps improve your business’s online visibility by interested searchers. So having a higher ranking on local search results would attract many more potential customers in the vicinity, helping you achieve a better organic search presence as well. In fact, 46% of searches done on Google revolve around local information.
On top of improving overall online brand awareness, local SEO also helps to generate more website traffic, leads, in-store traffic, and conversions for small businesses.
All in all, if your business is not optimized for local SEO, your business may struggle to stand out amidst the sea of competitors.
How to Build a Local SEO Strategy
So how do you create an effective local SEO strategy that will boost your business’ online ranking and rope in more customers? Here are some strategies that we recommend to start with.
1. Create a Google My Business Page
Having a Google My Business page is perhaps the most effective way to rank higher both in Google Search local results and Google Maps. To do so however, you’ll need to create a Google My Business account, and fill in all of the requested information in your account dashboard.
The same information will be used by Google to provide users with essential details about your business, such as:
- Address
- Company website
- Products and Services
- Contact details
- Customer reviews
- Ratings
- Business hours
- Company Logo
Be sure to add in as much relevant information as possible to your Google My Business profile as all of that information will appear in Google Search local results, the Google Search Knowledge Panel, and Google Maps.
2. Take Advantage of Popular Listing Sites
Keep in mind that your search ranking result is just determined by your profile on Google alone.
Another effective strategy to improve on your local SEO performance is to claim and complete your business profiles on other popular listing and social media sites such as Yelp and Facebook, just as you did with Google My Business.
Building and growing your online presence on these different sites ensures your business maximizes its local SEO and increase the visibility of your business profile in searches across multiple search engines.
3. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Devices
Did you know that 61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site? Not only that, most of the location-related searches on Google are done on mobile devices, which comes as no surprise given that mobile users tend to be on the move.
This means that you have to optimize your website for mobile usage to rank higher locally. Here are some ways that you can do just that:
- Ensure that your website is mobile-responsive
- Improve your site speed (no more than three seconds of loading times)
- Use easy to read fonts
- Improve your site speed.
- Avoid pop-ups if possible.
- Don’t use too many redirects.
4. Create Content Based on Local News Events
Content is the foundation of digital marketing strategies, and there’s no better way to leverage on it by crafting out content that relates to a local issue to direct attention to your business.
With that in mind, here are some content ideas that you can get started with for local SEO:
- Write blog posts centered around local news, activities, or events
- Create videos about your products and or services
- Set up a page that addresses your customers’ most frequently asked questions
- Host a local event and have it documented
You can also refer to Google Trends to get a rough gauge of the relative search volume and popularity of each key phrases and words based on a specific geographic area. Google will also suggest related key phrases that you can refer to for more content ideas.
5. Encourage Reviews From Satisfied Customers
It’s no surprise that online reviews play a huge role in ranking higher on local search results. Not only will positive reviews let your business stand out from your competitors, they also help to gain customers’ trust and support your business’s credibility and reputation. After all, you wouldn’t want to make a poor first impression, would you?
Here are some ways to encourage customers to leave reviews:
- Ask for a review in person after closing a sale
- Send out a post-sale email asking customers to write a review about their recent shopping experience
- Highlight positive customer reviews on your social media pages
Kickstart Your Local SEO Strategy
It’s clear that local SEO is becoming a crucial tool for small businesses to stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Stay on top of your SEO game by implementing our tips to ensure that your business is well-prepared for the age of digitization.
Read up on our definitive SEO guide for some ideas on how to further optimize your search engine results and attract more organic traffic to your website.
And if you’re looking to improve your SEO ranking, be sure to get in touch with our SEO experts here at WhooshPro or learn about SEO basics.
