Written by: Peter Minkoff
Search engine optimization (SEO) is key to improving the visibility of your website, allowing you to improve your rankings on results pages and attract wider audiences. But for smaller local businesses, local search might be an even more powerful tool. It will enable you to attract potential consumers in your area, build authority and trust among local audiences, and keep your business relevant in the community. Local SEO can be critical to success, so here are some important tips that will allow you to manage your campaign more effectively:
Optimize for Google My Business
Google My Business is one of the most critical aspects of local search. Google verifies, supports, and shares its content quite generously, meaning that Google My Business (GMB) is the perfect solution for managing your company’s Google needs. To optimize for this directory, you will have to create a GMB account and verify it, connect Google Posts with this page, encourage your clients to leave online reviews, and try to respond to each one. This will be quite beneficial for local SEO, potentially giving you the desired sidebar space, along with building authenticity and trust with local audiences.
Ensure information is consistent
To enhance local SEO, you have to make it simple for search engines and customers alike to find your business. You can do this by placing your business name, phone number, and address on your website. Make sure this information is displayed in the form of crawlable HTML text, as this will enable Google to position your site more accurately in location-based search results. The most common places for this information include the header and footer of a website, but you could also create a separate “Contact Us” page with additional information. Make sure your details are consistent across platforms, from your site and GMB page to social media and other directories.
Enhance other online directories
Other online directories, citations, and data aggregators could prove to be beneficial to local SEO as well. Consider making a business listing on Google Maps, Apple Maps, Trip Advisor, Yelp, Foursquare, and similar local platforms. Ensure your business information is correct and consistent across all websites. Any discrepancies like abbreviations, misspellings, or incorrect phone numbers could present an issue. If Google isn’t able to confirm which business information is actually correct, it may not display your business in search results at all.
Perform an audit of your local SEO
Once you’ve created the necessary listings, it’s recommended to do a comprehensive audit to determine where your profile stands and how you could potentially improve it. For instance, you can leverage a helpful online tool to perform a GMB audit and see how your listing holds up. This will highlight all good features and point out any improvements you can make to enhance your profile. There are a number of other auditing tools you can utilize when performing a local SEO audit, including on-page SEO, citation, competitor analysis, and website audits.
Establish a social media presence
If you haven’t already, select a couple of social media platforms that are relevant to your local audience, and create business profiles on these networks. Post unique and interesting content regularly to engage your followers on these platforms. Remember that Google now values content that’s shared on social media more than ever before. This means that you can share your Google My Business listing on all your social media profiles and align your strategy even further with local SEO.
Create localized site content
As search engines continue getting smarter, you can now create content that’s targeted more toward users and less toward Google’s algorithm. To attract a local audience, steer clear of general topics and focus more on industry or local topics. Try to become the local industry authority by writing about local industry news, events, employees, and other types of educational content on your website. Focus on slightly more widespread content that goes beyond your specific offerings as well. For instance, security companies aiming to attract business in the area can combine general safety and security tips with topics describing local events to achieve the best results with their content.
Prioritize mobile friendliness
Considering the fact that a significant percentage of Google searches are performed using mobile devices, mobile and local searches simply must go together. Customers will commonly use your website in a mobile environment to find directions to your business, look for contact information, and search for reviews, for instance. Make this process simpler for your users by making your website more mobile-friendly. You can do this by using mobile-friendly templates, considering touchscreens, simplifying your site pages, increasing website speeds, focusing on adaptive and responsive design, etc.
For local businesses to reach local audiences effectively and increase conversions, local SEO campaigns will be vital strategies. Use the advice mentioned above to manage your local SEO tactics better and accelerate business growth and success.