Stepping into the spotlight online can do wonders for any business, whether big or small. It makes no difference whether you’re in the hospitality, tech, or export industry; success in today’s world requires some online presence. This is because the likelihood that a significant portion of your potential customers uses Google is relatively high.
If that’s the case, chances are they are searching for your product or services. It doesn’t matter if your business is restricted to serving customers within your local area only. A simple search query like “car rental in Seattle” or “best marketing services in California” can help you land several new customers.
This is what local SEO is all about!
But before your company can begin reaping the benefits of local SEO, you need to master certain techniques. This article brings you seven local SEO tips and how to implement them today.
Why is Local SEO Vital?
According to the reports of Google, searches including the words “near me” increased by 900 percent., while about one-fifth of all searches are question-based. As you can expect, Google is dedicated to providing its users with the most relevant results. The search giant focused on geographically-related searches depending on relevance, proximity, and prominence to achieve this objective best.
For this reason, local search strategies for businesses have become instrumental for growth. Following an effective local SEO strategy can put you ahead of the competition, whether you’re an SEO link-building company or a local restaurant.
How exactly? If your business operates close to a searcher’s location, local SEO strategies ensure that these searchers find your products and services first.
Research Relevant Local Keywords
Although SEO will always involve the typical keywords related to your business, these general keywords can’t deliver the same results for local SEO. Therefore, you need to concentrate some effort on local keywords. As the previous section indicates, specific search terms are characteristic of local searches. Indeed, you need to research and find these terms that pertain to your specific location and business. So, your company can incorporate local keywords like “Stockton gym.” The local keywords prioritize the location of your company while also including the general keywords required for maximum visibility.
Claim Your Google My Business Page (GMB)
This is perhaps the most vital step you can take when implementing a functional local SEO strategy. There is one reason for this: for most local keyword searches, the listings on Google My Business usually appear in the first place on the organic search engine results pages (SERPs).
It’s free to register for a GMB account, and once registered, you can add the different locations of your business branches or store branches. However, it’s crucial to optimize each entry for maximum engagement by adding compelling images and necessary information.
Target Directories And Aggregator Sites
Among the various effective ways you can boost the visibility of your business locally, local directories are only second to GMB. Hence, you’ll need to exploit them as much as possible. However, it’s best to choose the directories wisely, focusing on the most relevant to your industry or locality.
Naturally, this means checking the first SERP since the most popular usually appear first. Below are some of the most preference directories for local SEO:
- Yelp
- Foursquare
- Yell
- 192.com
- Scoot
- Free Index
- Hotfrog
- TripAdvisor
For example, if you run a coffee in Stockton, a quick search on Google can provide you with some useful and relevant aggregator sites.
Campaign For Reviews
Public perception is a powerful tool that can make or break your business. Since strategy is about taking proactive steps, you need to employ the views of your local customers to propel your company forward and position it as the best option for prospects in your locality. One of the best ways of doing this is by campaigning for genuine and positive reviews.
Firstly, your product or service needs to be on point. Next, you have to incentivize the entire process. No matter how small, give something back to get your customers and potential buyers providing feedback through relevant channels.
Get Backlinks For Your Business Site
Backlinks will always be vital in SEO, whether local or not. They build the credibility and authority of your website. For this reason, you can rely on one of the oldest and most effective backlinking tactics; outreach email campaigns. Using these campaigns can enable you to bring in initial links required to elevate your site’s recognition locally. Secondly, you can research lists online that match your business, locality, and industry. As you can expect, having several backlinks means managing them. Usually, this means using tools like Ahrefs, Link-Assistant, SEMrush, and others.
Optimize Your Online Local Brand Authority
You should look beyond the typical SEO activities, such as reviewing online profiles on GMB and another site or maintaining your website. Instead, look for ways to engage other methods that your competitors might not already use. Nowadays, most online users use social media and other online forums to ask questions about different products and services that interest them.
Adopt a proactive tactic that allows you to provide credible answers to users who will, in turn, regard your company as a reliable source of relevant information instead of waiting for them to find you and your content. And when the time comes for these consumers to buy a product or use a service in your area, where do you think they will turn? Your business, of course!
Use Data to Evaluate Your Success
Running a location-based business is no joke. Hence, you need to account for every effort and resource you put into even your local SEO strategy. Your best bet is to analyze the data as you might have guessed. The numbers don’t lie, and they’ll reveal what’s working and what you need to adjust.
Conclusion
If you’re a small or medium-sized business, you cannot overemphasize the importance of local SEO, particularly if you consider the online behavior of millennials and Gen Zs. Failure to properly leverage local SEO for growth could mean you’re leaving a large chunk of potential revenue and customers on the table. But that’s not the worst part; chances are, your competitors are always targeting local prospects with some local SEO methods. Fortunately, there are several strategies and techniques that you can use to get ahead with local SEO. The seven outlined above are among the most effective that you can implement today. So what are you waiting for?