What is Local SEO?

Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website locally so you can be found in the searches of a specified region. Local SEO is very much important for a small business operating at one place to a large business that has multiple stores because the local search can bring about 80% of the potential customers to you.

We have provided all the necessary information about local SEO for you to make sure that your business will be found when your customers search you online so that you can promote your products and services to the local customers.

What are the local SEO ranking factors?

Local SEO is becoming more competitive as more businesses are optimizing for local searches. Google has decreased the number of local results in the local pack where only three local business listings appear during a search that is provided by local businesses.

There is a drastic change in the local SEO ranking factors that you must be updated if you are working with a local business. Here we would discuss some important factors that affect the local SEO ranking which helps you to rank higher.

Google My Business

A huge part of local SEO is Google My Business. People can decide whether to purchase from you or not depending on your Google My Business listing. You can optimize for this important local SEO factor by claiming an owner-verified listing to include all the necessary information your customers need. By doing this you can improve Google My Business ranking which allows your business to show up on any device along with exposure on Google Maps.

Once your business has been listed, you can add photos that capture the attention of your potential customers. Good quality photos can make them more likely to click your business and learn more where you have a higher chance of gaining new customers.

A crucial factor in Google My Business is customer reviews. Earning good reviews can boost your business by building trust among new people at the same time Google recognizes your business and rank you higher. Encourage your customers to give honest reviews so that you will have confidence in what you offer or you can learn and develop.

Tips to optimize Google My Business for Local SEO

• Improve your business visibility by including as much information like your company address, contact information, and hours of operation.
• Include details or photos of your staff who work, previous works, products and price ranges. Add a few different tags to categorize your business.

Effective Keywords

Keywords are the words people use to search for your local business that can impact your organic listing. So focusing on the right keyword is another important factor in local search ranking factor. Including keywords on the page you want to rank higher can show search engines that your page is the relevant result that a customer needs.

You should plan your keyword strategy from a customer point of view. Think what a customer will search when they are in need of your product or service. The search engine crawlers analyze all your pages where keywords are the essential part which determines the page rank based upon the searches.

Tips to select keywords for local SEO

• Use long-tail keywords that have three or more words because they are more specific, cost less and drive in quality traffic.
• Use relevant keywords in title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and body of the content.
• Do not overuse your keywords which results in keyword stuffing.
• Use keywords in a way that the user has a good reading experience.

Quality Links

Acquiring quality backlinks from another site to your site improves the authority of your website which can boost your website ranking in organic search results. The link quality has a major impact since links from the high-quality site is a form of support that tells the search engine that your site is trustworthy and reputable that improves the credibility. Beware of the low-quality backlinks that can affect your website ranking in a negative way. Outbound links are the links to other credible external sites that can also influence your rankings though they have a lesser impact.

Tips to build links for local SEO

• Creating quality content is the best way to build links so other business sites can link to your content as a source for their readers.
• You can reach out to bloggers, editors and other sites and get them to check out your content.
• Create backlink trackers to know who is linking to your website so that you can build relationships with other businesses.

How important is citations for your local SEO?

A citation is the online mention of the NAP (name, address, and phone number) for a local business. These citations help the customers to discover local businesses which also impacts your local search engine rankings because search engines want to see that your company has consistent business details so that customers are finding the right information about your business.

Having inaccurate or inconsistent NAP can affect your local SEO negatively. Check if your NAP has been outdated and fix it or it will make it hard for customers to reach you and Google could downgrade your local search ranking since your data is not trustworthy.

How online reviews affect your local SEO?

Online reviews are so important that customers find it as a personal recommendation from their friends or family. Most of your potential customers change their decisions after reading three to four comments. If your business has four and five-star reviews then customers are more likely to choose you over competitors because they develop trust in your business. This also increases clickthrough and delivers more traffic to your site.

There are many review websites to provide users with the most accurate information to help users to make the right decisions about their purchases. What if your business has no reviews? That is also bad because customers hesitate to purchase from businesses with no reviews. Hence maintaining your online reputation is very important to have new customers to your business.

Local SEO Tools that can help you

Moz Local: Moz Local ensures if your business listing has been verified on Google and Facebook.

Screaming Frog: This tool crawls website links, images, script and apps from an SEO perspective.

Whitespark Local Citation Finder: Used to find citations such as the online mention of the name, address, and phone number for a local business.

Buzzstream: It helps you to identify and build relationships with local influencers.

BrightLocal: It helps you to monitor reviews on local sites, understand your local search performance, and analyze nearby competitors.

Ahrefs: It helps you with backlink checking.

Contact us for a consultation for any help with your local SEO

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