The power of the Internet is utilized by SEO for local businesses to increase online traffic to your website and drive foot traffic to your physical location. Local business SEO serves as a comprehensive solution to generate more leads and revenue through in-person and online sales, as 80% of local searches result in conversions.
SEO for local businesses
Local SEO employs similar strategies to traditional search engine optimization (SEO) but aims to improve businesses’ positions in local search rankings instead of national or global rankings.
SEO for local business tips
1. Create a Google Business Profile account
To begin improving SEO for your local business, the initial step is to claim your Google My Business account. By creating a Google My Business account, you can guarantee your presence in:
- Google local search results
- Google Maps
- Google Search Knowledge Panel
To begin optimizing your Google My Business, you will also need to aim for the best possible outcomes.
- Verify your business ownership
- Provide up-to-date information about your products and services, location, hours of operation, and payment methods
- Add your logo and images to give searchers an inside look at your business
- Share regular posts about product updates, events, and special offers
- Encourage and respond to Google reviews
By claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile listing, you can improve your visibility in local search results and enhance your local SEO.
2. Build local citations and ensure NAP consistency
Apart from asserting your GMB listing, it is recommended to establish local citations on websites such as:
- Bing Places
- Yext
- Manta
- And more
Make sure to include the following when optimizing your citations:
- Your business name, address, and phone number (NAP)
- Description of your business
- Link to your website
Enhance your knowledge on constructing local citations and explore our exclusive LocalFX software for assistance in handling your local listings and SEO.
3. Encourage reviews from local customers
To optimize your Google My Business listing and encourage people to buy, the next step is to earn customer reviews from local customers. One way to do this is by obtaining reviews on Google.
- Create a link to help customers find and review your business
- Add the URL above to your website and marketing materials and remind customers to review your local business
- Respond to reviews to build trust with customers
You have the option to receive reviews on Google, as well as encourage individuals to review your local business on your website, social media platforms, and third-party review websites. To learn more about earning reviews, visit this webpage. Reviews have an effect on the SEO rankings of local businesses, and responding to reviews enhances your credibility among potential customers.
4. Conduct local keyword research
To have successful local SEO campaigns, keyword research is vital. By conducting keyword research, you can discover the specific keywords and phrases that local customers use when searching for businesses, products, and services similar to yours. We suggest utilizing tools such as:
- KeywordsFX
- KeywordTool
- Ahrefs
These tools will provide you with information on metrics such as monthly search volume, cost per click, and competition. This will help you select the most beneficial keywords for your business. When conducting keyword research, it is recommended to prioritize long-tail, local keywords. Long-tail keywords, which consist of three or more words, usually have less competition and are therefore easier to rank for.
Determining search intent is easier for long-tail phrases because they provide specific details. When someone searches “Harrisburg restaurants,” it is unclear which type of restaurant they are looking for. On the other hand, if someone searches “best Thai food restaurant in Harrisburg pa,” their intention is clear.
By understanding search intent, you can create local SEO content that aligns perfectly with what a searcher is looking for, increasing your chances of achieving a top ranking in search results.
5. Create location-based content
By conducting keyword research, it is necessary to generate content in order to achieve a higher ranking in local search results. This can be accomplished through the creation of location-specific pages and blog posts, enabling you to:
- Demonstrate authority in your local area
- Target local keywords
- Rank at the top of local search results
- Share local industry news and events
- Keep searchers in the know about important business updates
- Encourage purchases from local customers
- Inspire customer loyalty and repeat purchases
If you have multiple locations for your business, it is important to generate unique content. This will help local users find and visit the location nearest to them. Creating original content is a crucial part of our local SEO checklist and plays a significant role in improving your local search rankings.
6. Optimize for voice search
If your site is not optimized for voice search, you are missing out on valuable local leads and revenue as voice searches now make up almost 50% of all online searches. Particularly for local searches, an increasing number of people rely on voice search to locate nearby businesses.
To begin optimizing your site for voice search, here are some voice search optimization tips that can also be applied to local SEO strategies, allowing you to save both time and money.
- Focus on targeting long-tail, local keywords related to your business.
If you have an Italian restaurant, one way to increase your visibility in voice search and local SEO is to create content specifically targeting the phrase “best Italian restaurant in [your location].”
- Optimize for Position Zero (P0) — the first search result that appears above organic listings.
By optimizing your content for Position Zero results and featured snippets, you can increase your chances of ranking in more voice search results. This is because voice search devices retrieve information directly from Position Zero results and featured snippets.
- Create easy-to-digest content that directly answers searchers’ questions.
– Breaking your content into 2-3 sentence paragraphs and using bullet points whenever possible is a highly effective strategy for achieving a P0 position in search results. – By dividing your content into shorter paragraphs and employing bullet points, you increase your chances of appearing at the top of search results. – Achieving a P0 spot in search results can be attained by adopting the practice of breaking your content into paragraphs consisting of 2-3 sentences and incorporating bullet points when appropriate.
Our top-rated voice search SEO services can help your local business learn more about voice search optimization. Additionally, by directly answering searchers’ queries, you can improve your chances of ranking at the top of search results, as Google prioritizes results that offer the best user experience (UX).
7. Leverage schema markup
Schema markup is a type of code that is added to the HTML of a website in order to improve the presentation of the web page in search results.
By having this code, your website ranking will be boosted, improving your click through rates, as it helps Google identify specific elements of your web page and understand the meaning of your web content.
8. Optimizing your content, URL, and tags
It is important to include the details of your region or city in your content, URL, headers, title tags, and meta descriptions. Additionally, they should accurately focus on the primary search term of the web page being described.
When you include geographical information on your web page, Google will use it to determine the relevance and content of the page, and then index it accordingly.
9. Engaging in local link building
Securing a solid link profile is crucial for achieving success in search rankings. Ultimately, the entire business relies on obtaining various types of links, including both effective and ineffective link building methods.
Regrettably, this approach is more similar to a marathon rather than a sprint. Therefore, it is advisable to distance yourself from individuals who claim they can quickly obtain a multitude of backlinks for you. However, it remains a crucial element of a robust local SEO strategy. You have the ability to construct a favorable link profile on your own, which makes local link building one of the most valuable tips for local SEO.
10. Build your presence on relevant review websites
According to the results of a Zendesk Survey, it was found that nearly 90% of individuals stated that their purchasing decisions were influenced by online reviews. Following this, Moz asserts that online reviews have a 10% impact on Google’s decision to rank a web page.
Taking into account all of these numbers, it would be more advantageous for you to establish your online presence on all of the leading review websites. A few examples of these prominent review websites are as follows:
- Urbanspoon
- TripAdvisor
- Yahoo Local
- Foursquare
- Angie’s List
- Yelp
- White Pages
- Yellow Pages
- Google+ Local
11. Track the ranking for all local searches
When it comes to monitoring changes in local search rankings, marketing technology can be utilized. In this case, it is essential to track the type of results, devices used, search volume, and rankings. Additionally, it is important to verify if your preferred URL appears at the top of search results in each geographic location that is relevant to your business.
To effectively analyze data and identify changes in rankings, spikes, or performance, it is important to think in a systematic manner by breaking it down into step-by-step processes. Moreover, organizing the data with keywords categories and page segments aids in sifting through the information efficiently.
By thinking in a step-by-step manner, you are able to easily recognize opportunities, problems, and seasonal changes. Additionally, make sure to observe distance opportunities, such as web pages that rank below the high or fold on page 2, as they offer you the chance to optimize and create a significant impact.
12. Have a map for your local address on your website
In addition to possessing the contact details for your website, it is equally crucial to incorporate the physical map on the site to indicate the precise whereabouts. It is imperative to include the code for embedding the map onto the contact us page.
In addition, it is preferable to keep the following set of information on your website, specifically on the contact us page.
- Opening as well as closing hours of your store
- Driving direction to your store from all the renown landmarks
- Call links to facilitate direct calling on the mobile pages
- Sharing options along with social media links
13. Give distinct web page for every product or service
To ensure clarity and organization, it is important to create individual web pages for each of your multiple products and/or services, containing all the necessary and pertinent information. These distinct pages can be conveniently connected from a central page that provides a summary of all your offerings.
14. Acquire backlinks from sponsors and partners
To ensure success, it is advisable to prioritize easier tasks first. Begin by creating a comprehensive inventory of all the organizations and businesses you currently sponsor or are affiliated with. This could also encompass those that participated in fundraising and philanthropic activities.
You should actively reach out to these points of contact, informing them about your past involvement or association, and then politely asking them to include a link back to your site.
15. Secure reviews
Reviews play a crucial role as they function as a ranking factor within the local pack. They have the ability to make your listings stand out among others. If you successfully encourage your contented customers to leave a Google review, it proves to be more effective than any other tactic for local SEO.
Indeed, the power of reviews is significant. Simply encourage your satisfied customers to leave a review as a gesture of gratitude, and witness the incredible impact it can have. Reviews not only enhance your ranking but also expand your presence on the results page.
16. Leverage Google AdWords keyword planner
This tool that is free is one of the top options available for you to use. It aids you in effectively establishing your local SEO keywords by helping you reach the correct audience and utilizing the appropriate keywords. The great aspect is that it allows you to identify keywords that have the least competition, the highest search volume, and discover synonymous terms searched for by your local audience.
