Those small businesses that operate on a regional basis must take local SEO into the counter. Most of us know much about Search Engine Optimization or SEO, but a few of us may know about local SEO. Here is a complete guide to local SEO with the definition of local SEO and how to perform it.
What Is Local SEO?
Local Search Engine Optimization or Local SEO is the actions or strategies that you need to take in order to improve your visibility on the search engine whenever people who are close to your physical location will search. It is also applicable for location-based searches.
Suppose you are outside and you are hungry. You grab your phone and search for “best pasts New York” or “pasta near me.” You will get some results and some searches on the Maps. This is the same thing that goes with people those are living in your locality or visiting your city or town and looking for businesses present in your area advanced.
Yes, I know local SEO sounds complicated, so let’s simplify it a little. SEO is the professional name of the strategies and tactics that you take in order to increase sales through enhancing online visibility.
And when we are talking about boosting online visibility, there are some tried and tested tactics available. And when I am saying search engines, I am addressing not only google but also other search engines such as Yelp, Bing, Apple Maps, and many more.
Though as per the Statcounter, by February 2021, the percentage of search engine market share of Google is around 92%. So, most of the tactics are to show Google that your particular business has enough worth to appear at the top search results for some specific terms and searches.
How To Do Local SEO?
Here are some strategies and tactics that you can use for local SEO.
1. Create A My Google Business Account
In order to gain visibility in Google searches local results or rank higher on Google Maps, optimizing your Google listing or business profile is one of the most effective ways. So, without wasting further time, create a Google my business account and make sure you have verified your ownership of the business.
Make sure all the information that you have provided is up-to-date and accurate for local SEO. Along with some images, you also should include the product or services that you are offering, operating hours, your acceptable payment methods, and obviously your business logo.
Using Google my business dashboard, always publish posts related to events, products, and special offers.
2. Get Reviews From Happy Customers On A Regular Basis
Ask your customers to write reviews about your business. This will not only optimize your Google my business presence but also encourage more people to buy your services or products. A survey reveals that 85% of the customers rely on online reviews as much as they rely on personal recommendations.
So, after the closing of a sale, there is no harm in asking your customers for a review as a part of local SEO. Sending a post-purchase text or email is also not at all a bad idea to ask your customers for a review.
But here, you need to make sure that you are not approaching any dissatisfied customers. An internal survey will help you with that. While you are asking for reviews, you also need to make sure that you are replying to those reviews in a professional way and also addressing complaints in the reviews that are not so favorable.
3. Optimize For Voice Searches
In the coming years, voice search will grow at a rapid rate. So, in local SEO, it is vital to consider how people will ask questions while they speak into devices rather than how they type out all their searches.
If we compare voice searches with regular searches, we will find people are using more long-tailed keywords in voice searches. And due to this, you need to adjust the Search Engine Optimization of your content in order to fit the conversational tone more of someone speaking.
Traditional questions generally start with what, who, why, where, and how, and in this case, you need to account for that. Another crucial thing that you will need to consider while optimizing for voice searches. And that is in most cases, all these kinds of searches are performed when quick and specific answers are required.
4. Develop Content Based On Local Events And Local News Stories
In order to grab the attention of the local people, there is nothing more authoring than content that related or speaks directly to a local issue. But this is not the only thing, and there are some strategies of local SEO that you also need to include.
- You can consider writing blog pots on local activities, events, or news stories.
- Create videos of local causes and charities of which your business is a part.
- In case you are serving different parts in the same region, you can set up location-specific webpages for your website with some high-quality local content.
For example, you run a local real estate business, and you can consider creating different pages. For each location, one page will feature hyperlocal content on news events or other changes in the real estate market. This will help you to enhance your rank for each specific location.
5. Use Some Location pages Or Location Specified About Us Page
In case your business is present in more than one location in your area, location pages are a must here. These pages are required to offer the following information for local SEO,
- Name, phone number, and address.
- Store hours.
- Testimonials.
- Individualized descriptions.
- Perking availability.
- Promotions.
- Each location page should have an attachment of Google Maps.
As you have multiple locations, you have to be careful because you need to create different pieces of content for every page.
Conclusion
Apart from the strategies or tactics of local SEO that I have mentioned above, you also can include some more tactics. They are optimizing your website for mobiles, using about us pages that are location specific, use online business directories, getting high-quality backlinks, creating dedicated webpages for each service or product that you offer.
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