In this article you will find:
10 ways to improve your local SEO
Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Local SEO Right Now
1. Create a Google My Business account.
2. Seek to obtain regular reviews from satisfied customers
3. Optimize for voice search
4. Create content based on local events or news
5. Optimize your website for mobile devices
6. Focus on local keywords
7. Use location pages or an "About Us" page and specify the location there
8. Take advantage of online business directories
9. Focus on link quality (get high-quality backlinks)
10. Create a dedicated page for each product or service you offer
Local SEO: More important than ever
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Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Local SEO Right Now
Local SEO is critical for smaller businesses that operate on a regional armenia whatsapp number data 5 million level, rather than nationally. While national SEO focuses more on ranking in searches across the country, local SEO prioritizes appearing in SERPs in a specific location. This strategy relies on marketing your brand, products, and services to potential customers within a local area.
Optimizing your local SEO means more website traffic, leads, and conversions because the strategy is more relevant to your local customer base. Think of this focused strategy as a way to help you compete more effectively against larger, national brands that have unlimited resources to spend. By focusing on specific local SEO tasks, you can neutralize the advantage of larger brands that routinely optimize for broader keywords and rely on brand recognition, rather than value propositions, to attract traffic.
Additionally, 35% of all search traffic is local according to an estimate from a ReviewTrackers study back in 2017. Without local SEO, your business could be missing out on a significant amount of traffic.
Here we have for you the top 10 ways you can make your local SEO successful. Note: If you are looking for general SEO tips, head over to How to rank my website .
1. Create a Google My Business account.
Optimizing your Google Business Profile is perhaps the most effective way to rank higher on Google Maps, as well as gain visibility in Google Search's local results (Local Pack). However, to gain access to your Business Profile to perform these optimizations, you need a Google My Business account associated with that profile. Once you provide all the requested information in your Google My Business account dashboard, all of that information will be added to your Business Profile, which appears in Google Search's local results and Google Maps.
To optimize your Google business profile, make sure to:
Create a Google My Business account and verify business ownership.
Provide accurate and up-to-date information.
Include your logo, hours of operation, accepted payment methods, the product or service you sell, and lots of images.
Encourage your customers to review your business online
Respond sincerely to customer reviews
Post product announcements, events, and special offers on your business profile using the Google My Business dashboard.
2. Seek to obtain regular reviews from satisfied customers
Getting your customers to write good reviews for your business not only optimizes your presence on Google My Business; it also encourages more local customers to buy from you. Surveys show that 85% of customers believe online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Here are some tips to encourage your customers to leave reviews:
Personally ask your customer to leave a review after a sale closes.
Send an email or text message after purchase asking customers to write a review (always considering their level of satisfaction and excitement when purchasing your products).
Respond to existing reviews in a professional manner, thanking your customers and addressing complaints in less-than-favorable reviews.
Note: Google says it's okay to ask your customers for reviews.
3. Optimize for voice search
Voice search is set to grow rapidly in the coming years. Therefore, in local SEO, it is vital to optimize the way people ask questions when speaking into devices, rather than how they type their searches.
Basically, your customers are using more “long-tail” keywords when they perform voice searches compared to regular search. Because of this, you’ll also need to adjust your content’s SEO to fit the more conversational tone of someone speaking. For example, you’ll want to keep in mind the traditional questions to start with (who, what, when, where, why, and how).
It's also critical to consider user intent when optimizing for voice, as these searches are most often performed when the user needs specific information. If a potential customer uses voice search to ask what your business's hours are, this information should also be available.
4. Create content based on local events or news
There's nothing like creating content that speaks to or relates directly to a local problem to capture the attention of your local customers. To learn more about this topic, you can check out our article Importance of content in SEO strategy .
Some strategies include:
Write blog posts about local news, activities or events.
Create videos about local charities or causes your business supports.
Set up location-specific web pages on your website with high-quality local content if you serve different parts of a region
Let's say you're a local real estate company. You can create different pages, one for each of your locations, where you can feature highly targeted content about news events or changes in the real estate market in the particular area. This strategy could also help you rank for each specific location.
5. Optimize your website for mobile devices
The trend today is mobile browsing over desktop and this shift is happening faster than expected. Mobile visits to websites increased from 57% to 63%.
Another study found that local search traffic can be especially lucrative, with a remarkable 75% of all mobile searches showing local intent to purchase actually resulting in in-store visits within 24 hours.
This confirms that you need to optimize your website for mobile as a player in local SEO (and, actually, for good SEO).
Here are some tips to help you achieve this:
Make sure your website loads quickly (no more than three seconds)
Use larger fonts that are easy to read
Use images and text sparingly, conveying only the information you need (there's no room for filler on a mobile screen!)
Ensures an intuitive user interface for an excellent experience.
After finishing reading this post, you can review more determining factors when developing your website in our post How to develop a successful website?
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6. Focus on local keywords
Your keywords should be relevant to local customers. Makes sense, right?
Google Keyword Planner allows you to filter keyword searches based on location so you get an idea of the most popular search terms for a given region. This allows you to create a list of locally relevant keywords to target. Once you have these, you should place them in your site's meta content, text, and URLs.
Also, include specific access points in your content. For example, if your local coffee shop serves a la carte dishes in downtown Quito, include references to “grab a coffee at the Atrio de San Francisco” or “just a few steps from the San Francisco Church” on your website.
7. Use location pages or an “About Us” page and specify the location there
Location pages are a must if your business has more than one location in the same area. These pages should provide the following, at a minimum:
Opening hours
Name, address and telephone number.
Individualized descriptions
Testimonials
Promotions
Parking availability
Google Maps attached to each location page
Be careful when you have multiple locations, because you need to create unique content for each page.
If you only have one location, it’s essential to create an “About Us” page that focuses on relevant local information. For example, if you own a flower shop, your “About Us” page is the perfect place to mention your shop’s involvement in providing flowers for any events in your city.
8. Take advantage of online business directories
Make sure your brand is present in online business directories such as Yellow Pages and specialized directories by profession or business area.
Listing your business name, address, and phone number in these directories will not only help with visibility, but will also boost your local SEO.
Your company's listing should include the following basics:
Accurate and consistent business name, address and phone number across all directories
A link to your website
A detailed description of your business.
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9. Focus on link quality (get high-quality backlinks)
According to Moz's Local Search Ranking Factors study, backlink quality is the most important factor for Local Pack results and localized organic results, respectively. Backlinks are links that point to your site.
Getting links is vital to boosting your local SEO, but their quality is important.
Here are some tips for getting high-quality backlinks:
Create high-quality content on your site so that others will want to link to your content.
Look into guest blogging on reputable sites with high domain authority
Engage with local influencers on social media or via email so they can refer you on their pages
10. Create a dedicated page for each product or service you offer
While it may be tempting to cram all of your products or services onto a single page, don’t do this. Instead, dedicate a page to each unique product or service you offer.
Your local SEO isn’t as powerful if you cram everything onto one page because search engines tend not to view your brand as an authority in a specific area. This reduces your chances of ranking.
If you have a business with no distinct products or services, but you have multiple locations, simply use location-based copy for each page. For example, “Graphic Design” will become “Graphic Design in Quito” or “Graphic Design in Manta.”
Local SEO: More important than ever
SEO changes pretty quickly. You never know when Google will introduce new features to its SERPs for local searches, but you can count on these changes and those to come. That’s why it’s crucial to always stay on top of local SEO. By implementing these 10 tips, you’ll ensure that your business not only takes advantage of lucrative local searches, but you’ll also have a solid foundation when new SEO features are introduced.
If you don't think you can make these adjustments, you'll need an SEO service provider like us. Contact us to implement and boost your results with Local SEO.
