Sorry, SEOs. Calling all content goblins. Do you struggle to rank your local content? Local visibility is a crucial part of SEO. This is especially true if you are trying to promote a local storefront or business. Local SEO, despite what the infamous Verge piece said, is an effective, strategic way to increase visibility for your local business.
If you want to be the best at local search, you’ll need to implement a few strategies. It’s crucial to concentrate on areas that you can control, as SERPs are constantly changing and AI updates create a turbulent search landscape.
Why is local SEO important?
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your site to increase traffic and visibility in a local area. Local SEO allows marketers to optimize their website locally by using longtail keyword or geographic distinguishers. You can reach a local audience that is more specific and tailor your message to them.
Local search engine optimization has two major benefits:
- Local traffic increases
- Brand awareness is important for your target market.
Local SEO can help drive traffic to your area, digitally or physically. Local SEO allows you focus on your specific location, rather than optimising for general search queries.
What types of businesses are best suited to local SEO?
Local SEO can be used by all businesses, but it is more effective for those who have a physical location or cater to a particular area. Spy house Coffee Roasters, a Twin Cities-based brand, would be wise to concentrate on local SEO. Spy house, with multiple locations in the Twin Cities will want to appear when users search for coffee shops nearby. National brands and e-commerce companies may not benefit from focusing on local strategies.
Local SEO is a great way to connect with customers in a specific area, especially for businesses who have a physical location or focus on a particular region.
Local SEO: How to build a strategy
You can use several strategies to increase your local presence. Here are some ways to begin building your local SEO campaign.
Utilize local listings
Most users use map apps when they want to find out information about local businesses. They can get information such as hours of operation, directions and more. Claiming, managing and optimizing business listings is crucial.
Apple Business Connect (formerly Yelp), Bing Places and Yelp have all entered the conversation to try and break the Google Business Profile monopoly.
Local listings are a great way to promote your business online. These listings give businesses a way to easily share important information with customers, such as hours, locations, reviews, etc. In the case of Google or Apple, the listings are integrated with maps, so that users can get directions to your business by clicking on the map.
Not only that but many local listings feature reviews that are influential in the decision-making of consumers.
You should update these listings regularly to ensure that they reflect the latest information about your business. Share the most recent updates, such as blog posts and limited-time deals to your profile. This will allow you to provide additional value to your audience.
Google Local Map Pack: How to leverage it
Google Business Profile allows your business to appear in the Local Map Pack. This is a group of local listings for keywords like “ice-cream shop near me” and “bike rentals in Minneapolis.”
The high intent of these keywords makes them extremely valuable. It’s important to rank high in the Map Pack because it appears before other listings when many local keywords are searched. Keep your Google Business Profile up-to-date with all your information and categorize it. Also, keep track of your reviews.
Make sure your website is mobile friendly
It’s imperative that your website be mobile-friendly. 92.3% of internet users use a mobile device to access the web. If your site is not mobile-friendly, you will lose visitors. It’s important for any SEO strategy but is especially crucial in local SEO because it can play a big role in Google rankings.
Optimize your contact page
Where do you go on a website to find out the location of a business? Of course, the contact page! You’re missing out on local SEO traffic if you don’t list all your locations on your contact page, along with directions to reach them.
It is important to optimize your contact page using keywords that are relevant for the page.
Create a backlink strategy for local websites
Backlinking can be a daunting task, but if you approach it locally, it’s not as bad.
Start by thinking of organizations that you collaborate or sponsor. Local partnerships can be a great tool to boost your backlinks. And local backlinks will matter the most for your local SEO strategy.
Build citations
Citation building is a great way to ensure the correct information about your business appears in search engine results.
Citation building can help you build credibility for your local company. Web crawlers will take your listing in reputable directories as a sign that your business is trustworthy.
Send the most current and relevant information when building citations to citation directories. This will ensure that your website, products and service are displayed accurately to users on SERPs.
Reviewing reviews is a great way to get the most out of them
Negative reviews can bring you down, both mentally and physically in the SERPs.
Positive reviews can boost your rankings in local business listings, pushing you towards ranking first. Positive reviews can help you rank higher in local business listings, pushing you to the top.
Integrate content and SEO strategies
Content is an important part of any SEO strategy. Consider how you can give your audience more value by putting a local twist on content, such as blog posts. Localized content will resonate with your target audience and give you more chances to rank for hyper-local queries that are less competitive.
Utilize social media channels
It is important to have a presence on social media, for many reasons. Local SEO is one of them. It’s not only a great place to promote local content but also enables your audience to find you, understand your location and your services.
One of our clients owns a number of locations in the Twin Cities. They have Instagram accounts for every location, instead of just having one account to share all the locations. They can get to know their audience better, communicate with them in a personalized way, and add links to the location. Instagram accounts are a great way to let their followers know about promotions and specials that only apply at certain locations.
Include business information wherever you can in your social media profiles. Add your website and hours if there is a space for them. You will benefit from it.
Pro Web and SEO can help you create a local SEO strategy that works.
It can take some time for your website to grow organically and rank higher. These tips will help you guide your site in the right direction and navigate the local search scene.
We can help you with a better-formed SEO strategy. We use a holistic approach to digital advertising that includes social media, SEO and paid media. This allows us to create a multifaceted strategy tailored to your business’s needs.
Are you ready to enhance your digital presence? Contact our team of experts.
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