With the increasing number of local searches, your local business needs some more option to get appeared in the search result. Thus Local SEO is essential for the small business. Meanwhile, Local SEO strategy helps to focus more on ranking factor while searching for a local business.
Read The Importance of Local SEO For Your Business.
Besides that, this strategy generates more customer leads than search organic results do. As on a report by Hubspot on marketing statistics- 46% of Google searches are local. 88% of the consumer searching for a local business on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. 86% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps.
Obtaining a Local SEO strategy magnify your online presence to the targeted audience, which later leads to a confident conversion for you.
How to Improve your Local SEO Strategy?
Here are some Top Local SEO strategies to rank in Local Search Results –
Get Listed in Google My Business
Listing your business on Google My Business will be the entry-level seo strategy. In Moz SEO ranking factor report– Google My Business is an important factor of seo ranking. It features its top local businesses in the top when they were searched for.
If you haven’t claimed your my Business listing, then what are you waiting for? List here for Google My Business right now.
Keep in mind-
- Add Business name with description [Description should be keyword optimized]
- Choose the correct category for Business
- Upload as many photos as possible
- Don’t forget to add a phone number
- Add a Valid address
Local Citation Building
A Local citation is nothing but the mention of your business information on the internet. Websites like Yelp, Yellowpages, FourSquare, BBB, list your business information like Name, Address, Contact Information, Category to allocate the search result outside the google search engine.
Moreover, the local citation helps in ranking as it impacts the Google algorithm indirectly. Citation impacts 13% on the ranking factors, according to the study by Moz. Be consistent with the local citation building- NAP[Name, Address, Phone Number], as it should be the exact same everywhere.
Encourage People to Leave Positive Reviews
While we search for local business we see how many reviews or ratings are there on business. According to the consumer survey, 87% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Furthermore, ratings and reviews not only brings you the consumer’s trust, but it also affects the ranking factor.
Creating your online reputation can bring customer as well as online visibility. So, encourage people to share positive thoughts and reviews about your business.
On-Page Local SEO Optimization
On-page optimization is another Local SEO strategy. Consequently, it is important as you target your audience with the relevant keywords related to your Business.
Title and Meta Description Optimization
Let’s say you are hungry and you want to grab a pizza. You are going to search for a pizza hut and here you will include near me or in my place, to ensure that Google only shows relevant results for your search query. And as a business owner, I will optimize my Title and Business description such a way that-
- It includes my Business Name
- A product or service description
- Proper Location of my business to get more visitors
- Google map listing
- A call to action button to get an immediate conversion
Furthermore, I’ve to research a lot for the keywords for search to appear.
Read Complete Guide of On-page SEO and Off-page SEO Tricks.
NAP-Name, Address & Phone Number
Name, address & phone number are also important pieces of information that literally decide your online appearance.
All the details should be placed while managing your on-page SEO and preferably in schema format.
Use Schema.org for creating such schema structural codes.
Use of Voice Search Assistant
Google has already clarified that 20% of mobile searches are voice search. Meanwhile, by 2020 prediction says around 50% searches will be by voice.
Similarly, a normal text search is expected to replaced by a voice search query. So make your optimization strategy voice search ready and voice search will be something like how we speak to someone, in a normal manner. Make sure to use who, how, when, what words as your keyword.
Optimize your site for personal assistants and apps like Google Assistant, Siri or Amazon Echo.
Read Ultimate Digital Marketing Trends For The Year.
Make Your Website Mobile Device Ready
In terms of SEO mobile device optimization plays a vital role. A fully mobile optimized site gives the best user experience to the visitors. And when we talk about local SEO one thing we should keep in mind that- most of the time local businesses are searched from a mobile device. According to the report, 61% of mobile users are likely to contact a local business with a mobile site.
Google has also defined the page load time as a prime ranking factor. Your site should be mobile-friendly so that your visitors get the best experience on your site.
Use Google Mobile Friendliness Test Tool to check whether your site is mobile friendly or not.
Local Business Directory Listing
A business directory listing is a procedure to list your businesses within a particular niche, location, or category in various Directories. So that local businesses can get found by online searchers. Many of the business owners think that registering on Google My Business is the only point to list our business. But that’s not true. There are other websites like Better Business Bureau, Yellow pages, Foursquare where your business can be listed through.
There are several local directories like Indiamart, Justdial to list your Business. Search Can be done through anywhere so make sure your visibility should be everywhere.
Link Building
Backlinks are always been a ranking factor for every site. It not only increases your domain authority but also increase your appearance. In addition to that, links referring to your business will increase your online reputation. You also can share your business page link to social media and on other platforms too. Social Media can help you in creating brand awareness as it takes your business in front of the mass audience.
Read How Social Media Impacts in Digital Marketing Promotion.
Use Influencer Marketing to promote your Business
Influencer Marketing is a marketing tactic where using a business is promoted using influential people. Ask Local influencer to promote your business which can make your Local SEO strategy complete and successful.
Conclusion
This comprehensive guide to the local SEO approach gonna help you building your Local SEO strategy successful. Make sure you are following those approaches. You can definitely beat your competitors now.