Local SEO: 10 things to know
If you work in the world of content marketing then you are probably familiar with the ins and outs of SEO. Obviously, SEO is an integral part of any marketing strategy.
But what if you could target your online visibility to those who live in your area, promoting your products and services to local customers? Local SEO is a marketing strategy aimed at exactly achieving this goal by helping you market your services to the people who need them most.
This targeted marketing approach could have a huge impact on your customer base and the future of your business. So for all the important information, we suggest you read on!
Local SEO: the 10 most important things to know
The basics to know about local SEO
source: Unsplash
While we’ve gone over the basics in the introduction to the text, we’re going to give you a little more information on the practices and benefits of local SEO. Essentially, this strategy helps businesses promote their products and services to consumers at the precise moment they type their queries into Google.
This system encompasses several sub-strategies, including getting your site to rank higher on Google, as well as being able to gain a premium place in directories including Yelp, Superpages, and Foursquare, and finally, put localized content on your site.
Localized search continues to gain popularity, with users constantly turning to the Internet to find the best local products and services in their area. When you implement local SEO practices in your marketing strategy, you dramatically increase your visibility with potential customers.
Local SEO is for those who are already interested in what you are offering, making reach and conversion an organic process, as it appears to be for the customer. So what are the top local SEO SEO services? This is what we will explore in the next paragraphs:
1- Website localization
This is one of the easiest local SEO methods, hence the title which is very clear. Locating a website is like including information on your website that indicates the city, country, municipality, or region where your business resides and where you provide your services. Depending on the type of business you operate, this could mean creating individual pages for each location, service center, or resource center.
Another way to get visibility in your area is to involve your business in events that take place there and report them on your website and social media accounts. If these community-building activities or events relate directly to your business, it is a common practice to post information about them on your website. This can be done in the form of articles or blog posts or simply by linking community projects and so on.
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2- Focus on consistency
source: Pexels
One of the most important aspects when it comes to listing your business in online directories is to provide a constant flow of information through all of your communication channels. This means that all of your online profiles should contain the exact same information. Specifically, all profiles should include your name, address, and phone number so that interested customers and loyal customers can find you easily.
While this seems like a fairly straightforward thing to consider, presenting inconsistent information is one of the most common problems with local SEO. If your data is inconsistent, it could not only hurt your rankings but could also have a noticeable impact on your overall reach and sales.
Make sure to keep an eye on all channels and if your business changes location or phone number, double-check all sites to make sure the information is accurate and up to date.
3- Use shema tags
For those still unfamiliar with shema tags, let’s start by defining them. These tags are actually pieces of code that can be added to the website so that the information that appears when your website link appears in search results is more complete.
Providing more information in this way greatly increases the number of clicks made on links, hence the positive influence of this practice on local SEO.
4- Create and claim your Google My Business
source: Unsplash
Google is the most used search engine, it is important to claim your page Google My Business your business information appears on widely used Google services. This includes local search, Google+ as well as the Maps app. When you claim your GMB page, it also works for Microsoft’s equivalent, Bing Places. Being part of this online directory is essential for your SEO, as it will generate traffic both to your website as well as to your physical location (if there is one).
5- Optimize your Google My Business page
Following the point previously made, let’s underline the importance of optimizing your Google My Business page to get the maximum benefit from it. To do this, be sure to update your information and provide accurate information regarding the services/products you offer. Do not forget to update the data concerning the hours of operation and the location of your business.
Note that the integration of visuals also contributes to the optimization of your page. More specifically, it is strongly recommended to include on your Google My Business page your company logo (on your profile), a cover photo, and one or more photos evocative of the services or products you are promoting.
6- Reviews and ratings
source: B2BQuotes
Reviews and ratings of your business matter a lot, and there are a number of reasons for this. First of all, it’s the best way to find out what customers are thinking about your services. In addition, these reviews count towards your local search rankings. Your search engine ranking score is based on many factors, but customer reviews make up just over 10% of it.
Specifically, Google looks at the average number between your rating and the total number of reviews. Additionally, the majority of consumers base their purchasing decisions on online reviews, and in turn, those reviews send signals to search engines to make sure you are offering a site and service that is good and worthy. of confidence.
7- Constantly add new content
As with the majority of SEO practices, the fact of creating content engaging, interesting, and up-to-date is a key element that has a big impact on your rankings as well as the way you find customers.
Google is constantly on the lookout for new content to crawl, and therefore, if you update frequently, it will help you attract new audiences while dramatically improving search rankings in local areas. This applies to all of your news channels including social media as well as your GMB page.
There are tons of businesses out there, and probably a lot that you compete directly with. All of these tips and tricks affect your local SEO, so stay tuned to make sure your website appears first and performs well.
Interested in learning more about SEO? Listen to a podcast! To guide you to some great podcasts that talk about the news in this area, we’ve created a list:10 SEO and web marketing podcasts to put on your playlist.
8- Give clear indications that the company is local
To improve your local SEO, be sure to make it obvious that your business is indeed local. To do this, some very useful tips can be used:
Give your keywords a local touch if you want to serve a particular region by mentioning that same region near your main keywords;
When naming your images, include the name of your region in their titles;
When choosing your URL address, including the name of your region in it;
Use the process mentioned in the first point for your META tags;
Indicate all of your contact information (name, phone number and address) at the bottom of the page as well as your opening hours.
9- Adapt your site to mobile devices
If offering a website adapted to mobile devices is definitely a factor positively influencing SEO in general, the same goes for local SEO. Thus, if your site is displayed correctly and quickly on a small screen, you will undoubtedly reap the benefits.
10- Optimize your content
We already know well the importance of inbound links for the optimization of a site and for obtaining a good positioning in the search results. For those who want to improve their local SEO, inbound links are also an aspect that should not be overlooked. Note, however, that these must have been obtained through a net linking strategy targeting business sites, associations, or local information.
The more the links obtained will come from sites whose notoriety is established, the more they will have a positive influence on the local referencing of the site. Once again, we must focus on quality more than quantity.
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