Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for local businesses optimizes your online presence so that it will appear when customers near you perform a search related to your business.
Brick-and-mortar businesses need to have local SEO because:
76% of people who conduct local mobile searches visit a business within 24 hours after completing their search for a local business. Google research shows that people who work local mobile searches are often ready to see.
Local customers are looking for businesses that can provide them with something specific. For example, someone in Tampa looking for a dry cleaner doesn’t want to find one in San Francisco. They specifically want one in Tampa. By targeting their marketing strategies, local SEO service helps businesses reach out to these customers.
People who search for local businesses are usually at the bottom of the sales funnel, ready to make a purchase. However, according to Search Engine Land, 78% of local mobile searches are purchased either in-store or online.
Local SEO service helps local searchers find a business that offers what they want and need nearby. Then, they’re looking to make a purchase.
It makes sense that local SEO service is so popular with Google – we’re all looking for things near us. So don’t overlook local SEO, but make sure you ignore other ways your brick and mortar store can capitalize on digital marketing.
For your browsing pleasure, we’ve broken down the top 10 ways to optimize your website for local SEO. Local SEO can seem confusing and black holes to some people, but don’t worry — we’ve got you covered!
In your page title, the header tag, and meta description, make sure to state who you are, where you’re situated, and what you do. Again, it would help if you made it easy for Google to understand these aspects of your business.
With WordPress, you can update the title tag of your website under Settings > General in the left navigation; the Yoast SEO plugin will load your page metadata as well.
The relevance of page title tags and Meta descriptions has been the subject of much debate. However, even if they are no longer a ranking factor (which means page titles will trump meta descriptions), they are still an essential part of the first impression your website has on a visitor.
When optimizing for local SEO, your page title tags should include the city you want to focus on. In addition, your title tags should consist of the town and the product or service that you offer.
As a result, not only will you be able to tell search engines where to find me, but you will be able to describe what I do at this location as well.
It is not helpful for SEO or local SEO to consolidate. Your offerings must have their pages if you want to apply product/service schema to them.
Therefore, this is part and parcel with overall SEO best practices, as it helps draw a clearer sitemap for search engines and helps your product/service pages rank for that specific offering. Still, it also opens the door to particular schema applications.
Make sure that your business is listed the same way in Google My Business and on the website. Therefore, this is most commonly done in the footer of a website. However, it is to be done for every page to have the desired effect.
No worries if you’re having trouble with Google My Business (GMB). It is still essential to claim your business listing and fill out the content if you want your Google Local Pack and SERP listings to be successful.
Even though they have over 2,000 categories, they have a few weird ones, so make sure you find the one that makes the most sense for your business.
As you fill out your content, make sure to include both primary and LSI keywords, as these accounts for almost 20% of your chances of being included in the Local Pack.
Having rave reviews for your products and services is also a plus. When growing your business, you’ll want proof that you are who you say you are, you do what you say you do, and you’re located in the place you say you are. Thus, this can be accomplished through reviews, however.
A search engine’s algorithm will consider several factors, including how many reviews you have on Google, Yelp, and Facebook.
You should have a Facebook business page if you don’t already have one. Another advantage to local SEO rankings is social media signals pointing to your location. You don’t have to do much with it, but simply having a page is better than nothing.
If your business is relevant to multiple locations, you’ll want a social media strategy that allows you to manage content.
Building citations and listings in local directories are great ways to optimize your website for local SEO. Thus, this can be a daunting task, but there are tools out there (if you’re willing to pay) that can help to ease the process. The key is to make sure that every single entry is identical.
Therefore, make sure you mirror your business’s exact format and representation from your GMB page in your local business directories. SEO Local provides a quick and free audit of your current status with several guides.
If you have deeper pockets, services like Yext and WhiteSpark may provide more comprehensive options.
