What is Local SEO and Importance of Local SEO?

A local search is an indispensable tool for startups. A recent study revealed that four of five consumers search for local business details. That means if your company is not optimized for local search, you might miss out on 80 percent of your potential clients. Therefore, if you want your business to stay relevant, you should never ignore the local search.

The concept behind local SEO is to root your website in the city you’re trying to rank locally. This can be achieved most efficiently by publishing local content and acquiring local backlinks.

Although authority can be built with quality links from relevant sites, the most powerful links will be from local websites. For example, a website using local SEO in Toronto would make the greatest gains in ranking from acquiring links from websites in Toronto.

According to HubSpot, local SEO is an online marketing strategy that helps companies promote their products and services to local customers and prospects. To gather details for local searches, Google and other search engines rely on different signals such as social media profile pages, local content, links, and citations to offer relevant search results to users.

Local SEO Guide

Local SEO vs. Traditional Marketing

Local search engine optimization can seem a bit technical for marketers. However, this digital marketing technique is always affordable and cost-effective compared to traditional marketing. What’s more, local SEO isn’t too technical.

Traditional marketing strategies involve running ads on distributive flyers and local newspapers, getting yourself in magazines, and more. All of these methods are costly. Besides, you have no control over the specific distribution channels or the specific audience they reach. That means you cannot measure the performance of your marketing efforts.

If you cannot determine how each of your marketing channels is performing, it will be very hard to optimize your marketing budget. Indeed, it will be challenging for you to cut back on the offline marketing budget because you don’t know which channel is bringing more customers to your storefront.

Fortunately, local SEO allows you to track every marketing campaign. It requires less budget to set up and maintain. Most importantly, this digital marketing strategy will continue to yield exceptional returns once your websites begin to rank well. Local SEO lets you track how much traffic, leads, and clients you get from organic search and other strategies incorporated into your local SEO strategy.

Local SEO Tips

Local SEO is a concern for almost every other business. It is not an option anymore; it is something that you need to do to compete and get high Google rankings. With the introduction of the more refined and programmed algorithm of various search engines, quality, and requirements are essential things you should provide to the customers. SEO-friendly tips are an add-on to enhance your online presence. Let’s explore some local SEO tips that can boost the Local SEO of your website.

Doing SEO for results from the major search engines is commonplace today. Everyone knows you must do some SEO to get any real attention from the search engines and those who use them. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that you need to reach out and focus on those doing local searches. To be found online in local search results, you need to keep the following tips in mind.

For your startup to thrive in local search, you should do three important things:

1. Keyword Research for Local SEO

If you own a website, you probably understand the importance of keyword research, particularly for SEO. When potential customers search for information, products, or services online, they use specific phrases (keywords). For example, if an internet user plans to purchase men’s running shoes, there is a good chance they will use phrases like:

  • Order men’s running shoes online
  • Buy men’s running shoes

Note that these search terms are some of the keywords that represent the shopper’s intent. If you intend to get those buyers, your goal is to appear at the top of SERPs for the keywords relevant to the products or services you are providing. That means whenever a potential client searches for information or products related to your main keywords, there is a good chance they will find you and probably click on that result, land on your business website, and buy your service or product.

SEO experts recommend using the Google Keyword Planner to determine exactly the number of people searching for a specific keyword related to your company. The tool also breaks down the search volume for every keyword by month, helping you understand whether or not there is a seasonal variation in the overall demand in your industry. It is also good to check and analyze the keywords your competitors are using.

2. Optimize Google My Business Listing

Generally, Google My Business is becoming the Crème de la Crème of the so-called local search. Google shares content, can verify and support, and is the best tool for ensuring that your company meets Google’s requirements. Once the search engine verifies your business is authentic, it will potentially reward your company with a coveted sidebar space in the local search.

Therefore, every business should create and verify its Google My Business page, use Google Posts in its accounts, request clients to share their reviews, and offer genuine responses to the client reviews while specifying the business location.

Business listing is an excellent way to create a visual impact on the users. The contact details should be added to it, and the customer reviews would enhance its presence.

These keywords will typically include city or neighborhood information. Just as with regular SEO, you need to consider what people enter into the search boxes. Think about what you would be searching for. Try a few different keywords and see which works the best.

Having an offline store in your city is a great benefit. Customers tend to trust businesses that have a physical location.

A visual map would help your customers locate your physical store quickly. Add a Google map widget at the bottom of your website. Updating the location details in the About section of social media pages would also help your customers and visitors easily find the location information.

3. Blogging – A local SEO strategy

Please be selective while creating a blog for your website. Note that you should not be biased towards your product on the blogs. Instead, generate blog content that gives information and helps the customers explore things.

Do you own a website? Most people still believe that blogging is only done by industry giants. This is far from the truth. Even local startups have a lot to gain from choosing to establish and maintain a well-designed website.

A recent report showed that out of five internet users, four use search engines to find a nearby business and about 50 percent of these users end up visiting the business they checked on that same day. Besides, of the people who check business, products, and service details online, 18% tend to purchase from the company they visit.

Thus, there is enough evidence that having a website and using it wisely is an integral part of a local SEO strategy. However, implementing this strategy isn’t easy unless you are an expert. This is why you may want to seek local SEO blogging help to help your business take advantage of the benefits of local SEO. Here are simple ways to make blogging part of your local search engine optimization and ensure a higher ranking.

Schema markup

Use different types of schema markup to help Google and other search engines, such as Bing, know that you are a local business. This will help bump your website’s ranking on SERPs. Note that different schema markups allow you to let your audience and search engines understand the nature of your business.

Provide interesting details

Most business owners publish posts that promote their products and services. This is a mistake. Instead of creating content about you and your company, talk about issues that matter to your audience. It is essential to know the people who read your blog, the topics they care about, and the specific answers they seek.

Blogging on your company’s domain

You should park the blog section on your actual company domain. According to experts, links to the blog section may lead to the main website and vice versa. The quality and quantity of links are an essential ranking factor, which means having all your website’s inbound links going to the same site is essential.

Handle different topics regarding your neighborhood

Sometimes, you may not be sure what to write about. It is good to delve into news and events in your neighborhood. You can write about a local fair or even an election while using your company’s perspective to make your content stand out. There is a good chance you will gain new readers interested in your content and other articles in your blog, too.

Converse about other blogs too

Participating in other outstanding blogs in the same niche and area is wise to get more readers on your blog. You should choose blogs that are doing something similar or complementary to what you do and leave a comment. You can also mention these blogs in your posts. That means the other blog can link to your website, offering both websites an advantage and potentially higher readership.

Theme and keywords

SEO experts advise that you consider how people use technology today and ensure that your blog is optimized for these searches. That means you should use particular keywords that are important to your business. It is also good to use long-tail keywords in your posts.

Remove duplicate pages and content

The search engine ranking algorithms penalize duplicate pages. Try to recognize where you had created such pages and delete them from your database. The sooner you do it, the better it will be.

4. Sign up for Directories and Listings

There are many directories similar to the old paper-based Yellow Pages. Not many are as effective business directories as Infoisinfo manages to be in its market; they are great for people searching locally. You will not be included if you are not there, and your competition will take that business. Get yourself listed with every directory you can think of.

That means setting up profiles for yourself on Google Maps, Facebook, Yelp.com, and other sites that cater to those who want to find something through local search. By getting yourself set up on these sites, you not only increase your chance for business, but you will also get more traffic to your site. You will also get backlinks this way, leading to higher rankings for your site. Sometimes, your local directory profile will rank higher than your site will!

5. Engage with the Directories

You have already learned how to update your site for a significant internal SEO boost and how to optimize your company for Google My Business. It’s time to learn how to use directories, NAP consistency, and inbound links to help your startup rank better on local search.

NAP (name, address, and phone) Consistency

You should make it easier for customers and prospects to find your business. Therefore, it is recommended that you set a consistent business name, address, and phone number and ensure that these details are included in crawlable content on your website.

Optimize citations and directories

Consistency is key here. Create and verify all your citations and ensure they are complete across all major data aggregators. Discrepancies such as abbreviations, wrong contact details, misspellings, and lack of suite number might cause problems.

Get relevant and high-quality inbound links

Every authority inbound link tells Google and other search engines that you are a legitimate organization and can help build your website’s domain authority. Guest blog posting and sponsorships are effective ways of acquiring inbound links.

6. Focus on Certain Locations

To do this, you must know a little about the areas you are considering. For example, if you sell bathing suits, it makes more sense to target those living on the coast instead of inland. When you pinpoint locations, you stop wasting time and exert all your efforts on these few locations. That makes you more likely to be very good at these areas.

7. Online Product Store

An online product store can attract visitors and convert them into customers. Please make sure that you put well-described quality products that keep them engaged. It would also enhance your Google rankings.

8. Social Media Presence

Social media platforms like Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are very useful in keeping customers engaged with your business. You can write interesting posts, promote your products, and communicate with your shoppers. The more visitors and users remain there, the more search engine benefits your pages can get.

9. User Reviews and Sharing Tools

Sharing tools like share buttons and like buttons would help to spread your web information to a vast audience. Ask your customer to leave a review. It would also help you to get their feedback and suggestions.

While businesses often ignore local SEO, successful offline businesses cannot create an online presence. With the right and efficient Local SEO tips, you can enhance your search engine ranking and gain customers and users on your online web platform.

10. Keep Patience

Just as you must with regular SEO, take the time to realize that you will have to wait to see results. Do a little every day, and trust that you will see results. The things you are doing will work. You have to stick with them and not allow yourself to get discouraged.

Where You Can Publish Content for Local SEO

Many factors are responsible for building overall consumer trust, domain authority, and search visibility.

You can use content marketing to improve local SEO. To do this, you must create high-quality content that contains specific keywords. In your article, include geographic keywords in the title and content body to make it more targeted.

It would be best to avoid these common content marketing mistakes that keep your users away.

Only these things are solely not important; content sharing and proper distribution of content are also responsible for propagating content locally.

Social Media

Social media networks are always helpful when it comes to publishing content. You can serve a certain audience that you wish to focus on. Aside from actively posting new updates on your social media account, you can also share information and topics about other businesses in the same niche. There is a big chance that they will do the same for you, and you can build your businesses. Social media can grow your customer base in a flash.

Local News

You can also post your content on local news pages. These websites are always looking for new ideas. Your blog might be the one they are looking for, which means you might get the chance to have your content published. When it comes to the domain, these websites offer much functionality compared to other types of websites.

Local Directories

You can also publish content on local directories. It is required to create your accounts on these directories to access them. Eventually, you are allowed to post content. Your Local SEO will depend a lot on your presence in these directories and would certainly benefit your blogs.

Guest Blogging

A good number of blogs allow guest blogging. You can find blogs in your niche. Write an email and ask for guest posting opportunities.  Allow them to post their content on your blog. It is an excellent way to generate more traffic to your posts. You grow your local presence within your community of bloggers and in the same niche you are focusing on.

Forums

Forums are pretty easy to search on the internet. Just type in a forum’s name, and there you will see what the forums offer. There are many forums in different niches and topics. It would be best to search a few discussion forums in your niche. Unfortunately, these websites do not rank high on search levels, so choosing which websites to publish content is best. Just make sure your content is informative to their visitors so they will find it interesting, read it, and share it with friends.

Community Pages

Neighborhood websites complement community pages, where you can also post content. They are more focused on each neighborhood within a city or state. You can contact the administrators of these pages to publish your content. You can make your presence felt, especially if the neighborhood has an activity planned soon.

Importance of Local SEO

Have you ever heard of Small Business Saturday? It’s a day on which local customers specifically support local businesses. Like many people, I feel good supporting a local business and participating in my community. It’s a great way to reach your community, but it’s not the only way. In fact, there’s a great way for a local business to increase its online connection to local customers. Local SEO can be an absolute game-changer when running a successful business.

BrightLocal reports, “Local SEO is an effective way to market your business online. It helps businesses promote their products and services to local customers when they’re looking for them.” When local customers look for you online, you want your products and services to come up front and center.

The statistics on local SEO show that traffic increases, both online and in physical stores!

  • Displaying reviews on your website can increase the conversion rate by 270%
  • 72% of people who conduct a local search will visit a store within 5 miles.
  • 88% of people searching for a local business on their mobile phone call or stay within a day.

BCC Interactive has put together an engaging infographic, showing you many more reasons for the importance of local SEO.

Importance of Local SEO - Top 15 Reasons

Wrap up

Though some of the local SEO tips are one-off tasks, other tasks such as creating and publish great local content must be done on an ongoing basis. Having an excellent local SEO strategy can increase your online visibility and transform your business positively.

The techniques in this article are going to help you not only be found online but also found by those who are local and want what you have to offer. All you must do is use the tips laid out here, and you will see results on a local as well as grand scale.

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