Local SEO is a powerful marketing strategy that will boost your business online. You’ll have a better chance of being seen by potential customers when they’re looking for a specific type of service or product. Search engines like Google have high-quality search results that match search intent. Moreover, local SEO can increase your conversions by as much as 80%.
There are a few free tools available that can help you improve your local SEO strategy. Among these is BrightLocal, which allows you to monitor your competition. Also, remember that Google frequently makes changes to their algorithm, which can affect your website’s rankings. It’s a good idea to monitor volatility of search results so that you’ll be notified when Google updates its search algorithm. You can also use link building to your advantage, which Google considers a ranking factor. By adding links to your website, you’ll help Google understand your local relevance, and demonstrate your content’s value.
Review sites such as Yelp and Google Business Review can provide helpful information to your potential customers. Your website should include accurate hours of operation, including any special hours. It should also include reviews, which are vital to local SEO. According to Moz, online reviews and Google Business Profile make up 40% of local pack ranking factors. Hence, you should focus on collecting reviews from your target audience. It’s also important to collect online reviews of your products and services.
Another crucial aspect of local SEO is location. Local SEO is particularly effective for businesses that have a physical location. Almost half of searchers will visit a business within 24 hours of making a local search. Therefore, local SEO strategies should be tailored to the particular location of your business. For example, hotel owners want to appear at the top of local search results. Moreover, 80% of local searches result in actual sales. This means that you should try to show up on the top of these results to attract potential customers.
Backlinks from relevant websites are another effective way to boost your local SEO efforts. These backlinks will boost your domain authority with Google and help in bringing additional traffic to your website. Local business directories are websites that list businesses in specific geographical regions. If your business is listed in these directories, it will be highly indexed by Google.
As mentioned above, Google uses the map pack as one of the ranking factors in local SEO. The map pack, or local pack, is a special section of the SERP and often appears above the “regular” organic search results. The search results for these results are also influenced by distance. Therefore, local keyword research is important to boost your map pack and organic SEO rankings simultaneously.
One of the most important factors in local SEO is the quality of local citations. These are online mentions of your business on websites, social media pages, and local business directories. These mentions are considered local by Google, and can greatly impact your local rankings. The more local your citations, the better.
Local SEO is a multifaceted strategy that involves optimizing both your organic and local website to increase your organic search rankings. The key to organic and local SEO is consistency and use of specific keywords. You don’t want to spam the content with keywords that don’t apply to your business. Claiming a business page on local listing directories will also give you a backlink to your website.