Local SEO strategies help your business stand out from its competition and drive visitors to its site, as well as increase your ranking position on Google searches. They may also lead to mutually beneficial relationships between local businesses.
Local SEO is an excellent way to increase brand recognition within your community. Simply start by building mentions of your name, address and phone number in directories and review platforms.
Keyword research
Keyword research is an integral component of local SEO. It allows you to select relevant and location-related keywords that will drive targeted traffic to your business. Many businesses make the mistake of choosing general terms with high search volumes that don’t relate to their company; rather than doing this, focus on local keywords with an increased conversion rate potential.
KWFinder is an invaluable tool for researching keywords with local intent, such as “plumber Seattle” or “auto repair Vancouver”. Google Autocomplete also can offer suggestions tailored to your business.
Once you’ve identified the keywords most suitable to your business, optimize your website accordingly. Use them on service pages and Google Business Profile descriptions as well as meta tags and site URL. Incorporate these words also into social media pages by making sure content is engaging and informative.
On-page optimization
Local SEO is an essential element of any business reliant on local customers. Consumers trust businesses appearing in local pack search results and can make a substantial impactful difference to sales. Unfortunately, many companies don’t understand how to optimize their websites for local search.
One way of accomplishing this goal is through on-page optimization. To do this, add schema markup to your website – an add-on code that relays key details like physical address and location to Google SERPS as well as helping search engines understand your content better. Use tools such as Hall Analysis for creating your schema before testing it with Google Structured Data Testing Tool.
Be sure that your NAP (name, address and phone number) remains consistent across all platforms and websites – including social media and local business directories. A good strategy would be to include yourself in directories that cater to your industry, such as “greater London plumbers” or “local gas boiler repair.” NAP consistency also helps rank well in voice searches.
Off-page optimization
Off-page optimization is key for local SEO as it helps search engines understand the context of a page, which helps their algorithm determine whether or not it’s relevant to a search query and illustrates the value of your content for other websites online.
Off-page SEO can also enhance your website’s speed. Google considers speed a ranking factor, and slow pages can harm their rankings and reduce conversions. A slow site also increases bounce rate which negatively affects conversions.
Off-page optimization techniques include adding your business to local listings like Google My Business. Incorporating accurate NAP (name, address and phone number) citations; as well as encouraging customers to leave reviews online – are often overlooked when it comes to SEO but can have a profound effect on visibility for local searches as well as supporting on-page efforts by signalling search engines that other sites consider your content valuable.
Link building
Link building is an essential element of Local SEO, and there are various strategies you can employ for it. One such tactic would be creating a page on your website listing local businesses who will gladly link back to you as this provides an effective method of link building locally.
Create and publish a local blog or article and have it published on a local site, then focus on getting your Google My Business name, address and phone number mentioned across online directories and local business listings. When doing this, make sure the consistency across the web matches what Google My Business provides you.
Referring domains play an essential part in local search rankings. Aim to get as many links from relevant local websites, targeting industry-specific ones located near you for best results in local searches and snack pack results. Doing this will increase your rankings significantly in both searches and snack pack results.