Prior to making an appointment or getting in touch with you, your clients look up localized information on Google. They frequently put all of their trust in search engines because they want answers quickly and pertinently. Is your company listed among the top results? Have you made every effort to persuade the user?
Reading this blog will reveal the answer!
What is local SEO and why is it important?
One aspect of SEO is local SEO, which focuses on optimizing your website for specific regions. Therefore, when the query has a localized search objective, there are two ways to show up on the first page of Google results: localized content and link building with a local intent.
Users can thus quickly and easily find information about a business near them when local SEO is done correctly. Local search optimization is especially important for small businesses that cater to clients in their city or surrounding area.
For this reason, it is strongly advised that physical establishments like:
Hotels
Restaurants
Retail stores
Artisans
Service providers
Additionally, Google makes use of this kind of result to enhance user experience. Google Maps, Google My Business listing, and web results show up first for nearby establishments even if the search query doesn’t include a location! For instance, if you type in “hairdresser” or “Mexican restaurant,” this is the case.
Conversion rates during local searches have been found to be extremely high (88% on mobile devices!). Furthermore, data indicates that 25% of Google searches have a geographic component. [1] Thus, you shouldn’t ignore this component of organic SEO if you want to draw clients to your business.
8 Steps to take to improve your local SEO
On page geolocation
If you want your site’s pages to appear at the top of the SERP for localized searches, you must create dedicated content for this purpose. Not only should you place your exact location in the hot zones, but I also strongly recommend using a whole lexical field that precisely defines your catchment area.
For example, if you want to rank your business in Paris, consider including local information, such as:
Districts
Postal codes
Key establishments
Nicknames and synonyms
Metadata optimization
As you are aware, the data that appears on Google’s results page (most frequently) is metadata, specifically meta title and meta description. They directly influence how the user makes decisions.
You can easily reassure the searcher about the relevance and closeness of your business by adding your location to these tags. Keep in mind that the description affects SEO indirectly through the click through rate (CTR), even if it is not considered directly.
Improving user experience
UX is so important to organic SEO that it even warrants a discussion of SXO! Optimizing your website for mobile devices is vital because mobile is the primary device used for local search.
Should you still be unconvinced, bear in mind that 90% of store patrons, according to Google, started their visit by using the search engine.
Creating a "Google My Business" profile
To optimize your Google My Business listing correctly;
Enter complete data (description, address, phone number, website)
Verify the establishment
Provide opening hours
Manage reviews and comments
Add images
Provide product information
This not only allows you to appear at the top of the SERP but also to be present on Google Maps. Moreover, to further improve your local SEO, you can write short content (offers, events, products, and services) in the dedicated section (Google Local Posts)
Fill out your "Bing Places for Business" listing
Even though Google dominates the search engine industry, Bing still has intriguing untapped potential (holding slightly more than 8% of the global market. To accomplish this, just take three steps:
Take ownership of your listing
Complete your profile.
To safeguard your listing, double check it.
Obtaining customer reviews
A key component of your success is the rating of the customer reviews that are displayed. To begin with, you need to be especially attentive to your customers in order to shield yourself from criticism. In fact, you may face penalties if your Google rating is noticeably lower than that of your nearby competitors.
Second, think about enticing happy clients to post reviews on Google if they are pleased with your offerings. You raise your chances of increasing conversion rate and local SEO by doing this.
Activity on social networks
Your geolocated SEO is indirectly impacted by social media. In fact, search engines find your business more credible if it is featured on well known networks (such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter).
Links to these platforms can also be added to your Google My Business listing. In any event, you need to continue being proactive and reply to inquiries on these different channels of acquisition promptly. This factor appears to be considered as well when evaluating your professionalism and, consequently, the degree of trust that Google is willing to bestow upon you.
Acquisition of proximity links
There is a specific link building strategy involved in improving your local SEO. As a result, you want reliable websites that complement your theme, but you also want them to originate from companies that are similar to your own.
These are some suggestions for finding these kinds of links:
regional news sources
municipal buildings
Local blogs
nearby companies
regional social media networks
