The best local SEO tips can help you rank at the top of Google’s local pack. To leverage local SEO tips, you need to know the top ranking factors that determine traditional organic website rankings and also impact local pack rankings. With local SEO, your aim must be to be the most relevant result given the search query. Your Google Business Profile must match the user’s search intent. Building topical geo-targeted relevance is key.
Local SEO Tips – Why Do They Matter
Nearly ninety percent of internet users use the internet to find a local business that is located in their local area. However, compared to this, only half of local businesses have claimed their Google Business Profile. As a business owner, if you aren’t focusing on local SEO and local SEO hacks, you might want to think of all the opportunities that you are missing out on.
What Exactly is Local SEO?
Local SEO refers to the practice of getting your web pages, products, and services to rank higher in Google search results. The focus is on geographically specific keywords, such as “New York” or “Los Angeles,” if you have a local business in the USA or are looking for local business SEO tips.
Compared to local SEO, with regular local SEO, the aim of the game is to appeal to a general audience irrespective of the location. So, regular SEO is ideal for a business or organization that ships or operates globally. The goal of local SEO is to reach customers within your specific geographic area.
How to Improve Local SEO?
Now, coming to the important question of how to improve local SEO, you should understand the algorithm of Google’s local SEO. This algorithm focuses on three aspects:
- Proximity
- Relevance
- Prominence
What this means is that your business should be in close proximity to your target audience or ideal customers. It also means that your business should be prominent in the search results of your ideal users and relevant to the topic or niche.
The physical location of the user is Google’s primary ranking factor in local SEO. In simpler words, Google shows results depending on where it thinks the person is located right now. For instance, Google uses GPS to locate the users when they are browsing on their smartphones.
It is important to mention here that local SEO does not only target users within a local area – but it can also help local businesses target people who are considering buying products or services in real time. Thus, by leveraging local SEO, you can dramatically improve your conversion rate.
Understanding the Anatomy of Local Search Results
Before we get into the tips for local SEO, you must know that Google’s algorithm supports users who are searching with local intent by providing them with a variety of SERP features, such as snippets that are displayed on the first page. You will also see a Snack-Pack result, which is kind of like an information box that includes the following:
- Business review score
- Price level
- Type of service
- Address
- Images
- Opening hours
All of this crucial information about local businesses is accessible in one place. The listings are positioned on the left side of the page, while the map is on the right side. This aspect also means that the local business listings are at the top of search results instead of beneath the map. This aspect gives them much more prominence in the search results.
The Importance of Claiming and Optimizing Your Google Business Profile
With local SEO, you can secure a place in a local pack with your optimized Google Business Profile. On that note, the most important details to include in your Google Business Profile are your business name, phone number, address, and, of course, a website link.
By optimizing your Google Business Profile with local SEO, you can make your website rank higher for location-centric searches, such as things that you can only buy or do at a physical address.
The following benefits will establish the importance of claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile for local SEO and will make you understand how to tank for local SEO:
Boost Brand Awareness
One of the first things that local SEO can do for your business is to boost brand awareness. Brand awareness refers to the aspect when people get familiar with your brand, and they know what your company is about and what you offer. Local SEO can help you boost brand awareness by simply giving you more visibility and helping you connect with a more relevant audience.
Boost Website Traffic
Local SEO is amazing for driving more “qualified” website traffic. Understandably, your website is the contact place where many people will convert – as long as your website design and functionality are user-friendly. With local SEO, you can get people to your website by getting more traffic from super-relevant searches. Local SEO is great for getting more website traffic in terms of quantity and quality.
Boost Foot Traffic
If you own a brick-and-mortar company or shop, local SEO can also help with boosting foot traffic. As a matter of fact, the majority of smartphone users rely on their gadgets for local searches with the intention of visiting local stores. So, with local SEO, website and foot traffic go hand-in-hand, and as a local business, it is in your best interest to leverage both.
Gain Community Trust
If you want people to buy more from you and choose you over your competitors, you must earn their trust first. Here is where the importance of local SEO comes in/ Local SEO allows you to present your business as an essential part of your local community. You can sponsor local sports teams or attend local events to boost your image even more.
What this will do for you is that as the people in your area start to see your business as part of the community, they will naturally feel more connected with you. Subsequently, they will have more trust in your integrity and, hence, more trust in your products and services.
Improved Link-Building
It is no secret that backlinks are crucial for successful SEO. As a matter of fact, link-building is a crucial part of any SEO campaign. Link-building is when trusted, third-party websites link to your website in their content. So, if a trustworthy site links to you, Google and people assume that you are trustworthy. As a result, you rank higher and get more traffic.
When you invest in local SEO, you get relevant backlinks from local websites, which helps you draw more attention from the local people who trust those websites.
Boost in Conversions
Local SEO can lead to higher conversion rates. The thing is that about thirty percent of local searches usually end up with purchases, which means that your local SEO efforts can lead to more sales and a boost in revenue. If you look at it, a boost in conversions is essentially the win for your local SEO. So, make it count and integrate the right local SEO strategies.
What Are Some Local SEO Challenges You Should Know About?
Some of the local SEO challenges might include ensuring accurate and reliable NAP information, which stands for name, address, and phone number. NAP is a crucial aspect of your Google Business Profile and establishing your online presence. Other challenges include mobile optimization, as most local searches are made from smartphones. Creating high-quality and informative localized content is also a potential challenge of local SEO.
How to Optimize A Website for Local Search?
You might be wondering how do I optimize my website for local searches? Now, you should know there are several steps that you must take to ensure that your business website is optimized for internet searches with local intent.
Claim Your Google Business Profile
Firstly, you must ensure that you have claimed the Google Business Profile to improve your local rankings on google. Google Business Profile was previously known as Google My Business, and essentially, this is an easy-to-use tool for businesses to manage their online presence on Google, including Google Maps and Google searches.
The thing is that Google retrieves most of its information for local searches from the Google Business profile. Nonetheless, you can also use the Google Business Profile to explain to users what makes your business unique. Leveraging this, you will be able to connect with your customers more easily.
So, head to Google/Business to set up your business profile. Proceed to insert the basic details of your business and add them to the right categories. Subsequently, you will begin to see your business appear in local search results on Google and Google Maps.
How Long Till You See Results?
Following the top local SEO tips, it might take around two weeks for your business to be listed on the local map search. However, ultimately, this listing will come with loads of benefits, such as increased website traffic and improved customer experience. While setting up your Google business profile, you can also select a call-to-action button from a list of preset options as a way to increase click through from search results.
Conduct Keyword Research
For effective local SEO, you will have to do some keyword research as well. You don’t have to fret about it, as there are some quick ways to research the most relevant local SEO keywords for your business. There are four fundamental areas of local SEO keyword research:
- Service in Locations
- Personalized Location
- Opening Times
- Contact Number
Service in locations keywords, also known as SILS, are keywords that are linked with the location in which you operate. These are possibly the keywords that you associate most with local SEO, such as “plumber in Los Angeles” or “kebab shop in New York.”
If the search volumes for the location that you are in are relatively low, you might want to try searching for keywords that are related to the closest major town or city to your area. If you are a customer-based business, you can also target your county or state.
Use Valuable Tools to Establish Personalized Information
You can use valuable tools, such as Google’s keyword planner and Ahrefs, to get plenty of guidance on keyword search volume and competition.
Search engines can offer more personalization by quickly providing the information users need if they have turned on their location services. You should know that there has been a 400% increase in searches that contain “open now” or “near me” in the last few years. This aspect indicates that your local business should include these keywords within your local SEO strategy.
It is important to keep in mind that Google decides which users you show to which location for “near me” searches based on your Google My Business Profile information.
Establish the Opening Time of Your Local Business
Now, when it comes to opening time, you need to understand your target audience and what they are looking for. Naturally, if a user is searching for a local business near them, they will choose a natural language search query, such as “What time does (name of business/shop) close?” and “opening hours of business name.” Subsequently, Google will return the results in either a business box or a knowledge panel with a quick answer box for direct queries.
Since the users will now have information about the business’s opening time, they might look for the contact number next so they can place an order or book an appointment – depending on the type of local business.
The Importance of Your Local Business Contact Number
If Google cannot find or access a definitive number, it may provide internet users with a variety of phone numbers, none of which connect to your business. To avoid such a situation, make sure to add the right contact details to your Google Business Profile so that your target customers can reach out to you when they want.
Pro Tip: Analyze Your Competitors
Apart from the above-mentioned keywords to include in your Google Business Profile, we recommend analyzing your competitors and having a peek at who is ranking well. Subsequently, you might want to consider targeting the keywords and phrases that are working for your competitors. You can do this in Google’s keyword planner.
Essentially, you will be searching for the top-ranking URLs and seeing what they are ranking for. Also, as a local business, we recommend that you target the long-tail keywords that are linked to your niche.
Final Thoughts
By leveraging local SEO tips, you can help your business achieve higher local rankings due to increased visibility, which will make your business more accessible to local customers. Moreover, local SEO will help your business connect with super-relevant and super-interested customers who are actively looking for your products and services online.
FAQs
What is NAP?
In local SEO, NAP refers to the name, address, and phone number of a local business that is part of its Google Business Profile. If this information is incorrect, it can lead to a poor user experience, which is why it is crucial to regularly audit your NAP and update any changes to share accurate information all the time.
Why Does Local SEO Matter for Your Business?
With local SEO, you will not only boost your online visibility but also connect with the right customers who are actively looking for products and services in your area. At least 30% of online searches lead to purchases.
Why is Local SEO Important for Link-Building?
Local SEO is crucial for link-building as it can help you generate more website and foot traffic to your local store. You will be ranking for locally searched keywords, which in turn boosts brand awareness and makes you stand out in your local niche.
