When people are searching for businesses in their area, they want to find results that are relevant and trustworthy. That’s why Local SEO is a crucial marketing strategy for businesses that target a specific geographic audience. It helps potential customers find the right business and connect with them.
Local SEO isn’t just about getting your Google My Business (GMB) profile optimized; it also includes the optimization of your website and social media pages. It requires research into local keywords, a deep understanding of your audience, and the creation of high-quality content that is useful to them. This can take the form of blog posts, videos, podcasts, animations, and more. The goal of Local SEO is to rank at the top of search engine results and increase visibility for your business.
One of the most important aspects of Local SEO is ensuring that your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all of your online presences. This includes your GMB listing, as well as other local consumer directories such as Yelp, Bing Maps, and Facebook. According to Moz, this consistency is one of the most influential factors in determining your position in local search and snack pack results.
Another critical component of Local SEO is generating reviews for your business. In fact, Google will give businesses that have more reviews a higher ranking in local searches. This is because it signals that your business is more trusted and has a larger following.
You can generate reviews by encouraging customers to post on your social media pages, using a rewards program to encourage reviewers, or offering an incentive like a discount or freebie for those who leave a review. It’s important to note that negative reviews can have a negative impact on your local search rankings, so you need to monitor and respond quickly to any bad feedback.
Aside from optimizing your website and generating reviews, local SEO also requires the generation of links to your site. While some of these links can be obtained through cold email outreach, it’s best to focus your efforts on earning links from authority websites in your region. This could include local government websites, chambers of commerce, or even.edu websites where you can leverage partnerships, guest posts, or scholarships to secure a link.
Lastly, it’s important to keep an eye on your competitors. Some unscrupulous businesses may use spammy tactics to manipulate their local search ranking, such as keyword stuffing in their name or location information, or submitting fake or duplicate listings. This type of behavior can be very frustrating for legitimate local businesses and should be reported to Google as soon as it is observed.