Local search is a powerful tool for small businesses because half of all Google searches are for local information. If you don’t optimize your business website for local search, you might be losing out on customers who are actively looking to buy products or services in your area. To sum up, if you want your company to succeed, local SEO is essential.
To help you optimize your business for local search, we’ve put together a detailed guide on local SEO strategies.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of enhancing the search engine visibility of local businesses, particularly those with physical locations. Following local SEO best practices can increase a website’s organic traffic from customers performing localized searches.
Signals like local content, social profile pages, links, and citations are used by search engines to determine what local results will be most useful to a user. Local search engine optimization is a way for businesses to tell people in their area about their goods and services.
Important Tips for Local SEO
1. Optimize your website for Google My Business
Google My Business has evolved into an essential component of local search. Google My Business is a great way to ensure that your company satisfies Google’s requirements because Google strongly endorses, verifies, and freely distributes its own content.
You need to do the following to get the most out of Google My Business:
- Establish a Google My Business page and make sure it’s verified.
- Integrate Google Posts into your existing Google account.
- Request online reviews from customers.
- Honestly respond to feedback, mentioning where you are.
If Google can confirm that your business is real, the search engine might give your business a sidebar spot in Google’s local search results.
2. Be active on social media and post your updates to Google My Business
Google values social media content more than ever.
To better align social media and search, share your newly crafted Google My Business page on social media.
3. Keep your name, address, and phone number consistent online
To make it easy for people and search engines to find you, set up your NAP.
Why is it important to have a NAP for local search engine optimization?
NAP refers to a company’s “name, address, and phone number”—all of which should include the relevant area code. With proper HTML markup, Google will be able to more accurately display your NAP in local search results.
The header or footer of a website is typically where the NAP is displayed. In addition, a “Contact Us” page should feature your NAP.
4. Improve your local citations
Any online mention of a local business’s NAP data (name, address, and phone number) is considered a local citation. Some common places where you might find a citation are social media, online directories, and mobile apps. Citations promote local businesses and affect local search engine rankings.
Be consistent: Check to see if your citations are complete and consistent across all sites. Inconsistencies like a wrong phone number, a wrong suite number, or a misspelled name can cause problems. It’s possible that Google won’t include your company in search results if it has trouble determining which details about it to use.
5. Have a local SEO audit done
After mastering the basics, you may want to slow down. However, SEO is a continuous and simple process. Instead of stopping there or making random changes to see what works, it is better to do a thorough audit of your website to find out how it is right now and where it might be lacking. Consider the following for your local SEO audit:
- Google My Business Audit: How does Google My Business appear in SERPs? Is the information correct?
- Google Search Console Audit: Can Google crawl your site? Is it error-free?
- On-Page SEO Audit: Do you have all the essential on-page SEO features (such as heading tags and meta descriptions) on your site?
- Citation Audit: Do the major business directories have up-to-date information about your company?
- Competitor Analysis: In what ways do you think your website excels over the competition? Do you need to make any adjustments? How are you better at link popularity, content quality, design, and ranking?
- Website Audit: How effective is your website?
6. Strengthen internal links
Adjusting your internal linking structure will also improve your SEO rankings.
The importance of internal links and why they should be used. What it actually does is:
- Facilitates site-wide navigating
- Facilitates the organization of content and the site’s structure
- Distribution of page authority and ranking power
7. Pay Attention to the On-Page Optimization
Every new blog post you make increases your site’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) because it increases the number of pages indexed by search engines and the number of pages on which you can target a specific geographic search phrase.
When creating content, it is important to include high-traffic keywords in the URL, title, header, meta description, and body. Highlighting customer success stories and case studies can help if you’re struggling to come up with geo-targeted content.
In order to improve your ranking in “near me” local searches, it is recommended that you add as many specifics as possible to these assets (especially for each location of your business).
8. Include location-specific pages on your website.
Make use of location pages if your business has more than one physical location. Information such as your name, address, phone number, store hours, distinctive store descriptions, parking/transit information, promotions, and customer testimonials can all be found on location pages.
Try not to repeat the same details on multiple pages for different regions. Make an About Us page that explains what makes your company special in the area if you have only one location. A Google Map embedded on each location page of your website is a nice touch that will help customers find you.
9. Create content for the local market.
Since Google keeps getting smarter, authors need to worry less about satisfying search engines and more about their readers. While it’s true that writing about broad topics can reach a large audience, there are times when it’s more beneficial to zero in on a specific region or niche market.
Build your reputation as a go-to resource in your area by using your blog to publicize industry events, news, and hiring opportunities, as well as helpful how-to content for your employees. Think of content at the top of the funnel that extends beyond the products or services you offer.
10. Make sure your website is compatible with mobile devices.
Local and mobile searches are inseparable.
Users who visit your site from a mobile device are likely looking for information like reviews, location information, and how to get in touch with you. The number of mobile “near me” searches has grown manyfold since 2020.
Make it simple for potential clients and buyers to access your site from their mobile devices.
11. Acquire high-quality inbound links from authoritative sources.
Getting more inbound links is a great way to improve your local SEO because it demonstrates to Google that your business is credible. How to get inbound links:
- Sponsorships and Collaborations
- Posting as a Guest Blogger
- Scholarships
- Get in touch with the people you already know, like the local Chamber of Commerce, trade groups, resellers, vendors, manufacturers, and so on.
- Think about connecting with influential people by sponsoring a webinar or meetup.
- One more way to get backlinks is to guest post on other blogs.
If you have a physical location or serve a certain area, investing in local SEO will make it easier for potential customers to find you when they search online. Gaining online visibility and credibility is essential in today’s business arena. If you are looking for a reliable local SEO agency in NYC to boost your local ranking, AuroIN LLC can be a great choice. We have over 20 years of industry experience and the best available tools and technologies to assist local businesses in outperforming larger competitors.
