The latest statistics show that 46% of all Google searches involve local intent. This means that nearly half of all searches on Google have to do with location. This statistic alone emphasizes the importance of local search marketing.
In particular, small to medium-sized businesses should implement local SEO strategies. With over 3.5 billion searches happening on Google every day, skipping local SEO means missing out on a whopping 1.6 billion searches.
Don’t worry! With the expertise of an SEO agency, we’re here to help by discussing some effective tips for local SEO that you can apply to your business, ensuring that your website and online presence are optimized to attract local customers and improve your visibility in local search results.
By the end of this article, you should have a bunch of tricks up your sleeve to help put your products and services in front of thousands of leads in your area.
Table of Contents
- Create Detailed Business Listings on Search Engines
- Perform Keyword Research To Identify Geo-Specific Keywords
- Optimize Your Content for Local Searches
- Use Social Media To Attract Your Target Audience
- Manage Reviews and Feedback
- Set a Localized Link Building Strategy
- Review Competitor Strategies
- Tips For Local SEO: Key Takeaways
Create Detailed Business Listings on Search Engines
The first on our list of local SEO solutions is to create a detailed listing for your business that includes the following information:
- Business name
- Business address
- Contact number
- Images of your business
- Links to your social media business accounts
- SEO-optimized business description
- Hours of operation
All of these details are relevant. According to research commissioned by Google, 54% of smartphone users in the United States look for an establishment’s hours of operation when conducting local searches.
Local SEO is an integral aspect of any SEO strategy that wants to target consumers in a specific area. That said, it’s important to include all relevant information so consumers can easily find you online or offline.
You’ll also have to ensure that search engines can easily crawl your website for it to rank well locally.
Here are some tips for local SEO when creating a listing for your business:
1. Make Sure Your Contact Details Are Accurate and Up-To-Date
The phone number, address, business hours, and directions to your establishment should be kept updated in your listing. This allows prospective clients to quickly contact you.
2. Include Every Relevant Data
Relevance is a key factor in local SEO tactics. That said, your business listing should include all the relevant information we listed above. However, there may be some variation in data depending on the type of business you have.
For example, if you run a restaurant, you may want to include the type of food you serve, some safety guidelines your establishment adheres to, or what times are busiest.
This will provide your customers with a clear picture of your business.
3. Add Photos of Your Business
A survey by BrightLocal found that 60% of consumers have a higher likelihood of contracting or doing business with companies that have a photo in local searches. It’s not a surprise. After all, humans are visually wired.
4. Optimize for Voice Search
One of the tips for local SEO for business listing is to optimize for voice searches. This statistic will motivate you: 40% of the US population uses voice searches.
Perform Keyword Research To Identify Geo-Specific Keywords
Keyword research is an important aspect of local SEO solutions. If it gets too complicated and time-consuming, you may find an SEO company to help you.
Keywords provide valuable insight into what your target audience is searching for. This then allows you to connect on a deeper level with them and provide valuable information.
But what are geo-specific keywords exactly? These types of keywords help increase awareness of your business based on where it’s located and where your target audience is located.
Let’s say you own a restaurant in Los Angeles. Including geo-specific keywords in your content and tags ensures that people who search for restaurants in Los Angeles will see your business in their search results.
You can use keyword research tools like Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, and SEM Rush, among others. Your keywords will largely depend on the nature of your company and the demography of your target audience.
However, here are some tips for local SEO when it comes to keyword research:
1. Start with Industry-Specific Keywords
When conducting keyword research for local SEO, you need to identify keywords specific to the industry you’re in. Think about the products and services your business offers and come up with a list of relevant keywords.
Our local SEO solutions for this step include using Google search results, using keyword research tools to check a keyword’s search volume, and taking ideas from the autocomplete suggestions on Google’s search bar.
To do this, you must first think about what products or services you wish to promote. Then, you can brainstorm some keywords that are relevant to your business.
2. Use Keyword Modifiers
Next on our list of local SEO tactics is using modifiers, which are words people use when searching online that describe a business, product, or event. For example, if you own a floral shop, you can use modifier phrases like wedding bouquets, best florists, top florists, exotic flowers, and more.
3. Think About Keyword Intent
This involves putting yourself in your target audience’s shoes. What are they looking for? What stage are they in the sales funnel? Are they just browsing for more information or are they ready to buy? Knowing these pieces of information will not only help in keyword research but in content writing as well.
4. Include Local Keywords
This simply means incorporating keywords that include your geographic location and the location of the target audience you’re trying to reach. If you do deliveries, you might want to branch out to neighboring communities as well.
Optimize Your Content for Local Searches
Once you’ve picked out your keywords, you can start writing content around them. It’s important to note that while creating content on general topics will attract a massive audience, you should hone your focus on local or industry-related content to engage with the local audience.
Remember the following local SEO tactics for content creation:
- Promote local industry news and educational content.
- Create dedicated pages for each product or service that your business offers.
- Create localized landing pages.
- Include compelling call-to-action.
Use Social Media To Attract Your Target Audience
According to recent statistics, 59% of the global population uses social media. That said, social media platforms are an important resource for digital marketers.
It’s a great way to show behind-the-scene stories and keep your target audience in the loop with your work.
There are plenty of platforms you can use to increase your online presence.
1. Facebook
Facebook remains to be the social media platform with the largest user base, allowing access to a wider audience. Facebook is a must-use tool for digital marketers and SEO consultants because of its key features, including the possibility to geolocalize posts when customers visit your store, making you visible to prospective clients among their friends.
2. Twitter
Although each Twitter post can only be up to 280 characters long, it’s still a valuable platform for local SEO. The retweet function on Twitter allows your events and campaigns to have more visibility. You can also get your followers involved by creating polls.
3. Instagram
This platform is more image-focused than others, but it’s one of the many local SEO solutions that do wonders for your customer engagement and brand image.
Manage Reviews and Feedback
According to a PowerReviews survey, 98% of consumers perceive reviews as an important resource when deciding to purchase. That said, online reviews are highly significant and are trusted by consumers almost as much as recommendations by friends and family.
Because of its importance, business owners shouldn’t neglect the task of monitoring and respond to reviews, particularly if the business operates locally. Your reviews, as well as how you handle them, can impact your brand image directly.
Remember these essential tips for local SEO for managing reviews and feedback:
- When a customer is happy with your product or service, encourage them to leave a review.
- Actively reply to any positive review you get to encourage more satisfied customers to leave a review.
- If you get a negative review, remember to be kind and professional in your response.
- Contact dissatisfied customers in private to resolve any issue.
- Apologize if you make any mistake. Then, contact the customer privately.
Business owners should strive to get as many positive reviews as possible. They increase conversion rates, improve local rankings, and boost customer loyalty.
Set a Localized Link Building Strategy
Link building involves the process of getting links from high-authority websites back to your site, which is essential in SEO. However, localized link building can be a little different, especially for brick-and-mortar stores.
Here, link building can mean getting links from the websites of other trusted businesses in your area. One of the tested local SEO tactics in link building is community engagement.
Being familiar with other businesses in your area will allow you to make meaningful connections. If they have a website, you can go ahead and ask them to link to yours.
Some of the proven ways to earn backlinks include guest posting, outreach, directory submissions, and creating great content that high-authority sites will want to link to.
Review Competitor Strategies
Since local SEO is very competitive, you can get some ideas from your competitors on how to rank better. You can identify some gaps in your competitor’s strategies and fill them. These are the three factors that you should watch out for:
1. Proximity
Location is a key factor in local SEO. While you may not want to consider moving the location of your business for the sake of SEO ranking, you should understand how your competitor’s location contributes to their ranking. For example, if your verified address is too far from your target location, then you may want to modify your target location.
2. Google Business Profile
When providing tips for local SEO, a Google Business Profile is not to be skipped. Look at the profiles of your competitors and identify which areas they heavily focus on, such as the description, photos, or posts.
3. On-Page Content
When searching for businesses on Google, you’ll likely stumble upon their website as well. You should check out what the competitor’s website — including their homepage and location page — looks like.
Tips For Local SEO: Key Takeaways
Understanding the importance of local SEO is a must for every local business. It helps bring more people to your physical stores, increase online visibility, enhance trust ratings, and improve conversion rates, to name a few.
Luckily, we’re here to help you boost your rankings with these tips for local SEO. Now, you just need to be patient and consistent with implementing them.
