Local SEO - The Magnificent 7 tips

Local SEO - The Magnificent 7 tips

Jamie Carter
Managing Director
Marketing

Want to draw local customers? Utilize the power of local SEO! With 90% of purchasers looking for local businesses online in all the major search engines, it's an absolute necessity in today's marketing world. Establishing a successful Local SEO strategy is easy - simply follow these steps and you're good to go!

Your business can gain a crucial edge in the fiercely competitive online market if you optimize your web pages with high-quality content and a local SEO strategy. By targeting localized searches, outshining competitors in search engine results and attracting more customers, a successful local SEO campaign will help increase traffic to your web pages or physical store from Google search results. That’s why this guide outlines effective strategies for creating an impactful local SEO plan that suits any type of business!

Do You Need a Strategic Approach to Improve Your Local SEO Visibility?

Above all, local SEO is not a requirement for every business. It's only necessary if your company provides services to customers within particular geographic regions and you wish to be identified in their regional search results when they look up related keywords and phrases.

With numerous localized search ranking elements in consideration, it is of great significance that you carefully craft your local SEO to gain a competitive edge. This way, you ensure all bases are covered and have the best chance for success. Google MapPack rankings will thank you!

If you own a law business, or estate agency, provide medical services, own a shop or coffee shop - essentially any local business that wants to be found and increase its visibility - then Local SEO is indispensable.

Benefits of Local SEO

Local SEO is an invaluable asset for any business, as it offers a wide array of lucrative benefits. Of course, increased website traffic is likely the first thing that comes to mind; however, there are many other ways local SEO can help bolster your company's growth and success.

With organic traffic and more targeted visitors coming to your site, you can reduce costly advertising expenses while simultaneously bolstering customer reviews that will contribute to increased brand recognition and trust. Furthermore, users will be able to enjoy a better website experience overall.

Creating Your Local SEO Strategy

Once you have examined your website and decided it requires local SEO, the next step is to devise a plan of action with your seo expert for boosting both your regional rankings and web traffic.

Why not try these seven proven steps towards constructing an unbeatable local SEO strategy?

1. Assess all of the services and products your business provides and how they appear in search engines.

This will help you decide on which terms to optimize for in your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Let's say, for example, that you own a local pizza restaurant - chances are your offerings include "toppings" "delivery" and similar services. These should be factored into what searches you're targeting with SEO tactics!

If you're looking to increase visibility for your business, then pinpointing the right keyword terms for your important pages is essential. Think of it as taking inventory: what would potential customers be searching for that could lead them straight to you? Create a key list of these keywords and use them as an initial reference point when conducting thorough research on relevant search terms.

Shortly, you will employ tools used in the SEO industry for local SEO to search for terms applicable to your industry and geographic location. You'll study the keywords' relevance in addition to their search volume before making a decision on which ones deserve attention from your website.

2. Audit Your Existing Website

To ensure your website has the best chance of succeeding in search engine optimization, you should begin by conducting an SEO audit to identify any technical or on-page issues that could negatively impact its success. These include meta description, internal links, alt text on images, and how your mobile version of the web pages appears on a mobile device. Once these have been addressed, then you can move on to creating engaging content and building backlinks. Don't jump into optimizing until you've determined what (if anything) is broken - a solid foundation must come first!

Alternatively, if you want thorough results for your website's SEO audit, it might be wise to hire a dedicated SEO expert who can give you an extensive list of improvements and adjustments that must be completed.

Here are some SEO issues to look out for:

  • Site speed
  • Missing meta tags and descriptions
  • Broken links
  • Missing page titles.
  • Duplicate content.
  • No sitemap.

3. Conduct Competitor Keyword Research into how search engines discover their business

To outshine your local competitors in Google and other major search engine rankings, you must understand what terms they are optimizing for and how. SEO tools provide a comprehensive competitive analysis so that you know exactly where to find the best keywords, backlinks and more. Moreover, these platforms let you discern which words your site is already successfully targeting - further aiding your local SEO success!

If you want to gain insight into your competitor's ranking strategy, simply type in their domain name with an SEO tool of your choice. This will generate a list of keywords that they are currently taking advantage of organically. You can also use the same tool to assess search volume and competition metrics for each keyword, so you can decide if any match up well with what you're looking for on your own site.

As you approach your target keywords, make sure that they are suitable for the products or services you provide and related to what your business stands for. Additionally, ensuring that these words match up with potential customer needs as well as particular locations will help drive localized traffic effectively and efficiently to your site.

4. Identify Geo-Specific Keywords that a search engine ranks highly

Let's look at an example. Suppose you run a Solicitors in Liverpool. To get started, write down a few words that accurately describe what your business offers. Next, take note of the keywords utilized by competitors in the same field. Afterwards, let SEO tools come to your aid and evaluate these terms for search volume and competition level; moreover, include geographic information when searching for location-based keywords!

For example

  • [best solicitors Liverpool]
  • [solicitors Liverpool]
  • [cheap solicitors Liverpool]
  • [Good solicitors Liverpool]

Keep performing keyword searches until you've collected a detailed list of all the localized keywords that pertain to your company. Don't forget to look for various options related to the services or items you provide and in what areas you serve.

5. Optimize Your Google My Business page - the missing part of search engine optimization

Having an optimized listing on Google My Business (GMB) is essential for any local business looking to increase its ranking in search results. GMB is a free platform which helps you drive more traffic, gain customer reviews and much more – all that's required from you is to create an account or claim your existing one, then fill out the necessary information such as an address, phone number and website URL. Moreover, it's possible to include images of your shopfront or products/services along with hours of operation so people can learn even more about what your business has to offer!

GMB is undisputedly the leading local marketing service for a reason; take advantage of this and fully optimize your listing to grow in visibility through SEO over time.

6 Make sure to register your business in relevant directories

By submitting your business information to authoritative and localized directories, you can increase traffic, gain more links, and enhance local SEO. Make sure that your company's name, address, phone number and website URL are all consistent across every directory - especially Google My Business which is an important online customer service tool. Properly managing this process will ensure customers have quick access to vital data about you so don't let it go overlooked!

To maximize your business exposure, make sure you search for directories in the same industry as yours. Always be cautious when choosing which directory to join - not all of them are worth trusting so spurn any that ask for money or look suspiciously spammy. Good luck!

7. Make a Local SEO Strategy

Creating a Hyperlocal Link Building Strategy is the key to success. This approach allows you to target specific audiences, drive more qualified traffic and ultimately increase your chances of conversion. A localized link-building strategy should be tailored towards individual communities or regions, leveraging local resources and forming relationships with influencers in that region.

Link building is an integral part of SEO, though regional link construction may differ from other kinds of link building. Here, the physical area where sites are linking to your site also matters. To generate more links in your region, try reaching out to local businesses and creating localized content that you can use as a platform for requesting anchor text with related keywords. This will boost your website's visibility while boosting its relevance within search engine results pages (SERPs).

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Jamie Carter
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