Local businesses are dependent on how effectively their site’s local SEO strategy works. This is because these businesses can’t grow without dominating their local competition. And as we know, without online growth, businesses just can’t survive, let alone get a competitive advantage in the industry. Local SEO marketing is the key to growing your business in a particular region, and our local SEO guide will help you do it the right way! So, without further ado, let’s start with some of the basics.
What Is Local SEO?
Local Search Engine Optimisation is the process of enhancing your website’s local SERP rankings by improving your brand’s online visibility, as well as your site’s local traffic.
Anyone who knows anything about online growth knows about SEO and the various techniques that are commonly used to help improve the SEO rankings of a website. But local SEO is a bit different than international SEO growth, mainly because it is geo-targeted and with much more targeted audiences. In case you didn’t know, a lot of Google searches, actually more than 30% of the searches, are based on location. So, you might be missing out on a major audience if you’re not implementing a strong local SEO strategy for your business!
Let’s see how this thing actually works and move to the next section of our local SEO guide
Important Factors To Consider
Google’s local SEO is pretty much based on the same factors it usually uses to rank sites, but with three more additions just for its local SEO algorithm; let’s take a look.
Relevance
Relevance is something you have to always take into consideration when doing anything even remotely related to SEO. But you might be wondering, how does relevance really work in local SEO?
Relevance comes into play for local SEO when a user runs a search query and Google finds the relevant keywords in your business’s profile. Depending on how well your business profile matches the search query, your website will be ranked high or low in the SERPs.
So, ensure that you’re using relevant keywords in your business descriptions, as well as your website! We’ll get into where and how you can find these keywords in a minute. Let’s move to the second factor of how Google’s local SEO works.
Distance
This factor is something you can’t really do anything about. This is the part where Google checks to see how near you’re located to the user and places your business in the local pack based on that. What you can do, is ensure that your website and business profile contain the right location for your business, like your zip code, town, city, etc. So, if someone searches that particular town or city, your business comes up first.
Prominence
Prominence, as the name suggests, is Google’s local SEO ranking factor that is based on the importance of your business to its users. Or, in simpler words, it basically refers to the popularity of your business.Of course, there are various methods you can utilise to boost your site’s reputation. We’ll get to these techniques in a minute.
So, these were the three main factors based on which Google’s local search algorithm works. Now that you have an idea about how local SEO works, we can get into some details! But first, let’s wrap up why local SEO is important for your business in 2023.
Is Local SEO Important For My Business?
Yes, of course, it is! SEO for local searches is vital to your business’s growth, especially if you operate locally. Improving your site’s local SEO strategy can help you dominate Google’s local pack and, thus, reach your geo-targeted audience! Here are some key benefits of local SEO summed up for you.
- Amplified traffic figures
- Local traffic drives more sales!
- Cost-effective marketing
- Create a healthy local community.
These are just some of the basic advantages that your business can benefit from using an improved local SEO strategy that actually works! Now let’s answer the question of how to do local SEO the right way!
Local SEO Best Practices!
To help you boost your local SEO rankings, we’ve compiled a list of the most effective local SEO best practices that will help you create a strong local SEO strategy for your brand! Without wasting any time, let’s dive right into this next section of our local SEO guide!
Relevant Keywords
Remember when we said we’ll pick this up later? Well, here it is! Ensuring that your site is relevant by using the right keywords is the key to a successful local SEO strategy. The concept is pretty straightforward; you need to find locally trending keywords that are relevant to your business and integrate them into your business profile and your webpage content.
There are a bunch of tools available on the internet that can help you find geo-targeted keywords that are the right fit for your business! Just make sure that when you’re finding and adding keywords, you’re targeting locally, not globally.
Quality Backlinks
Yes, backlinks. Even though this is a term you might expect to hear in an SEO guide, it is just as important in enhancing your site’s local SEO. Building quality backlinks with websites that are well-known in your local area can help make your site feel more prominent to your users, as well as search engines. Quality backlinks boost your site’s credibility in the eyes of search engines and, thus, help you rank higher in the local pack!The process of building these backlinks is pretty much the same as any other link building process; you just need to find prospects locally instead of looking on a global scale. You can check out our in-depth link building guide here.
Reviews
Building quality backlinks is not the only way you can boost your business’s reputation. Positive reviews are a big plus for SEO local optimisation. Reviews allow search engines to rank your site higher in the local pack because it helps Google’s algorithm determine the prominence and credibility of your business.
So, make sure that your customers are leaving a review on your website, as well as your Google profile.
Business Citations
In case you aren’t familiar with local business directories, they’re online directories containing NAP citations of businesses based in a particular area. Local business directories are trusted by search engines, and getting your business listed in these business directories is an incredibly rewarding local SEO technique.
Local business citations are a great way to let local audiences experience your brand. Not only does it enhance your brand visibility and lets you reach a broader audience, but it can also become a quality backlink for your site. Local business directories are high-ranking, and they are trusted by Google; businesses that are listed on these directories also become credible and trusted!
Just ensure that your NAP citations are precise and that there are no duplicates of your citation. You can let experienced professionals like our team of experts handle your business citations if you don’t want to worry about auditing, updating, and building citations. TheDigitalXperts are proficient in managing local citations for businesses of all niches! Order our local citation building services now and boost your brand’s local visibility!
Google My Business
This is kind of an obvious one, but we had to mention it. Ensure that your business has a Google My Business profile and that your page is verified. Add a proper business description for your brand and add posts regularly to ensure that your business has an authentic outlook. Also, encourage your customers to leave reviews of your products and services to help build your brand’s reputation. Pay attention to the small details as well, like your business hours, business photos, etc.
Optimise Your Website
This one is kind of a broader term as it contains a bunch of different tips. The first one is that you need to make sure that your business’s website is optimised for mobile screens. The thing is, most local searches happen on mobile devices. Think about it. You’re out in a new town; what do you do? You pull out your phone and search for places near you. Suppose you find an interesting place and you click on their website. If that website is lagging, not responsive, and just isn’t optimised for mobile, you probably won’t consider that place anymore.
Another thing you should consider adding to your website is the Google Maps API that shows your business’s location. What this does is create a link between your business’s website and Google Maps.
These were some of our local SEO tips to help your business’s local growth! These local SEO best practices will help you create a customised local SEO strategy for your brand.
Conclusion
Our local SEO guide contains everything you need to know about creating local SEO strategies for your business! We have done our best to help you boost your website’s local SEO and expand your business’s local reach! If you wish to hire local SEO professionals, TheDigitalXperts is the best choice you can make! We have over 12 years of experience in helping local businesses like yours grow locally and dominate local packs! We are experienced local SEO strategists that are determined to provide you with the best local SEO solutions. Get in touch with us now and experience business growth like never before!
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