As business owners, we all have big dreams – but that doesn’t mean we necessarily want to go global. For some, even national rankings are unnecessary, which is where local SEO comes in. If you want to be the best you can be in your area, check out these tip on how to improve your local SEO.
Why focus on local SEO?
According to Hubspot, search terms including the phrase “near me” have skyrocketed by up to 150% in the last year. That’s a huge market to cater for. What’s more, you may not have the resources to serve areas beyond your town, city or region, or you may be a local brick and mortar establishment, like an independent restaurant.
So, how can you improve local SEO to hit these keen searchers?
Step 1: Make sure your website is mobile friendly.
Those “near me” searches are more often than not going to be from mobile devices, so make sure your site is optimised! This helps with wider SEO too as it improves the user experience.
Make sure users can get to where they need to be quickly with burger menus, and that all phone numbers/contact forms are clickable.
Step 2: Claim your Google My Business account.
A GMB account gives you full control over how your business is presented when people search for your brand name. Key data appears in the ‘knowledge graph’ – for example a map, contact numbers, opening hours and reviews. You can register here with your account and claim your locations, plus you can add business updates.
If you don’t ‘claim’ this listing, user-generated content may do it for you. This is always a worry as users can get things wrong. You can see how your brand is being presented using the Moz local tool – then you can claim other profiles, like Foursquare, too. You can improve this by using local directories.
Step 3: ‘Localise’ your content.
You can optimise your web copy to include your key trading locations, for example, using keywords like “plumber in Leeds”. If you operate in multiple locations, take this one step further by offering local service pages.
BUT – don’t fall prey to duplicate content! It’s not enough to create “Plumber Leeds”, “Plumber Bradford” etc. pages and just cookie-cutter the copy. Google will consider this duplicate content, which may lead to a penalty. Make each page unique to that local audience.
Finally, you could also try blogging about local events or other regional news. Keep it regular and use location keywords naturally – don’t ‘stuff’.
Step 4: Use local keywords to your advantage.
Based in a big city, or just by a tourist attraction? Use tools like KWFinder to find keywords that rank in your area. If you’re near a significant placename or landmark, you can mention this in your website copy and metadata – for example “just five minutes’ walk from St. Paul’s Cathedral”.
Step 5: Build up your local backlink profile.
This is great for general SEO, too. Try to get links from local, authoritative websites such as local newspapers and magazines, as well as directories. To get the best value backlinks (which will increase your trust with Google), try a website domain authority checker. The better the score out of 100, the higher the link value.
Step 6: Encourage reviews.
Reviews will help your business stand out against others in things like Google listings. Up to 85% of customers will buy based on reviews, and if your star ratings are there for all to see, you can guarantee big wins.
Encourage further trust with Google by responding to your reviews. You can also use third-party sites like Trustpilot or Facebook, whose star ratings can pull through to search results.
Step 7: Optimise those local service pages.
If you do have multiple branches, ensure that your corresponding pages have as much local information as possible. This should include:
- NAP data (name, address, phone number)
- Map listings
- Parking advice
- Links to local transport
- Opening hours
- Local testimonials
- Services specific to that particular branch.
Location, location, location!
With today’s ever more fickle mobile customers, we need to focus on local SEO more than ever. The good news is that all of these techniques will also improve your rankings in a general sense, helping to promote brand awareness.
Not sure where to start? ‘Bee’ found online today with our local SEO services.
