What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is search engine optimization plus location. It is used to promote physical businesses that have in-person interaction with customers, whether through a storefront or a local service. Local SEO is used by all types of physical businesses including small businesses, medium businesses, large-scale brands, and chain stores. Another term for Local SEO is Local Search Marketing and it involves a unique set of tasks to utilize it effectively. One of the most important tasks for local businesses is to get their name, address, and phone number, as well as references to their website, correctly portrayed on the net. Since Google has a huge corner of the local search market, business owners will want to create a business profile on Google My Business. In fact, according to Ahrefs, 56% of businesses haven’t claimed their GMB listing. This is a grave mistake as this listing and any listings on the net that include your NAP+W (W=website URL) significantly affect your rank in the search engine results page, as well as your validity as a real business. When building a profile on GMB, Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, Bing, and others you’ll want to make sure your NAP+W always matches. In fact, anywhere your business is referenced on the net should have identical information. Failure to do so will lower your credibility with search engines and potential customers alike. As well, you will want to build profiles through a number of business listing sites to increase the reach of your business.Establish Your Authority and Quality
Authority can be established through the age of your business as well as earning quality inbound links from reputable sources. Your site quality is affected by your- Use of SEO
- The quality of your content
- The appropriate quantity of content
- Ease of navigation
- Load speed
- Visual attractiveness
- The proper use of headlines, subheadings, descriptions, tags, and other page elements
Gain an Array of Positive Reviews
According to MOZ, 92% of people searching for goods or services read reviews, and an overwhelming majority rely on those reviews to influence how they spend their money. Businesses will want to protract a variety of reviews, especially leaning heavily on positive reviews. One mistake entrepreneurs make is to try to eliminate negative reviews, especially on their site as they have full control. This actually is not a wise choice as it may make visitors question the credibility of the reviews that are there. It’s okay to have some negative reviews as long as over time, positive reviews outweigh the negative and truly convey the quality of your business.Create a Local SEO Content Strategy and Competitive Edge
Smart business owners will want to create a local SEO content strategy through research into the demographic of their end-user, to know how to effectively use SEO to promote their brand. Local SEO includes geographical references to the location of your business such as Phoenix, AZ. It also includes ideas for what to publish when such as blog posts, information pages, images, whitepapers, press releases, podcasts, videos, interactive elements, free downloads, contact forms, and the like. In addition, a presence on various media platforms is vital such as:- YouTube
- Yelp
- TikTok