Beginners guide to Local SEO in 2019
Local SEO is a very powerful tool to market your business locally. This makes sure that your offerings are visible to the customers with local relevance. In this “Beginners guide to Local SEO”, we look at various ways that Local SEO is helpful and how you can optimize SEO for a Local business.
What is Local SEO?
Before we dive deep into Local SEO, let us understand what SEO i.e. Search Engine Optimization is all about?
Search Engine Optimization is a process that makes your page visible on the Search Engine Result Page (SERP) organically. The concept of SEO is that the more frequently it appears on search result page, the more are the chances of customer conversions. This helps to increase the company’s overall Return on Investment.
Below is the SEO pyramid which is built by Content, Keywords, Links and Social Marketing. Each of these parts will be explained in this blog post.
Local Search Engine, Optimization (SEO) is a subset of Search Engine Optimization. This powerful tool makes your products and services offering displayed on the local search results page when local customers search thus increasing local search ranking. It matches your Search Query with Local Relevance. Thus, making it sure that your product is shown to the right target audience which in turn improves your products online visibility.
Importance of Local SEO for Small business websites.
Small business websites have to compete on the same field as the large business websites. It may feel futile to try and compete with them by only SEO. The large businesses allot more budget and resources which helps them to build their online presence.
However, for small businesses, this is not possible due to the online budget crunch but with Local SEO one can overcome these budget challenges.
If you have a small business online and thinking how you can tap your potential target local market then local SEO is for you.
For example, if a person staying in Santacruz East searches for restaurants to order food, he would definitely want those restaurants to be in that area too. In fact, most customers searching on the mobile keeps their phones location service on which in turn gives them more filtered results.
Benefits of using local SEO:
Visibility:
local SEO will increase your visibility in your targeted area thus giving you a chance to appear on the first page.
Conversion:
once your page comes on the first page of the Search Engine Result Page then the chances of sale conversion become high.
Branding:
successful conversions thus help to increase website traffic thus increasing the company’s overall goodwill.
What are Google’s Top-Ranking Factors for Local SEO
In 2016, a study using statistical analysis assessed how and why businesses ranked in the Local Packs and identified positive correlations between local rankings and 100+ ranking factors.
According to Google, a company’s rank in Google My Business (GMB) results can be categorized into three distinct areas of focus:
- Relevance: this is the foundation of SEO. Starting by choosing an accurate category. Then try using the entire space on the description as much as you can. Educate your customers by giving them relevant information. Also, note that information should be consistent across the internet.
- Distance: Google focuses on giving their customers, search results near to the customers. Small businesses can start with Secondary or Long tail keywords.
- Prominence: where business and practices can set themselves apart. Include Images, Review sites, links, and citations.
How to Optimize your Content, URLs, Title tags, Meta Tags and Headers for Local SEO:
Content is the king! If your content is right than half of your work is successfully completed as your content is a now indexed page for your website. Also, while writing content it’s important to put the right number of relevant keywords.
Well written Title and Meta tags are considered art in the world of SEO. Keywords should also be put in URLs, the Title tags, description tags, and all the headers. However, keywords stuffing should not be done. Also, use local SEO plugin like Yoast local SEO(if you are using WordPress as CMS) which will optimize your page.
Link building:
this is a very important part in SEO. Also, it gives a signal to Google that your website has quality resource worth of local citations. Link Building also helps in indexing in SERP’s quicker.
Link building is basically a growth strategy. The first step is to know your customers well. Then make a list of websites which can appeal to them. Match the local content and then Reach out to them through Social Media.
Successful link building strategies would include Forum and Comments, Requesting links, Directories submission, Press Release, Guest posts.
Google My Business for Local SEO:
Google My Business (GMB) It is like any business directories where you can create and update your SEO local business listings. It makes sure that your listing appears in Google maps and on Google search.
The basic features of Google My Business are that it helps you to create a free website thus allowing you to make and launch it soon. You can Post your business hours, address, offers and updates. It also gives insights about the call to action on your page like directions, website addresses or calls.
Google Maps for Local SEO:
Google Maps is a web mapping service which offers satellite imagery, google street view, route planning for traveling by foot, car, or public transport, street maps, real-time traffic conditions.
What is Local SEO checklist to rule Google Maps?
Local organic SEO service drives a high amount of qualified traffic. Hence, it has become a powerful marketing tool.
Checklist for Google Maps:
- Company’s business page is verified or not.
- Whether Citations are accurate which means business name and address on Social Media Platforms.
- Proximity in which the business is located.
- Average ratings with volume
- Domain authority of the website.
Do Google local reviews impact local ranking?
Yes. It does impact as google trust your customers more than you. Consumers buying decision is highly influenced by reviews your company gets. Consumer reviews also play an important part in building local businesses online reputation.
So, great reviews mean more stars which means more clicks. Moreover, Google has review markup for reviews from where it is able to use review data. This helps Google use reviews as a ranking signal.
Can social media help in improving the reach of local SEO?
Social media is very important for better ranking. It raises awareness and provides a platform to connect with customers.
All social media platforms play a very important role. Most of the SEO experts believe that Social media signals are one of the ranking factors.
How to use Facebook for local SEO strategies?
- Reviews: reviews on Facebook will always be there on the business page which will, in turn, mean popularity.
- Local guide: Facebook works as a local guide in terms of contact details, address and Work hours.
- Check-in: the more the check-in’s the more is the popularity of the business.
- Ads: ads too will help in local SEO.
- Run events- this will increase more check-in thus making it even popular.
What are the top local SEO tools?
Ahrefs:
Ahrefs is one of the recommended SEO tools online. It has the largest website crawlers. Ahref’s Site Audit feature is the best SEO analysis tool around. It highlights what parts of your website require improvements to help your ranking.
SEMRush:
SEMRush’s one of the popular features of this SEO tool is the Domain Vs Domain analysis which allows comparing your website to your competitors. Analytics reports that help you to optimize your website data, traffic, or your competitors, you’ll be able to compare keywords and domains.
3. Moz Local:
Moz Local is a Less expensive tool than most of its counterparts. It helps to collaborate with data aggregators to help push listings, ensuring your business gains visibility.
4. Screaming Frog:
Screaming Frog is considered one of the best SEO tools by the experts. The speed at which you get insights is faster. They fix duplicate content and bad redirections
5. Google Trends:
Google trends is a free tool that provides search trends for a particular keyword. This gives you insights about the topic and information regarding the keywords. Tells about the top queries, interest over time and geographical locations.
Final Words on Local SEO: The robust the strategy, the better are the results. It will also make your Google My Business page to appear on the top Spot. If you are looking for affordable local seo services, feel free to contact us