Local SEO is important for small businesses because nearly half of all Google searches are for local information.

Because optimising your business for local searches means:

  • Getting potential customers in your area
  • Your business stays relevant

Therefore, businesses need to get in front of potential consumers searching for products or services locally.

So, in this article we will learn:

  • About local SEO
  • Local SEO optimisation tips
  • Which SEO tool to use

Let’s dive right in.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO helps local business, mainly those with physical locations:

  • Get more attention on search engines
  • Get organic traffic from potential customers nearby

Search engines show the most relevant local results to users using signals like:

  • Local content
  • Social profile pages
  • Links
  • Citations

And businesses getting more attention can showcase their products and services to potential local customers.

Local SEO tips

  • Google My Business Optimisation
  • Post on social media and Google My Business
  • Keep name, address, and phone number consistent online
  • Online directories and citations optimisation
  • Local SEO audit
  • Improve internal linking
  • URL, title tags, headers, meta description and content optimisation
  • Add location pages
  • Make local content
  • Have a mobile-friendly website
  • Get relevant links with authority
  • Take part in your local community

Google My Business Optimisation

Every local business needs a Google My Business page.

Google My Business is an important tool to help your local business get visibility on Google.

So, to start optimising for Google My Business, do the following:

  • Create a Google My Business page
  • Then verify your GMB page
  • Use Google Posts in your account
  • Encourage customers to share reviews online
  • Respond authentically to reviews

If Google verifies your business, it could feature on the search engine’s sidebar space in Google’s local search.

Remember, you can improve potential customers experience and increase the chances of them finding you by:

  • Having reviews
  • Keeping contact information and operating hours up-to-date

Because data that is up-to-date is important to consumers.

Post on social media and Google My Business

Content shared on social media is important to Google.

So after finishing your Google My Business page, share it on social media.

This will help link your content on social to your content on search.

Keep name, address, and phone number consistent online

Make it easy for searchers and search engines to find you by setting up your NAP.

What does NAP mean in local SEO?

NAP, stands for a business’s name, address, and phone number.

Your NAP is crawlable HTML text on your website so Google can show it on location search results.

Note: Make sure to include the NAP in the images AND HTML text.

Put your NAP in your website’s:

  • Footer
  • Header
  • “Contact Us” page

Online directories and citations optimisation

Keep your citations consistent and complete on all platforms.

Watch out for:

  • Misspellings
  • Abbreviations
  • Incorrect location number
  • Wrong phone number

If your information is not correct then Google won’t show your business in search results.

Note: Remove duplicate listings in online directories.

Also get a community Chamber of Commerce membership for local external inbound links.

Local SEO audit

Now do a full audit to see how your website performs and what needs improving.

A local SEO audit includes:

  • Google My Business Audit – Is your Google My Business page in the SERPs and is the information correct?
  • Google Search Console Audit – Is your website crawlable and do errors stop it indexing?
  • On-Page SEO Audit – Have you completed all on-page SEO ranking factors?
  • Citation Audit – Are your directory citations correct?
  • Competitor Analysis – Compare your website to your competitors. Can you improve? How do you compare in links, content, design and rank?
  • Website Audit – How is your website performing?

Improve internal linking structure

Improving your internal linking structure helps boost your SEO rankings.

Internal linking helps with the following:

  • Website navigation
  • Information architecture
  • Website hierarchy
  • Page authority
  • Web page ranking power

To improve your internal linking structure, check out this post.

URL, title tags, headers, meta description and content optimisation

A new blog post is an opportunity to get found in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Every content needs to be optimised for search using high-volume keywords in the:

  • URL
  • Title
  • Header
  • Meta description
  • Body

Examples of local content would include:

  • Customer success stories
  • Case studies

Note: Adding specifics, like the location of your business, helps optimise for “near me” local searches.

Add location pages

For multiple physical business locations, make location pages for each.

Location pages give readers:

  • Your name
  • Address
  • Phone number
  • Operating hours
  • Shop descriptions
  • Parking and public transport information
  • Promotions
  • Customer testimonials

Just remember to avoid duplicating content on your multiple location pages.

And if your business has a single-location, make an About Us page with a description based on location.

Note: Add a Google Map to your website on your location pages.

Make local content

Now you can write for users and less for search engines.

Although writing about general topics attracts a bigger audience.

Writing about local or industry news attracts a local audience.

So become a local topic authority in your industry by writing about:

  • Local industry gatherings
  • News
  • Employees
  • Educational content

Don’t just think about content about what your business sells.

For example, for businesses new to the area:

  • A resource to get familiar with your city
  • A map of local service providers
  • A calendar of events in the city

This type of content gives value with relevant on-page local signals.

Have a mobile-friendly website

More than half of local searches are done using a mobile.

And searchers look up websites are on mobiles for:

  • Reviews
  • Directions to businesses
  • Business contact information

And there has been 250% more “near me” searches on mobile since 2017.

So, make your website mobile-friendly so it’s easy for potential customers to find you.

Get relevant links with authority

Inbound links help local businesses with their local SEO by:

  • Confirming to Google you’re a legit company
  • Boost your domain authority

A few examples of how you can get inbound links include:

  • Sponsor
  • Guest Blogging

A few places you can start building your network with, include:

  • The Chamber of Commerce
  • Business improvement districts
  • Licensing authorities
  • Trade associations
  • Resellers
  • Vendors
  • Manufacturers

You could also build relationships with influential local people by:

  • Sponsoring a webinar or meet-up
  • Hosting a community event
  • Promoting something local

Note: You have to be comfortable reaching out for features on local directories.

And guest blogging also gets links by:

  • Talking to or about people in your industry
  • Being a resource provider for the community

Basically staying active in community conversations help with:

  • Inbound links
  • Social media growth
  • Media coverage

Take part in your local community

Staying active in the local community means more digital PR. 

Examples of different ways to stay active in your community include:

  • Partnering with a nonprofit for a campaign
  • A volunteer day in your organisation
  • Sponsoring an event, could be an online event too
  • Local media appearances as an industry authority

These are all different ways that can help your business get:

  • Press
  • Brand awareness
  • Inbound links

For example, .edu links have good domain authority so promote scholarships in your area.

Remember, keep links relevant to your industry to send the right signals to your domain.

Local SEO Tool

A tool you can use to improve rankings, that also comes with a free basic option is:

Screaming Frog

You can use this tool to analyse up to 500 URLs for free.

Screaming Frog is a desktop tool crawls websites and analyses for SEO errors in:

  • Links
  • Images
  • CSS
  • Script
  • Apps

For example, it can help find 404 errors, missing meta descriptions or H1s.

Conclusion

Local SEO should be an important part of any local business’s SEO strategy.

Local SEO helps your business get attention from potential audiences searching online locally.

Now it’s over to you.

Tell me, as a local business, which strategies do you use to get local attention?

Let me know in the comment section below.

2 thoughts on “Local SEO”

  1. Pingback: SEO and Search Engine Optimisation - XXMG

  2. Pingback: Online Local Business Directories - XXMG

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *