Tips on Improving Your Local SEO Game
As with any industry, search engine optimization (SEO) is evolving constantly. To stay relevant online, brands need to learn to keep up with these changes. It’s not easy, but it is more than doable if you pay close attention to current trends. It is always going to take more than a few posts a month on your social media platforms to stay on top of your digital marketing efforts. And one area you cannot afford to slack off is local SEO.
As your online storefront, your website needs to not only be informative and searchable but must remain consistent as well. With competition being cut-throat at all times, small businesses need to exert a bit more effort to stay on top of their SEO game. This is why paying attention to your local SEO efforts can make a huge difference in how much traffic you’ll get.
Why local SEO matters
SEO is typically focused on getting your website optimized to secure a higher rank in the search results. On the other hand, local SEO is focused on ensuring that when people go online to look for companies similar or related to yours in your area, your business is going to come up. If you want to target a specific customer base, a local one at that, then local SEO is going to make all the difference.
If you want to increase the number of customers within your location to visit your site, check out your business, learn more about your products and services, and potentially make a purchase from you, local SEO is the key. Some of the most notable benefits of local SEO include:
- Reaching your preferred customer demographic and target audience, especially local prospects
- Getting your prospects’ attention right when they are interested in buying whatever you are selling
- It’s a great equalizing tool as it levels the playing field between small businesses and the bigger players
- It does not cost a thing
Improving your local SEO
The importance of local SEO cannot be emphasized enough these days. When people search for new businesses nowadays, they do so on their mobile devices. Search engines are known to take the user’s location into account when coming up with search results if the search is done via a mobile device. in 2022 alone, 60.66% of online searches were done via mobile devices. With a good chunk of online users making their searches from their mobile devices, there is a truly pressing need to up your local SEO game. Here are some of the things you can do:
Improve your on-page content
Content will always be king and even more so with local SEO. Get your content writing prowess into action by ensuring that your website puts out relevant content to highlight whatever services or products you offer. Aside from emphasizing your business within your specific region, be sure to incorporate landmarks and street names too.
When writing online content, be sure to let customers know how important it is that they look for a specific product or service within a specific location. You’ll be surprised how much this is going to improve the overall user experience. After all, you are pointing out local locations that are not just familiar to the users but are equally accessible to them too. In addition, this will also give the impression that your business is no stranger to the locality. This creates a sense of affinity, giving the impression that you belong.
Optimize your website for mobile
As smartphone users overtake desktop users in terms of internet searches, it makes sense that businesses should incorporate the necessary improvement to their websites to take this change in user behavior into account. When the bulk of internet searches come from mobile users, it makes sense to come up with a website that reflects that. Web designs can become outdated too and will need an overhaul.
Use tools that will let you test if your website is mobile-friendly or not. Be sure to consider the following things too:
- Ensure that your web content is readable when viewed on a smaller screen
- Ensure that your web pages load fast
- Ensure that your website is responsive— it should automatically adapt to whatever the user’s screen size is
- Ensure that links and buttons are easily clickable from any mobile device
Aim for relevant backlinks
One of the most important factors that can determine how well a website will rank in search results is the backlinks. Not just any backlinks too, but relevant ones. After all, it establishes a connection between your website and other websites. Backlinks serve as some sort of endorsement that your website is a reliable one. The more relevant backlinks you have, the higher your chances are of appearing in the search results.
When creating backlinks, more is not always a good thing. You could have the highest number of backlinks out there, but if they are of questionable quality, then they aren’t going to make any difference to your ranking. Instead, focus on quality over quantity. You’ll want your backlinks to be relevant. In addition, you want backlinks from relevant websites, especially those that are related to your type of business.
When creating backlinks, more is not always a good thing. You could have the highest number of backlinks out there, but if they are of questionable quality, then they aren’t going to make any difference to your ranking. Instead, focus on quality over quantity. You’ll want your backlinks to be relevant. In addition, you want backlinks from relevant websites, especially those that are related to your type of business.
Ensure your NAP is consistent
Whether your local SEO efforts will succeed or not will be highly dependent on three things— the name, address, and phone number of your business, NAP for short. You want to make sure that these details are accurate and are constantly updated if there are changes to them. They also need to be prominently displayed on your website.
Your contact page should display these details. Another part of your website that could benefit from this information being displayed would be the footer of your every web page This ensures that people won’t need to have to access specific pages just to find out what your relevant business details are. Make sure too that these details are visible on all your service pages.
Don’t forget the local directories
A great strategy for upping your local SEO strategy is making sure that you’re featured in the local directories. Search the web for online directories that are intended to list down businesses and their contact details for specific regions, states, cities, and other localities. See to it that your details are reflected there.
Many potential buyers will likely head to these web directories when looking for businesses for certain things or services they need. You will have a higher chance of being discovered by being featured on these lists. The fact that the people browsing these directories are already interested in what you can offer also increases your chances of conversion.
Encourage customer reviews
Customer reviews hold a lot of weight for businesses that want to rank high on search results. The more glowing customer reviews you get, the more search engines will like you. As a result, you’ll get rewarded with a better ranking.
To ensure that you generate more reviews be sure to:
- Encourage clients and customers to review their latest interaction with you
- Make it worth customers’ while to leave a review, e.g. provide incentives
- Respond to reviews whether they are positive or negative as this will not only let customers know you care but will also do wonders for your engagement
Stay ahead with a robust local SEO strategy
Improving your online ranking and getting more traffic to your website is not always that easy to achieve. If you want to target a specific demographic, then it is not enough to incorporate the usual SEO strategies. Be sure to focus on local optimization as well. Incorporating the right strategy, keeping up with the trends, and staying consistent will help you enjoy better online success along the way.