Local SEO, Local SEO, every body discuss about this, the term is simply defined as optimizing and ranking for search terms that are region targeted. Whether you search for “reputation management near me“, “Colorado injury lawyers“, “contractors near me” or “best restaurants near me,” local SEO matters.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the easiest ways to increase rankings, website traffic, and leads, but you might be tempted to use PPC management or Google ads instead.
The problem with these services, in many cases, is that they generate leads…but not organic ones. Local SEO is one of the most organic ways to generate local leads, which is why it’s so difficult to utilize.
In this article, we’re going to cover why local SEO isn’t easy and what you can do to simplify the process. 90%of local consumers search for guidance in their purchasing decisions from online sources. Thus, local SEO is highly competitive.
How can you beat your competition in local SEO? Continue reading to find out.
Why Do You Need Local SEO?
Not all businesses benefit from locally targeted SEO campaigns. Those that benefit most from local SEO are organizations that serve specific locations. In these areas, companies should be able to target customers who live directly in their vicinity.
Because of the competition in your area, you need to ensure you hit all the critical points for rankings to give your business a competitive edge. If you’re considering whether you even need local SEO, here are a few examples of the types of businesses that benefit:
- Bars and restaurants
- Law offices
- Technical occupations
- Real estate providers
- Medical practitioners
- Retail stores
- Local marketing agencies
- Colleges and universities
- Auto dealers
What Are the Benefits of Local SEO?
The most common benefit of local SEO is increased traffic but that’s only the beginning. Some alternative benefits include:
- Increased organic traffic
- More relevant leads
- Reduced ad costs
- Higher domain authorities
- More reliable reviews
- Better website experience
Creating Your Local SEO Strategy – How Easy It Is? We Have Covered All.
Once you determine your brand needs local SEO, you need to develop a strategy. But how do you create a strategy?
Examine Your Services and Products
Identify the key terms you want your company to rank for. You can base these primarily on the products and services you offer. If you have a local restaurant, you will want to rank for terms such as “Italian restaurant near me,” “best Italian restaurants,” etc.
Understand your core offerings and how you can utilize terminology to generate traffic. When you identify these terms, you can use SEO tools later to corroborate your identified terms with the SEO metrics. As Search Engine Journal suggests, these tools range from Chat GPT to SEMRush.
Be Critical of Your Current Website
Before optimization, determine what’s broken on your site and whether it has the core functionality to support your SEO campaign. If it’s slow, clunky, and unappealing, you might want to invest in web development before local SEO.
SEO audits identify any technical or on-page SEO issues that might negatively impact your website. Address these issues before worrying about creating new content, building backlinks, and other worries. For technical SEO fixes, you should conduct the following examinations:
- Site speed
- Missing meta descriptions
- Missing page titles
- Broken links
- Duplicate content
- No XML sitemap
- No HTTPS security
- Poor indexing
- Poor mobile optimization
Competitor Research
Local SEO isn’t just about increasing rankings. It’s about capturing traffic from competitors. As a local business, you need to create brand loyalty and connect with your community. To do this, you need to understand which keywords competitors rank for and how they accomplished the rankings.
You can use SEO tools for this but it takes some time to understand the metrics you use for the terms your competitors rank for, where their backlinks come from, and more. You can also monitor what keywords your site already ranks for.
When conducting research, discard the keywords your competitor ranks for that don’t pertain to your products or services. They should reflect your business as a whole and what your potential customers are searching for. Lastly, they should reflect the location you target.
Identify Geo-Specific Keywords
Geo-specific target keywords describe the keywords that have the names of locations attached to them. When researching keywords, you should be compiling the general terms you want to rank for and cross-referencing them with your competitors. After that, you can examine their search volume and competition level.
Once this is complete, try adding the location to these keywords to generate a boost. You can search for variations of these keywords in different surrounding areas to
Implement On-Page SEO
On-page SEO requires you to optimize the website content to naturally include the keywords you discovered throughout your research. You can rely on SEO best practices to ensure optimization for local SEO.
These procedures involve keyword mapping, title and meta description optimization, content strategy, internal linking, image optimization, and URL structure.
Location Pages
Localized landing pages are essential when optimizing on-page elements. You can create them specifically for ranking for organic local searches. You can use geo-specific keywords that you’ve identified while including informative content that engages your target audience.
Always use H1, H2, and H3 headers to separate your paragraphs. Optimize your body content and include internal links, add images, and optimize for mobile search engines. You can also run paid ads on these landing pages and drive both organic and paid traffic to your site.
Optimize Google My Business Listing
GMB is essential to drive traffic to your business. It includes your business name, address, phone number, website URL, images, hours, and more. Using it, customers can learn about your business and contact you.
Directory Listings
Other online directories simplify the submission process for your business information. The most reputable of these pages include Yelp, YellowPages, Ping Places, and BBB. The goal should be to submit relevant information to authoritative, local networks to drive traffic.
- Here is the bonus for you: LIST OF 100 UK BUSINESS LISTING WEBSITES
Local Link-Building Strategies
Localized link building is a bit different than link building for other sites. Local SEO incorporates the physical location of the sites you plan to use. You can also attract links from other businesses in your area.
Positive Customer Reviews
The number of positive reviews on your website is a significant ranking factor for local SEO. Because of this, your top goal as a business owner should be to generate as many reviews as possible.
Conduct client exit interviews to generate feedback and always respond to negative reviews. Professional, kind responses will go a long way.