Local SEO is vital for any website that wants to rank highly on Google Maps and Google Search. The first step is to set up a GMB profile, which will allow you to control your company’s information and give it a presence on Google Maps.
Once you have created your profile, you can add relevant details like hours of operation, contact information, and photos of the location and products.
After optimizing your website for local SEO techniques, the next step is to get other relevant websites to link back to your articles. This is called building citations or backlinks. These links will help show Google that your website is an authority in your industry or location.
To make sure that your website is structured correctly for Google, you need to do on-page optimization. This means making sure that each page has the correct tags, titles, and descriptions.
The SEO process is a lot like baking a cake. You have to follow a recipe, put all the right ingredients in, and hope it comes out tasting good. The same is true for your website.
You have to put all of the right keyword phrases into your website content and ensure that your website design syncs well to rank high on the search engine results pages.
- Create a Google My Business Account
Optimizing your Google listing (which is also known as your Business Profile) can help you rank higher in both Google Maps and Google Search local results. In order to access and optimize your Business Profile, though, you need a Google My Business account that’s associated with that profile.
Once you add all of the requested information to your Google My Business account dashboard, that information will appear in your Business Profile. This profile appears in Google Search local results, the Google Search Knowledge Panel, and on Google Maps.
- Optimize Your Website for Mobile
A 2018 study by Stone Temple found that the shift from desktop to mobile is happening faster than expected. In 2017, mobile visits to websites grew from 57% to 63%, while overall visits from desktops shrunk from 43% to 37%.
Another 2017 study from Acquisio found that traffic from local searches can be especially lucrative, with an impressive 75% of all mobile searches with local intent resulting in offline visits within 24 hours.
This is just one more reason why you need to make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices. If you want to rank well in local SEO, you need to have a mobile-friendly website. And really, this is good advice for SEO in general.
- Optimize for Voice Search
Voice search is expected to grow significantly in the next few years. This means that, for local SEO, it will be essential to optimize how people ask questions on devices, as this is different from how people usually type out their searches.
Essentially, your customers are more likely to use long-tail keywords when doing voice searches. Because of this, you’ll need to adapt the SEO of your content to fit the more natural, conversational tone of someone speaking. For example, you should take into account traditional question starters (who, what, when, where, why, and how).
Optimizing for user intent is critical for voice searches because these searches are often done when the user needs a specific piece of information. For example, if someone is baking and asks Alexa to convert tablespoons to cups, they’re expecting a quick and useful answer.
Another example is if a potential customer uses a voice search to ask about your business’s hours. This information should also be readily available.
- Spruce Up Your On-page Content
If you want to get more traffic, content is one of the best ways to do so. You need to make sure that your site content is relevant and valuable to your customers.
This will help you stand out from the competition and attract more customers. It also helps search engines understand what your site is about, which will give you more opportunities to rank well on SERPs.
Include specific details like street names and landmarks to make your content more effective. Explain what service customers would get from your company.
5. Use Location Pages or a Location-Specific “About Us” Page
According to local SEO consultants, location pages are key for businesses with multiple locations in one area. Each page should, at the very least, have the following:
– Store hours
– Name, address, and phone number
– Individualized descriptions
– Testimonials
– Promotions
– Parking availability
– A Google Map is attached to the page
When you have numerous locations, be careful to create different content for each page.
6. Get High-Quality Backlinks
Moz’s 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors study found that link signals are the most important factors for local pack results and localized organic results. Link signals are backlinks pointing to your site.
Getting quality links is essential for boosting your local SEO.
7. Use Proper Schema Markup
Schema markups help search engines understand and display content on websites. This can improve a business’s appearance in SERPs, generate rich snippets, and improve rankings and SEO efforts.
Schema can also help businesses enhance local SEO efforts and display relevant information across multiple SERPs.
- Optimize Photos For Location-Based Searches
Website optimization is key for ranking well in search engines and improving “near me” searches. For any business, it’s essential to optimize websites with high-quality content to improve rankings and boost authority.
One way to help search engines discover all the corners of your website is by providing them with a sitemap. This ensures that your site images are optimized and recognized.
You can also build links to the images and use anchor text that contains local keywords. This increases the chances of ranking for the images and website with relevant keywords.
Images are an important part of any website. They can help improve the user experience and make the site more visually appealing. One way to optimize images for better ranking is to use appropriate Alt txt.
This short text description helps search engines understand what an image is about. The example shown in the screenshot is a good use of Alt txt.
- Make Customer Feedback Visible With Reviews
Customer feedback and reviews can have a big impact on how well a business ranks in Google Maps listings. Positive reviews can help boost a business’s ranking, while negative reviews can damage it.
Google reviews are especially important, as they are one of the main factors that search engines take into account when determining rankings. Therefore, it’s crucial for businesses to encourage their customers to leave feedback and reviews.
Customer testimonials are a great way to convince potential customers that your business is worth their time and money.
By using Schema to markup your customer reviews, you’re making it easier for search engines to find and index them and increasing your chances of ranking higher in SERPs.
Plus, when your website appears in SERPs with customer reviews, it creates a positive impression and builds trust with potential customers.
