Local SEO is all about bringing customers who visited your website to them visiting your local business.
In other words, getting them to convert into a customer for your business from online to offline.
If you have a local business, you can utilise local SEO to target location-specific traffic to your site through specifically targeted local rankings to reach the right customer demographics.
Here’s a local SEO example:
In this article, we will discuss how you can get your local business to rank in Google’s listing.
Let’s dive in!
Ranking Local SEO: 3 Steps Process
#1 – Google My Business
The number one factor for ranking local SEO is having Google My Business (“GMB”) listing. If you have a local business, claim your GMB here.
Once you have done that, get it up and running by having:
-Add a unique description of your business.
-Add a local phone number to the listing.
-Add your business address that is shown on your website and other local directories.
-Upload photos of your business (high-resolution photos if possible)
-Choose the right categories to let customers and Google know what your business does.
-Add your business opening times.
Basically, Google wants your business to show as many relevant information to people for them to get a better search experience.
#2 – Get Local Reviews
How does Google know if they should rank your listing?
One of the factors they rely on is reviews. If you have bad reviews, the chances to rank for local SEO is slim.
Studies have shown that 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses and 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from their family and friends.
When you improve your online reputation, you get an increase in consumer trust, a boost in search rankings, and an opportunity for increased sales.
To collect positive reviews, simply ask your satisfied customers to leave a review. The more quality, positive reviews you get, the higher your chances are in automatically convincing potential customers who are doing their research on your business. Besides getting positive Google reviews, you can also get reviews on Yelp and Facebook Page.
Google has also mentioned that positive reviews from customers can increase the chances of your potential customers visiting your business location due to higher business visibility online.
Another point to take home is to resolve all negative reviews and personally liaise with them to take down those damaging reviews.
#3 – Local SEO On-Page Optimization
There are a few major things you’ll want to make sure you do in order to rank your website locally.
Title and meta description tags are simple on-page elements you can perform to better reflect the content of your web page. The text of your title and description tags will be displayed in search results and in many ways, is the first impression of your brand.
Firstly, perform on-page optimization by including your keyword in the title tag and meta description. Remember to include the location as well. If you are a plastic manufacturer in Selangor, make sure you have this keyword in the title tag especially. To do this, install the Yoast SEO plugin.
The next step is to embed a Google Map to your location to let customers find you easily. Here’s how you can do it.
Lastly, make your page mobile friendly as Google is focusing on mobile first, while the increasing number of people shifting to higher mobile usage. Ensure your website is responsive and take this test from Google to find out if your website is mobile friendly.
Conclusion
Follow the 3-step local SEO process and you will already be ahead of most local businesses. The goal is to get your listings on top of your local traffic competitors.
Thank you for reading our blog and we hope you have gained some valuable insights on local SEO.
If you have any questions, feel free to email us at info@axceldigital.com.