Utilize Local SEO To Increase Your Local Online Visibility

Businesses usually outperform in all kinds of SEO Strategies and succeed in attracting customers across the town. But those businesses that are engaging chunks of customers across the country fail to engage customers from their neighborhood. Have you ever thought of the reason why businesses miss out on dealing with customers in their town? If you are a business owner, you have surely thought of that and possibly figured out the reason. But if you still have not got the reason then let us tell you.

Businesses that do not focus on local SEO and lack a strong strategy fail badly at engaging local customers. If you want to boost your sales and increase the visibility to the local audience, you need a strong local SEO strategy.

What is Local Search Engine Optimization?

Local SEO is the process of improving the local search visibility of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) by optimizing their online presence to increase local traffic, visibility, and brand awareness within a geographical location. 

Any business that serves physically or is available in a specific geographical area can benefit from local SEO. 

Common local SEO tasks:

1. Optimizing your Google Business Profile
2.  Finding local keywords
3. Creating locally relevant content

What is the difference between Local and National SEO?

National SEO focuses on boosting a brand’s searchability on a national scale. Local SEO boosts your brand visibility beyond your storefront and makes your business more accessible to potential customers looking for the services you provide in your locality. Local SEO targets “near me” and geo-specific search queries to land local customers on the business store from the neighborhood.

Why is Local SEO Important for your business?

Local SEO is a powerful strategy for small and medium-sized businesses to engage more local customers and increase visibility among nearby consumers. According to statistics, 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information. If your business isn't optimized for local search, you could miss out on potential customers looking for products or services you are offering in your area. 

According to a report, over 75% of consumers in the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom use Google when looking for business information. Google Maps searches for “shopping near me” have grown globally by more than 100% year over year. 

Mobile searches for “store open near me” also grew by over 250% in a recent two-year period. And “where to buy” + “near me” keywords by more than 200%. 

Tips to do Local SEO 

1. Optimize your business profile for Google My Business. Register and verify your business on it first and then optimize your profile for better results.
2. Engage with users on social media and add posts to Google My Business. Post content related to your business and respond to the consumers' questions for better engagement.
3. Ensure your name, address, and phone number are consistent across online platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Select one format for your business information and keep it the same across the sites.
4. Optimize online directories and citations of your business. Make sure that you are popping in all the available business directories for better visibility.
5. Perform a local SEO audit of your business website. It helps you identify the weak poles of your site.
6. Improve your internal linking structure. Place relevant or reliable internal links to your website content for better ranking.
7. Optimize URLs, title tags, headers, meta descriptions, and content according to local keywords. Place keywords relevant to your business by doing keyword research or competitors' content analysis.
8. Add location pages of your business to your website or Google Maps. Pin the location of your business to your site and social media pages for enhanced customer experience. 
9. Create content that your potential customers are looking for increased engagement.
10. Ensure your business website pages are mobile-friendly. Make sure your website pages are Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) so that users can have the best experience across the devices.
11. Participate in your local community discussion forums through networking sites. Make your business visible to local customers by engaging them through community groups.

Features  to look for in a local SEO service provider

Keyword Strategy: An agency that holds a strong keyword strategy would be the best choice for your business. 

On-Page Optimization: People who know the art of doing on-page optimization to rank websites would be your potential partners. 

Image Optimization: Optimization experts who know the nitty-gritty of SEO and the process of image optimization can be a good fit for your business.

Internal and External Link Building: A service provider that has a team of expert internal and external link builders can help you increase your website ranking.

Google Maps: SEO experts who know how to optimize a business profile on Google Maps can help you in increasing visibility.

Sitemap Handling: Select an agency that knows how to add relevant pages to the associated keywords to help search engines crawl and index your web pages.

Recommendation:

To optimize your business for local SEO, consider consulting an expert local SEO agency like Simpler Digital Marketing. Jump on to their website and get a free quote for your business. They are trusted by a number of customers and have provided services to local businesses inducing the best results.

So don’t miss out the chance and get your business optimized and managed from the hands of experts.