The internet is a primary source for consumers looking for local business information. It’s for this reason that local searches are so important for businesses. So we've outlined some of the best initial ways to help you achieve local search engine dominance.
Start simple with local directories
Start simple when it comes to building up links and expanding the visibility of your website by adding company details to local listing websites.
Whilst this can be a time-consuming task, it’s a worthwhile investment of effort to boost your local search visibility. Listings should be created to their maximum potential in order to rank highly in local searches, so you should ensure that you provide as much information as possible to each directory.
Don’t forget the importance of reviews
Thanks to their sheer prominence in search results, reviews are now a dominating factor in the success of your local search engine ranking. In the last year alone, 74% of consumers have consulted reviews when making a decision to use a local business or not. So, if you want to sit in a high ranking position in local searches, you’ll need user reviews.
Create local pages to target local keywords
In order to ensure success in local search, you should be creating location-specific landing pages to target users in your area. These landing pages should have unique content - not copied from any other pages on your website or across the internet. They should also be targeted around local keyword searches which can be found using industry tools including Moz and Google Trends. You can also get your pages ready for local search by adding Meta titles and descriptions, page URLs and relevant link building.
Set up your Google My Business page
If you haven’t already, make sure you claim and set up your Google My Business (GMB) page. It’s one of the best things you can do to improve your local SEO visibility and it’s free to set up. The increased visibility that Google has put around local listing results on mobile in particular means that Google My Business is essential for local ranking.
You should make sure that you have a GMB page for each individual location of your business. As mentioned previously, the information you provide should be as detailed as possible.
Add Schema Location Markup to your website
Schema markup is a powerful tool which adds extra detail and relevance to local search results, giving your website content more prominence. In terms of local searches, it’s the difference between consumers seeing a regular search result for your site...
...and a detailed result showing your business location and/or additional information about your services and/or products.
Schema Markup is much more complex and would require a conversation with a developer, but the benefits are substantial, so it’s certainly worth looking into.
By Aimee Sanderson, digital content strategist at Bespoke | Digital Agency
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