SEO is a very flexible marketing technique that can adapt based on the company’s requirements. This means different kinds of businesses require different SEO marketing strategies. A company with a nation-wide presence, they might need different types of keywords, content, and related strategies. A company with a local presence will need location-specific keywords, content, and strategies.
SEO is a highly competitive field that requires planning, focus, and proper execution. This is especially true for local SEO because getting attention on local search can bring a lot of traffic. Around 46% of all searches involve people seeking local information. Around 97% of the people surveyed in a HubSpot study said they were looking for a local business.
In this article, we discuss several vital strategies to help boost your rankings in the local sphere during this year.
SEO is a highly competitive field that requires planning, focus, and proper execution. This is especially true for local SEO because getting attention on local search can bring a lot of traffic. Around 46% of all searches involve people seeking local information. Around 97% of the people surveyed in a HubSpot study said they were looking for a local business.
In this article, we discuss several vital strategies to help boost your rankings in the local sphere during this year.
1. Get Listed on Local Directories
One of the first steps to do is to get listed on local directories. This can be a bit of a tedious process because it involves contacting all directories with a local presence and get your business listed on them. However, it is important to get listed to gain more visibility.
While most people will rely on search engines like Google to find local businesses, a directory presence never hurts. It is a good idea to seek out the most reliable directories in your local area and ask to be added. Some of the biggest ones are Yellow pages, White pages, Yelp, Foursquare, and Yahoo.
2. Make Sure Your Contact Information is Accurate
Inconsistent contact information can tank your company’s reputation quickly. The last thing you want is for a prospective customer to call a listed business number and reach the wrong person. It’s worse if the customer drives to the listed business location only to find that the business moved to a different location months ago.
That’s why it is important to check all of your contact information like name, phone number, address, business open/close hours, etc. Inconsistent information also influences Google listings. Google takes business contact information from various sources and can post inaccurate information if enough sources have wrong details. This can severely impact your prospective customers.
3. Claim Your Business on Google My Business
When you search for a local business, there’s a large box that appears on the SERP with all the business information. This box includes the company’s name, contact information, location, related photographs, open/close times, and even reviews.
Your business will still show up in the box, especially if it has been around for some time. However, you will have no control over the information or no ability to edit it unless you claim the business. A GMB listing will give you a lot of visibility, especially in the local sphere.
You can add a lot of content there, from company pictures, Q&As, to small blog posts. All of this will enjoy a great deal of visibility.
4. Create Content for Local Audience
A local audience will have different needs and expectations from a business. This goes beyond just mentioning the location in the content a couple of times. Make sure you provide information that is specific and relevant to local people.
For example, if you’re a company that sells bicycles, you can write articles about the best bikes for your local trails and parks. If you’re a gardener, you can create content on the best plants for the local weather.
This will not only help you attract a more local audience, but also help you get a ranking boost due to LSI words, or Latent Semantic Indexing words. The LSI algorithm tries to understand the context of the content based on the types of words used. If the context matches up with the search engine user's intent, Google will rank the page higher.
5. Get Backlinks from Local Publications
Local publications draw audiences who are interested in local information. That means these individuals are more likely to visit your store and buy something. Link building is a very important marketing strategy and can boost your rankings significantly. In fact, Google considers it one of the three most important ranking factors.
You will have an easier time finding links through local publications because there’s a lot less competition in this field. All you need to do is:
• Create link worthy-content.
• Compile a list of trustworthy and authoritative local publications.
• Send outreach emails to them with your content.
• Find dead links or links with poor content on their website and offer to replace them.
• Find your unlinked brand mentions and ask the publication if they would be willing to addlinks.
Don’t use illegal or black hat link-building techniques because they will do more harm than good. Google has become very efficient in finding purchased or poor-quality links. The company will blacklist websites that use such techniques.
6. Optimize for Voice Search
Think about how most people find local businesses while they're out and about. Most will ask their mobile phones for information. It has become quite common to go, "Hey Siri, where's the nearest coffee shop?" or "Ok Google, find an art supply store."
Around 20% of all mobile searches are done through voice search. Speculations suggest that 50% of all searches might be voice-based by 2020. Mobile voice searches are much more likely to be local-based than text-based.
All of these facts indicate that you can’t afford to ignore voice search in your marketing campaign. Optimizing for voice search isn’t difficult. You just need to change the keywords and content style to suit voice-based searches. For example, people are more likely to ask questions like how, who, what, why, where, etc. through voice. They’re also more likely to speak full sentences and use a conversational tone.
Succeeding in the local SEO sphere can be a challenge, but it offers rich rewards. You need to make sure you have a strong online presence with your website, profiles on local directories, and social media for maximum visibility.
Author Bio
Justin Kemp is working as a Jr. content writer and blogger with Ranking By SEO. He can be seen blogging about digital marketing, SEO, SMO, PPC, etc.
