Guest article written by Nicolas Moinard from the marketing blog LeDigitalizeur.
Most small businesses offer their products and services to a specific geographic market.
Finding someone who needs your services quickly is essential to success.
Integrating local SEO strategies into your marketing
activities that complement your other online marketing strategies is important for your business.Traditionally small local businesses use a mix of local advertising, direct marketing, coupons and word-of-mouth marketing.
Today’s consumer uses the Internet more often to research and evaluate local businesses.
And since 46% of Google searches are for 4 Local SEO Techniques to Outperform Your Competitors local searches, why not implement the local SEO strategies we are going to discuss and thereby grow your online business?
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is a derivative of organic SEO that extends the reach of SEO with a combination of online strategies to make your business more visible to those searching locally for products and services.
These local SEO strategies include:
In a world where we are always on the go, we rely on our smartphones to find the information we need.
Millions of us use local search every day to find the best local businesses in our city.
You can increase your chances of being found by implementing local SEO strategies.
Local SEO Tips to Outrank Your Competitors
Create “local” content for your site
Be consistent with your name, address and phone number on your site so that it matches exactly the local directories you are listed in.
Here are some tips to optimize your site for local SEO:
Create service pages that are unique for each area.
Optimize images using locations in file names.
Include your geographic area in your title tags, meta descriptions, URL structure for pages.
Create and optimize your Google My Business page
If you want to be found locally, you need to create and optimize your Google My Business.
According to Google itself, you can improve your local 4 Local SEO Techniques to ranking by using Google My Business and properly detailing your profile because whenever someone searches for a local business, Google displays the results using the information it has in its local business database.
Things to consider:
Write a unique description for your business
Choosing the right categories
Make sure your information is accurate and up to date
Add photos for your business
Manage and respond to reviews
Keep in mind that there is also a lot of misinformation out there. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you to use a PO Box or put keywords in place of your business name.
Email marketing is a transparent platform. If you own a business, you can use email data email to send prospective clients your product materials. We have gathered email addresses from many nations; you can purchase email addresses from us and utilize them Local SEO for commercial purposes.
If your business only has one physical location 4 Local SEO Techniques to Outperform Your Competitors and one “geographic area of operation,” make sure that’s the case in your GMB account.
If you’re a local business, it’s more important than ever to have a robust Google My Business page to increase your chances of appearing in local search results.
Create and optimize your Bing Places for Business
Similar to Google My Business, Microsoft offers a local business directory that can help you rank better in Bing’s local search engine results.
Make sure to create and optimize your Bing Places for Business listing.
I’m sure you’re wondering why you should spend time on Bing?
Surprisingly, Bing is responsible for over 35% of searches in the US. Of course, for France this is only a minority, but if you are targeting an American audience, take Bing into account.
4 Local SEO Techniques to Outperform
In order to provide relevant search results to its users, Bing wants to do everything possible to validate the existence and quality of a local business.
A key component to local search on Bing is your local Telegram Database Users File listing on the search engine.
So add all the same information that you added to Google My Business. Focus on consistency.
And it’s possible that your competitors aren’t paying any attention to Bing and are spending all their time optimizing their results on Google.
Which gives you a great advantage.
Additionally, Google looks beyond its own listings to determine ranking.
It considers the number of links in different directories. And Bing ranks 4th among the best local directory sites.
Develop your SEO in local directories
A local citation is any geographic reference to your business that can be found online.
In addition to Google My Business and Bing, online directories like Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages, or other authoritative websites that can an online directory of businesses in your industry.
One of the main factors that determine your local ranking is the quantity and quality of citations/links as well as the consistency of your name, address and phone number.
Inconsistent listings with outdated information or different spellings of your business name can greatly reduce your visibility.
So before you start updating your directory agent email list placements, create a document that specifies exactly:
How should your business name be spelled?
How should your address be written?
What primary phone number should be used?
Your online citations/links must match officially recorded information.
Actively creating and managing your profiles on 4 Local SEO Techniques to Outperform Your Competitors directory sites is a great way to get backlinks to your site.
And because many of these citation sites are credible with Google, your listing on these sites can often appear in the top search results.
Get online reviews from your customers
Do your best to get online feedback/reviews from your best customers.
In 2017, 97% of consumers read online reviews of local businesses, and 85% of them say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Additionally, Yelp and Facebook are the most trusted review sites for local consumers, followed by Google.
If you don’t have a way for people to easily check out your business on Google, Facebook, Yelp, or other review sites, you need to find a way to do so.
Not only do they influence the consumer
but they also affect your ranking in local search engines.According to a survey by MOZ on local search ranking factors, online reviews influence your business’s visibility, both for local SEO and SEO in general .
The local pack is particularly influenced by the quantity and quality of comments/reviews on the Google My Business page.
One last piece of advice…
Create a fast and mobile-friendly website
Not necessarily a local SEO strategy, but having a mobile-optimized site is essential to ensuring your business appears in search engine results.
Most people search for a local business or local service while on the go using a mobile device.
Google has indicated that page loading speed has become a very important ranking factor.
If your site loads slowly, your rankings will drop. Google is pushing for AMP (accelerated mobile pages) which allows websites to load quickly. This is essential for improving readability and user experience, two elements that have a major influence on Google’s algorithm.
Mobile optimization plays a huge role in local SEO and a well-designed and responsive website provides a better user experience.
Integrate local SEO into your marketing strategy
Integrating local SEO strategies into your marketing activities makes it easy for potential customers to find your business and access the information that is important to them in making a purchasing decision.
