Your SEO plan needs to incorporate two different strategies to be successful. Traditional SEO targets a national level of traffic, bringing viewers in from anywhere, entering specific search terms. Alternatively, a local SEO strategy focuses on local traffic to small businesses within a regional area. This approach targets specific locations in hopes of prioritizing geographic locations for the SERP (search engine results page). This strategy powerfully targets products, services and marketing your brand to local customers.
By opting to increase your local SEO strategy, you’ll bring more leads, conversions, and website traffic to your site. A regional SEO approach will help your brand compete against more prominent brands without spending the same amount of capital. This approach neutralizes the advantage of giant corporations and brings an even playing field to the search results.
Knowing how to maximize the local Google search can directly influence the level of sales your company produces over the long term. To help get you started, here are six easy ways to boost your SERP results locally.
Create and Optimize Your Google My Business Account
Your business profile on Google is one of the easiest ways to increase your local results online. It improves visibility on the search results by optimizing your Google listing. These businesses are shown first within the results page, which can be an instant bump in traffic.
To access the Business Profile section, you’ll need a business account for your Google profile. After providing all the necessary information, you’ll be brought to your Google My Business dashboard. The required information will be included with your profile, which is displayed in the local search results. It’s vital that all information is correct and accurately displayed. Google notices businesses with different details (for example, a company with other phone numbers listed may negatively impact the search results).
Tailor Your Website for Mobile Use
The shift toward mobile content is encouraging for local search results. In fact, growth in visiting websites with mobile devices has increased by over 63% annually. In fact, 75% of all mobile searches online with local intent (meaning a user actively searched for a local business) resulted in a visit within 24 hours. These details confirm the importance of catering your website to mobile applications.
Website owners can optimize their website with responsive designs or create a minimalistic website design. Minimal designs can improve the website loading time; simple designs with larger fonts make your website easy to read. Likewise, you’ll want to use any images or copy sparingly, keeping content focused on required information.
Maximize Your Voice Search Results
As technology continues to advance, so too does our dependence on electronic devices. With the increasing demand for voice-activated products like Google and Alexa, maximizing your keyword strategy for these products is a no-brainer.
Think about traditional product questions you’d typically ask a person. These can include question starters or specific product information. Adjust your local keyword strategy to incorporate a few of those keywords into your content. These can consist of standard questions like, “Where is the closest Chinese food restaurant?” or more specific questions like, “Who makes the best pad Thai in town?”
Understand the difference between local SEO and national SEO
If you’re trying to build an online brand, having a blend of national and local SEO keywords is the best option for your company. Someone searching for sugar babies Houston is catering to a specific area, a local SEO keyword. If you’re looking to increase your website traffic for online games for kids, approaching a national strategy may be appropriate.
When targeting local SEO keywords, you’ll want to develop a list of specific geographical locations, including specific cities, areas, and regions. You’ll also want to focus on different combinations of keywords with areas. Don’t forget to include adjectives in your long-tail keywords, as everyone will enter in search terms differently.
Improve Local Content with News or Events
One of the most effortless local marketing efforts is speaking directly to your customers. Local content can include a pressing issue for residents (like new developments or businesses opening), activities targeting a specific audience, and specific web pages on the website for high-quality content for particular regions within your area. For example, a pet food website could cater their local content to adoption events, new dog parks opening, or pet policies within the municipality.
Take Advantage of Online Business Directories
There are countless online directories available for local businesses. These directories are often free to join and can increase the overall visibility of your company online. Look for highly reputable websites that will improve your brand. Foursquare, MapQuest, Yellowpages, and Yelp are all examples of high-quality registries available to businesses looking to target local audiences.
Always include your business name, phone number, address, and email (if applicable). You’ll also want to have a backlink to your website, to send interested visitors to your page. Likewise, you’ll also want to write a thorough engaging description of your company and products. The description is a simple way to add SEO keywords while still sounding natural.
This content is brought to you by the FingerLakes1.com Team. Support our mission by visiting www.patreon.com/fl1 or learn how you send us your local content here.