If you have a small-scale business, local SEO is a must-have to stand out in the search results. The digital landscape is highly competitive and for small businesses serving the local community, it becomes increasingly challenging to make a notable footprint. The fact is nothing works better than local SEO tactics if you want to beat your competitors and build your niche.
46% of Google searches are for local businesses and “Near me” searches have increased more than 500% over the past years .
Undeniably, the above stats prove that to establish your online recognition and promote brand authority, you must implement local SEO in your digital marketing strategy. You will appear more frequently in the local search results, increasing your visibility and attracting more traffic. Local SEO services are imperative to encourage credibility apart from being found in local searches. It is obvious that consumers trust a business more with a local presence.
Do you know 80% of the local searches convert? .
So, today, we are here to discuss the top local SEO strategies that can help your small business to scale. We ensure adapting these practices will fetch you stately results.
Best Local SEO Practices for Small Businesses
With the increase in local SEO opportunities, the competition is also on the rise. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the ranking factors according to algorithm updates to help your website rank and perform better. Listed below are the top local SEO tactics to boost your small business:
- Optimize Google My Business Profile- The foremost thing you must do to appear in Google local search is to create and optimize your Google My Business (GMB) profile. It is one of the most effective ways to evaluate the authenticity of your business. A GMB profile is your digital business card that verifies the name, location, and contact details of your company. Most local users prefer GMB listings as they find them reliable and legitimate.
- Leverage Local Citations and Listings- Another significant way to boost local SEO is getting featured in local directories and listings. You can submit your business name, description, URLs, contact numbers, etc., to local directories which act as online yellow pages! Users generally look for local businesses in such listings and citations.
- Encourage Reviews- Local SEO experts will always ask you to get Google reviews because they improve your website ranking and attract visitors. About 99.9% of customers read reviews while online shopping. It means reviews play a crucial role in the decision-making process. So, the more reviews, the better your reputation.
- Focus on Local SEO Buying Intent- The search intent of local consumers varies. While some may be looking for product or service availability, others may be looking for contact information. In such cases, SEO on Google business must be highly optimized and updated frequently to complement the needs of local searchers.
- Create Localized Content- Using local keywords and creating content related to local events, issues, news, etc., is an impactful strategy to reach the target local market. When you create and publish such content, it encourages local audiences as they can establish relativity. It also determines your responsibility to the community.
- Retain NAP Consistency- NAP is the acronym for name, address, and phone number. Ensure that your NAP remains consistent across all the listings on the Internet. Whether it is your website, GMB listing, or an online directory, NAP consistency is essential to ensure consumers can easily connect to you whenever required. A local SEO company can always do it for you!
- Voice Search Optimization- In recent times, local voice search has become extensively prevalent due to its convenience and ease of access anytime, anywhere. Also, with the increasing sophistication of search engines, people find it easier to instruct the voice assistant than search Google or type a URL. Therefore, optimizing your website for local voice search can be one of the most effective ways to promote visibility and attract more traffic.
- Optimize for “Near Me” Search– In the past two years, “near me” searches have grown over 200%. It implies that as a local SEO strategy, optimizing your website for “near me” searches can prove immensely fruitful. Conducting thorough keyword research and analyzing the search intent of local audiences can provide you with the right insights.
- Include Location in Meta Tags- Including location or nearby landmarks in meta tags of the landing pages will improve your chances of appearing in the local search. Apart from Google My Business optimization, it is a pivotal factor that will naturally drive local audiences, encouraging lead generation and conversions.
- Enhance Page Speed- A slow-loading page will experience a high bounce rate. Nobody wants to wait too long for a website to open! And speaking of local consumers, they are even more in haste! Hence, ensure you have fast page speed to not miss out on a large section of potential leads!
- Focus on Mobile Optimization- 57% of the local searches are performed on a mobile device and tablet . It is not surprising with the increasing use of smartphones and tablets. Right? So, your website must be mobile-friendly to ensure you reach the maximum target audience. It even improves your SERP ranking.
- Add Schema Markup- Adding schema markup or structured data to your website enables a local search engine to easily find relevant information. It offers additional information about your web content, resulting in better local search performance.
Key Takeaways
To sum up, local SEO involves implementing diverse strategies for boosting website ranking and visibility in local search. Any medium or small business needs local SEO to establish its market dominance and promote its brand. It not only attracts traffic but leads to conversions as well. Lastly, you cannot ignore the local SEO audit, which is the report card of your SEO strategies. Monitor your website’s performance to refine the approaches for improvements.
