With the rise of the internet, businesses are adopting the new era. From local shops to big corporations, everyone wants to have an online presence. Having an online presence is not an option anymore.
Millions of searches are being performed in search engines like Google, Bing, etc. for local queries. According to research, 46% of all Google searches are related to local information.
Another research shows that search terms containing “Near me” or “Close by” grew by more than 900% over two years.
These data are too big to ignore.
To appear in local search-related queries you need to focus on local SEO. In this post, we would discuss some of the actionable tips to stand out.
So let’s get started.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO (Local Search Engine Optimization) is the process of optimizing your website or online presence to increase organic traffic, leads, and brand awareness from local search.
There are various things to do to get featured in local queries. So let’s discuss them one by one.
How Does Local SEO Work?
When it comes to SEO, it works almost in the same way as it does in normal. As the search engine is based on the crawling and indexing principle, local SEO also works under the same principle.
When someone performs a search on Google, it scans their indexed database and serves the best and most appropriate results.
As you know already, Google has many ranking factors to analyze a website and place in the SERP. For regular search queries, you need to focus on on-page SEO and off-page SEO to get a higher ranking.
But local SEO is special and Google uses different ranking factors for this.
Local SEO Ranking Factors
These are some of the ranking factors specially considered in local SEO.
Things To Do Before Starting Local SEO Optimization
Before you jump into the optimization process make sure that you have done some pre-requirements.
You would optimize the website for all the ranking and local SEO. So make some checks before optimization.
First and one of the most important things is, to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. As you know most of the users use mobile devices for performing searches related to local.
So you might wonder how can I check whether my site is mobile-friendly or not. Well, you can use Google Mobile-Friendly Test Tool. Just paste your URL and the tool shows you whether it is mobile-friendly or not.
To put more emphasis on this, a few years ago Google has announced the Mobile-first indexing. This means Google uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking.
Another thing is the user interface. No matter how much effort you are putting in if you are website is not attractive, then no one will contact you. The user interface is the first thing that puts an impression on visitors. So make sure that you have a modern and dynamic interface.
In the era of blazing-fast internet, your website should load within 3 seconds. Every one-second delay will cost you a 20% loss in organic traffic. No one wants to wait for a website to load.
You can check the speed of your website using some free tools like:
If you found your website is loading slowly, then take action to decrease the loading speed.
Keyword Research For Local SEO
No need to not say that keyword research is also important for local SEO. Although it is not like the traditional one as we do for blogs, and find a lot of low competition keywords.
Instead of targeting a whole country, we have to research a city or town. There is a format in all the local searches.
It’s called service in location (SiL).
Let’s say you are a wedding photographer based in Bhubaneswar. Do you know how people are searching for this on Google?
Well, following are some search queries examples:
- “wedding photographer in Bhubaneswar”
- “Best wedding photographer in Bhubaneswar”
You can use the Google Keyword Planner to generate more keyword ideas around this. There are also several keyword research tools out there to know various stats like the monthly search volume of that keyword, keyword difficulty, etc.
1. Google AutoComplete
Google autocomplete is considered the gold mine for related keywords. Once you start typing on the search bar, Google starts suggesting long-tail variations of the keyword.
For example, I searched for a query and hear how Google autocomplete shows me results.
Based on your location and business niche, you can perform similar searches and get various related keywords. This shows that people are also searching for these keywords in Google to find a business like yours.
So optimizing your site according to those keywords would provide you with some additional traffics.
You can go one step further and search keywords at the bottom of the Google SERP. The section also shows you many other related searched keywords.
You can repeat this process as you have done earlier for other locations or keyword variations and get more related keywords as well.
2. Yelp Suggests
Yelp is also a good place to find local keywords. As you know Yelp has a massive list of local shops and services, you can get some ideas here.
3. Use Craigslist For Keyword Ideas
Craigslist can also help you to find various keywords. Many people list their services here. Just go to their services page, select your location, and enter a keyword. Then you would get a list of results providing the same service. You can get an idea from them and also find various keyword ideas as well.
4. Keyword Research Tools
To make the keyword research process quick and effective, you can use keyword research tools. There are many tools available there. But I recommend going with KWFinder and SEMRush for this.
5. Competitors Analysis
One of the easiest and most effective ways to find many keywords is through competitor analysis. As your competitor is ranking for certain keywords, you can steal them.
Put the domain of your competitor on SEMRush. It would show you all the keywords the domain is ranking for. SEMRush has a unique feature named Keyword Gap.
Also Read: SEMRush Review: All In One SEO Tool
This feature allows you to compare up to 5 domains with your domain and find keyword opportunities. This shows you all the keywords that your competitors are ranking but you are not.
This way you can focus on new keywords and optimize your site accordingly.
Best Strategies & Tips For Local SEO
1. Google My Business
Google My Business listing is super important for local SEO. Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use tool designed for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google platforms like Search and Map.
- First, you need to set it up. Go to this page and then fill in all the required details. Some important things to fill out correctly are the business name, address, and phone number. Another important thing people often miss is the category.
- After that, you need to verify the business listing. This is usually done via phone or postcard. Choose a top-level category that matches your business. There is also an option to add a second category. This has a direct impact on keywords and searches.
- Once you are verified your listing is ready to show in the SERP. But you should not stop here and keep updating your information.
- Define your opening and closing hours correctly. Also, keep updating the holidays.
Encourage people to leave reviews on Google. This also shows in the listing and its impact on viewers. Whether you got a positive or negative reply to every comment.
To get more reviews, you can generate a review link. Log in to your Google My Business account and find the option “Get more reviews”. This will help you to generate a short URL and you can share it with your customers.
2. Other Listings
Similar to Google My Business, you should make lists in Bing Places, Apple Maps, Yelp listing, and wherever possible.
Google matches your GMB (Google My Business) data like website and NAP citations around the web. So you need to put the same information in all the places.
When Google finds that your business information is the same in the GMB, your website, and other listing sites like Yelp then Google realized that the business is legit.
But when Google found your business information is not equal in all the places, it passes a negative signal.
If you recently changed your business location, and phone number then update the new location on Google My Business and all the other places. As Google collects data from various places, you should update it in all the listing sites.
Another thing to take special care of is the way of writing the business address. Write the business address in the same way in other listings, as you have written on Google My Business. The short form of a place might be understandable for humans but not for Google.
3. Local NAP Citation
NAP citation is very important for local SEO. NAP data should be 100% correct in every place like Google My Business, on your website, local listing sites, and any other places that mention your business online.
You might be thinking why the NAP citation is so important.
According to Moz’s study, citation signals coming from various websites are one of the top-ranking factors for local SEO. And another thing is that not all people search on Google for business. Those business directories and citation sites help you to get more customers.
There are many citation tools and services out there. I recommend Loganix and WhiteSpark. First, you need to check the existing listings. In another way, you can call it a citation audit. Moz Local is also a handy tool for this. If you found any wrong information then fix that one first.
During your research, you would found that there are two types of NAPs. One is the citations that you can change (like NAP on Yelp) and citations that someone else has to change.
For the first type, you can choose services like Yext. For the second type, there is no shortcut available. You need to reach out one-by-one and send a friendly email like this.
You can use the same competitor analysis formula here to find NAP opportunities. I recommend using the Link Intersect feature in Ahrefs. This allows you to enter some competitors’ domains.
To enter some of your competitor domains here. You can also enter any business in that area to get started. Because they have built citations from local business directories.
After analyzing the tool will show you a list of sites that are links to your competitor or other local business. Head over to each site and find citation opportunities or link opportunities.
Don’t worry about the nofollow links here. Because your goal is to get your NAP on the page. If you got a link (with a nofollow tag) then it is a bonus for you.
4. On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is also important here as in the traditional. If you want to rank in a different location in a city or state, then you need to create dedicated content.
If you want to rank in different locations, you should create different landing pages. This does not mean you should create a landing page for all the cities present in your state.
Don’t create multiple pages for the same locations. This creates confusion for Google and it can’t decide which page should rank.
Make the short and meaningful heading of your pages. You can smartly use keywords in your titles as well with your service or business name. This type of result makes people click and you would get additional organic results.
In addition to that describe your business and all the aspects as well. As you have done keyword research already in the beginning, add those keywords to your page content. Don’t be spammy and add many keywords just sake of it.
Try to add those keywords naturally so that visitors found helpful. You can also link to your other pages or service page as well.
5. Local Link Building
As you know backlinks are an important ranking factor for Google.
The easiest and most effective way to build backlinks for local SEO is through directories and local listing sites. These types of sites are made to give links to local businesses and services. So you can reach out to them and ask them to list your site. But most of the listing sites provide nofollow backlinks.
Creating and promoting useful resources in your niche might drive quality links. Let’s say you are in the gardening niche. You can create an awesome post on topics like, “Most Creative Gardening Design Ideas” or something around this niche.
You can also create step by step guide to educate your audience. Attractive infographics can increase the chance of getting backlinks. Once you publish it on your site, then share it on social media platforms like Facebook.
When people see it and find it valuable, they would share it with their families and friend circle. This way your content would be reached a larger audience and get more backlinks.
Another recommended way to get authoritative links is through local guest blogging. For this, you can reach out to local publications and blogs. Send them cold outreach emails and let them know about your guest post.
You can also find backlink opportunities through competitor analysis. As your competitors have already done some hard work and got backlinks.
For this, you can use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to know the sites linking to your competitor. Once you have the list of sites, you can reach out to them and ask for a backlink.
Some Other Tips & Strategies You Can Implement For Better Results
In addition to the above tips, you should follow these tips to get the most out of it.
Conclusion
So these are some of the things you need to consider when you are optimizing your site for local SEO. First, ready your site for local searches. Then set up your Google My Business profile and also add your service to other listing sites. This helps you get more customers/clients for your business.