Local SEO: All-in-One Guide to Improve Your Local Rankings

22 August 2024

Local SEO is a crucial strategy for smaller businesses operating on a regional/local level, as it prioritizes appearing on search engine results pages (SERPs) in a specific location.
Local businesses need visibility on Google to grow revenue and attract new customers from their local area. Without local SEO, potential customers may not even know you exist. Did you know that local and organic searches make up 69% of website traffic, so it is essential to optimize for local searches?

Try the following strategies that focus on marketing your brand, products, and services to local leads and customers, resulting in more website traffic, leads, and conversions. By focusing on specific local SEO to-dos, you can compete more effectively against larger national brands that rely on broader keywords and brand recognition.

1. Create a Google Business Profile

Optimizing your Google listing, or Business Profile, is a crucial strategy for ranking higher on Google Maps and gaining visibility in local search results. To access this profile, you need a Google My Business account associated with it.
To optimize your Business Profile, create a Google Business account, provide accurate information, including your logo, hours of operation, payment methods, product or service and images, encourage customer reviews, respond sincerely to reviews, and publish posts using the Google My Business dashboard. Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile, the most important ranking factor for Google's Local Pack results. Choose relevant business categories and ensure your profile strength score matches your website and online details. Claiming multiple local profiles, including Bing Places for Business, Yelp, and social media accounts, can also help improve your business's visibility.

2. Get Regular Reviews from Happy Customers

To optimize your Google My Business presence and attract more local customers, it's essential to encourage customers to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile. It's okay to ask for reviews, but it's important to do so without offering incentives. Instead, suggest leaving a review via WhatsApp messages, emails or text messages without pressuring customers. To acquire reviews, remind customers to leave reviews, place a sign at checkout, create a shareable Google review link, and send an automated follow-up email. Keep an eye on your reviews and respond appropriately, aiming to respond constructively to negative reviews. Implementing strategies to prevent negative reviews can turn short-term negative events into long-term positive outcomes. Reviews are a crucial trust signal for any kind of brand, with 99.9% of potential customers checking reviews when shopping online and 57% reading reviews for any store.
Encouraging positive and detailed reviews on Google is essential, as reviews are a local SEO ranking factor and the third most important factor for Google's Map Pack results.

3. Optimize Your Website for Mobile

A 2018 study revealed a faster shift to mobile vs. desktop trends in 2017, with mobile visits to websites increasing from 57% in 2016 to 63% in 2017 and search traffic surging by 22% in 2020. Desktop visits decreased from 43% in 2016 to 37% in 2017 and in 2022 there have been 203% more visits on mobile compared to desktop.
Statista predicts that by 2025, mobile retail sales will account for more than 10% of all sales, up from 3.5% in 2018.
Local search traffic is particularly lucrative, with 75% of mobile searches resulting in in-store, and offline visits within 24 hours. To optimize your website for mobile SEO, ensure it loads quickly, uses easy-to-read fonts, and uses images and copy sparingly.

4. Create Local Keywords

To generate local traffic quickly, target local keywords that big businesses don't bid on and use Google's Performance Max campaign to automate campaign creation, targeting, and delivery. Host local events, such as charity events, business seminars, holiday events, product launches and networking events, to connect with customers and increase your site's citations and backlinks.
Connect with local blogs and directories to get the word out about your event and earn a backlink. Participate in local business events, especially those with a strong social media presence, to grow your business. Use Google's Keyword Planner to filter keyword searches based on location and create a list of locally relevant keywords to target. Include mentions of region-specific landmarks and hotspots in your content and conduct keyword research to understand what people are searching for and rank you accordingly.

5. Use Location-Specific “About Us” Page

Location pages are essential for businesses with multiple locations, providing essential information like store hours, names, addresses, phone numbers, descriptions, testimonials, promotions, parking availability, and Google Maps. For businesses with only one location, creating a local SEO location-based "About Us" page is crucial, focusing on relevant local information. For instance, a florist shop can mention their involvement in local parades.

6. Create a Dedicated Webpage for Each Product/Service You Offer

Avoid consolidating all your products or services into one page, as it may hinder local SEO and lower your ranking chances. For businesses with multiple locations, use a location-based copy for each page, such as "Pune dental marketing" or "Best Dental Treatment Services in Pune."

7. Create Content and Get Proper Backlinks

To optimize for local SEO, create fresh content every few days, such as blogs, posts, etc., and backlinks. Start by creating a local content plan, including new products, industry guides, local news, and interviews with experts. Include local city and neighbourhood names in posts. Actively build backlinks using link-building tactics and NAP citations by adding your URL to directories and business listings. Review each backlink's quality and your ability to secure a link. Reach out to the same sites and encourage them to link to your site.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) undergoes frequent and quick changes. The timing of Google's introduction of new features on its SERPs for local searches is unpredictable, but these changes are certainly going to keep happening therefore, it's important to keep yourself fully updated and well-read. It is crucial to always prioritise local search engine optimisation (SEO). By applying these few practical measures, you will guarantee that your firm not only capitalises on profitable local searches but also establishes a strong basis for incorporating future SEO features. If you cannot make these modifications, you can consider conducting a local SEO audit or exploring the services of a small business SEO service provider. Our SEO experts at Duti Corp. will help you reach places and get your business or service ranking with SEO for Google Business. Duti Corp. is the best SEO service provider near me for SEO local companies.