During sales periods or various special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, the most common question asked by small and medium-sized businesses is: How can we increase local sales? How can local SEO help your business?
Widespread use of the Internet from cell phones and the biggest problem of our time, lack of time, are increasing the demand for local services. Why would people in your neighborhood looking for a good bakery, wanting to buy flowers for a friend, or wanting to find a good restaurant nearby for dinner not find you?
What is local SEO? How do you do it? If you are looking for answers to these questions, this article is for you.
Contents
- What is local SEO?
- Why do you need local SEO?
- How can you improve your local SEO?
1. What is local SEO?
Local SEO is a process used by search engines to prioritize the closest results in terms of geographical proximity.
Businesses can attract potential customers closest to them by following an appropriate and accurate local SEO strategy. Thanks to local SEO, they can also increase organic traffic to their websites from searches made by customers in nearby regions.
2. Why do you need local SEO?
Time is the most precious commodity these days; studies show that people tend to look for the closest businesses when they need to buy something. Optimizing your business’ local SEO will be very beneficial in getting you ahead of the competition.
Search engines strive for the highest quality data for the convenience of their users.
Today, even if you don’t include a place name or phrase like “closest to me” next to your keyword, search engines will show the closest one geographically at the top of the results.
For example, if you type “handmade chocolates” into Google from your office in Antwerp, the results you get will not be similar to the results you get for the same search from your home in Brussels. We can do a similar search again, this time for the keyword “artisanal florists” from our office in Gembloux and our home in Namur. Even if the distances are close, the results will be different.
In the past, local SEO was not as important as it is today, as people were more likely to use desktop computers. However, in today’s world where cell phones and tablets are not out of reach, improving your local SEO is invaluable to your business.
3. How can you improve your local SEO?
First of all, you need to check if your website is mobile friendly. You can check this on the Google Search mobile compatibility test page.
Then, you can start performing these tasks:
Set up your company profile on Google and Bing. If you already have a Google My Business profile, you can import it to Bing.
For more information, please consult these addresses:
- Google is by far the most popular search engine for Internet users, so fill out your Google Business profile carefully. In addition to specifying your address and phone number, you can make it easier for your potential customers by selecting your days and hours of operation.
- Make it as clear as possible when choosing the category of your business. For example, if you are a chocolatier who makes artisanal products, choose your category as “artisan chocolatier” and not just “chocolatier”.
- Try to stand out from your competitors by adding original and high quality pictures that best reflect your business.
Include your full address and contact information on your website.
Adding your business address to the home page of your website (for example, in the footer) will make it easier for search engines to find you. Make sure your company name, address, phone and email address are the same everywhere.
Add a Google Map that shows the physical address of your business.
If possible, try to add a Google map showing your business address on the homepage.
Good keywords for a good SEO.
As with the general SEO strategy, it is important to choose the most relevant keywords for local SEO. For example, for a potential customer looking for the best bakeries in a city like Brussels, it would be difficult to stand out using only the keyword “bakery” on your website. Therefore, a business using keywords such as “bakery in Brussels” or “best artisan bakery in Brussels” will greatly optimize its local SEO.
In the content of your site, you must choose the keywords that will be the most useful in terms of local referencing.
Google Search Engine will help you to select these keywords. Try the keywords you will use in the content of your site on Google.
Get listed in local directories as long as your information is consistent.
Based on your business area, being listed in directories such as Pages d’or, à Yelp, à TripAdvisor, etc., as well as your city’s municipal directory, will help you reach your potential customers.
You can also take advantage of customer reviews and ratings through local directories.
Consider tagging your images.
Don’t forget to include the name of your geographical area or a relevant keyword in the “alt” tag of the images you use, especially on your home page.
Get your customers to write reviews about your business and rate your services. This has a significant impact on local SEO rankings.
Never ask for reviews from your company’s employees or in exchange for money.
Always respond in a polite manner, even if you receive negative comments. Share your contact information with the commenter and try to find a solution outside of social platforms.
Build useful and regular content.
You can stand out from your competitors by creating relevant content that details your business on your website. Try to provide satisfying and in-depth information that will interest your potential customers. Enrich your content with original photos. Make sure you publish at regular intervals. If you don’t have enough time to do this, you can hire someone to do it.
There is great value in your local SEO efforts. Since billions of people around the world use search engines every day, you can reach a more specific audience with the right local SEO strategy that will bring you a quick profit.
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Also check out this article on digital marketing terms: “6 Digital Marketing Acronyms You Need to Know”
Do you have any questions? Please contact us at the email address below.
