Local SEO should be at the core of every small business’s marketing plan, helping to build both customer relationships and build brand recognition while simultaneously opening doors to new opportunities.
An SEO strategy can help your business appear in Google’s three-pack results for searches with local intent, leading to increased foot traffic and revenue.
Keyword research
Local SEO keyword research involves discovering keywords relevant to a local area and then optimizing website content and online presence for these terms, improving visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) while also drawing organic traffic.
Local SEO strives to capture search queries with local intent, meaning your business must be capable of serving local customers. Ubersuggest, Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush are great tools for this; alternatively you could do a simple Google search with autocomplete suggestions enabled and watch the relevant ones pop up as results.
Google Search Console allows your business to identify queries that are driving impressions and clicks for your products and services, then analyze these keywords to identify those with high local search volume that most pertain to what your offering.
On-page optimization
Local SEO involves optimizing website pages for a specific geographical region. This may involve using relevant keywords, creating business listings and building citations as well as making sure website content remains accurate across locations. The goal of on-page optimization is to drive traffic and raise brand visibility online.
Assuring successful local SEO requires choosing a service provider who understands its complexities. Aim to find one with services such as Google Business Profile optimization, on-page optimization and online reputation management to meet your specific goals.
An effective local SEO strategy starts with thorough keyword research. Selecting appropriate keywords can make your website more visible to local searchers and increase rankings, with short and long-tail phrases both being effective. It is best practice to include both types of phrases on your website; focus on targeting words which match up with customer search intent rather than generic terms like “link building.”
Off-page optimization
As a local business, it is crucial that your brand remains visible to prospective customers. One effective strategy for doing this is optimizing your website pages for local search. Specifically, longtail keywords may help target specific searches: for instance a potential customer may search for “plumber in Seattle” or “gas safe plumber greater london”, both keywords that could result in sales conversion.
Build Local Citations(s). A key aspect of off-page optimization is creating local citations – these listings of your name, address, phone number and website URL on other websites – for local SEO. 11 percent of local pack ranking factors utilizes this factor; ensure all citations contain accurate NAP details across them all!
Optimizing images for local search can also be extremely useful in increasing your chances of showing up in the local pack. Google uses relevance signals to assess relevance; by doing this, they’re better able to determine your relevance and improve chances of appearing there.
Reputation management
If you want your business to gain local customers, reputation management should be your focus. This involves collecting positive reviews on social media pages and review sites as well as engaging the local community through sponsorships or participation at local events. While not a quick solution, PR-based approaches can help build brand recognition while nurturing prospects toward conversion.
Review volume and quality are vital components of local search performance, helping increase consumer trust while simultaneously raising your search engine ranking. However, managing online reviews for small businesses can be challenging; therefore it is best to employ a tool which monitors all platforms and locations simultaneously.
A good reputation management tool can track and analyze user feedback to spot patterns of negative comments, identify improvement opportunities, or notify you when specific customers provide particularly positive or negative reviews.