As you grow your business, you realise your customers are everywhere, and you want to capitalise on this as much as possible, especially your local customers. This is where the science of Local SEO comes in. At its core, Local SEO is making your business rank high in any local search results people perform to draw them to your business. There are several things you can do to make your business climb in the local rankings and take it to the next level.
Tip One: Google My Business
Google My Business is a free listing tool that allows business owners to add their business’s address, name, phone number, directions, and operational hours. These will then show up when people search for your business using Google Maps or Google Search. As you may know, most local business searches are for the specific business’s phone number, hours, or address, and this will help rank your business quickly and easily. Once Google verifies your business listing, work to keep it up-to-date.
Tip Two: Use Google My Business’s Google Posts Feature
Google updated every Google My Business account to include the exclusive Google Posts feature. This feature allows business owners to post any business updates they may have including upcoming events, deals, hour changes, and local events your business may offer.
Tip Three: Optimise Your Business’s Content, URL, and Tags
When you write your URL and tags for your business, you want to tell Google your business’s location. This means that your meta description, URL, headers, tags, content, and title should have the city your business is in or the region. You also want to showcase your target keyword that describes your business’s page. All of this information will help Google index your page correctly, along with telling them your business’s location and the page content.
Tip Four: Showcase Your Business on Local Review Sites
According to Zendesk, over 90% of potential customers said that online reviews directly influenced their decision to buy or not buy from a business. This means that it’s extremely important that you develop your presence on at least a few of these review sites that have relevance to your business. Sites like Yelp, Foursquare, White Pages, Google+ Local, TripAdvisor, and Angie’s List can all play an essential role in generating business.
Ranking well in Local SEO rankings is extremely important for your business. This is especially true if you live in a region with seasonal influences, as you’ll need the locals to help keep your business thriving during the slow months. So take time, develop your Local SEO, and see the difference it makes with your business.
