Did you know, 46% of all Google searches are local? Higher than you thought right?
Yet more surprisingly, up to 56% of local retailers haven’t even claimed their Google My Business listing. If you’re out of the loop, a Google My Business page is a local listing that allows search engine users to see all of your business information as well as allowing you to appear in specific industry searches near the searcher. For example, if you own a coffee shop, the searcher won’t have to specifically search for your brand name, just ‘coffee shop near me’. If 56% of businesses haven’t even claimed their GMB listing, they’re at an immediately huge disadvantage.
Set one up or claim yours now! It’s the first step to having good local SEO
But while claiming your Google My Business listing is a good starting point, there’s plenty more to understand and implement to have successful local SEO. Understanding what local SEO actually is, is key to understanding what you can do to improve it.
So, what is Local SEO?
Local SEO refers to the process of ‘optimising’ your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. These searches take place on Google and other search engines. Often, a business is up against so many competitors on a national level, they have no chance at ranking for their services nationally. However, ranking within their local area is a much more realistic target, and a target worth chasing.
First things first… Get the basics right.
First, make sure that your website is optimized for mobile visitors, as 61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site.
Next, make sure all your contact information, addresses, and more are all up to date on not only your site but any local listings you might appear on. This means no matter where a potential customer might stumble upon your business, they have immediate access to it.
Let’s say that you run that local coffee shop—it’s called Mrs E’s Coffee.
You would clearly want to pop up for searches like:
A local search like “coffee shop near me”;
A specific branded search like “Mrs E’s Coffee”;
Various questions that your online information can answer such as “what time does Mrs E’s Coffee close?” and “how long will it take to walk to Mrs E’s Coffee?”; Mrs E’s Coffee phone number”;
But these aren’t traditional queries, because Google displays this information in card-like results in the SERPs.
Still can’t quite get your head around it or don’t have the time? Get in touch today to discuss your site and any service we might be able to provide!
For most businesses, the primary keywords to target will be quite obvious. Let’s say that you’re a plumber in Romford—how do you think people will search for your services? They’ll probably go to Google and type something like:
“plumber in Romford”;
“emergency plumber in Romford”;
“clogged drain cleaning in Romford”
Focus your time on implementing these types of queries into your pages to maximise your visibility locally. Are you a plumber that wants to take advantage of our advice but don’t have the time? You can read all about our bespoke, tailored service for plumbers interested in SEO here.
Chapter 4. On-Page SEO
Finally. After you’ve completed your keyword research, it’s time to implement it into your site and begin to see the results! Many “traditional” on-page SEO practices apply here, like:
- Keyword in H1
- Keyword in the title tag
- Keyword in URL
- Short and sweet URLs
- Enticing meta description
Follow this handy guide and you’ll be well on your way to having a much bigger visibility within local search!
