What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is slightly differentiable from traditional SEO. This strategy focuses on local SEO ranking factors and local marketing. Understanding what Local SEO is, is pretty simple. Imagine walking around hungry in a city that's new to you. To find places to eat, your easiest option is to turn to Google and to look for "Places to eat near me."
The multiple locations you get of local food places result from local SEO. These places have followed a local SEO checklist which gets their brands promoted to a local audience. You can also improve your local search ranking by tweaking your Google profile a little. And so when people are looking for services near them, your brand will be one of the top choices shown to them.
How Does Local SEO Work?
The search results that people get are based on local ranking, this local ranking is decided by three main factors:
Nearness
The nearness factor is pretty much out of your control. When a potential customer searches for places near them, Google provides the closest results, if other brands are closer than yours, your brand would be generally lower on the search engine results. Considering that you're looking to get more local customers, you'll need to update your Google profile listing accordingly. Add in your brand's exact location so a potential customer knows exactly where to go.
Relevance
Another factor which isn't really in a business owner's control is relevancy. The relevancy factor refers to how useful your brand will be to the customer that's looking for some services. On your brand's Google profile listing, you can add in a short description where information like this should be mentioned.
Notability
The last factor is also the most important. And that's because this is completely in your control. The last factor talks about notability. Or in simpler words, what customer reviews have to say about your business. Google always focuses on providing search engine results with the most reviews and comments, not only that, your brand also has to be pretty well-liked by local customers.
What Tactics For Better Local Ranking Are Valid?
Get A Business Profile On Google
Your first step to attracting a greater local audience with your local SEO efforts is to get a Google Business Profile. Those mini tabs with location, contact info and a small description are a Google Business Profile. Once you've gotten your profile, you've got to start filling in the details. The most important details you'll need are:
- Brand Name
- Address (The place you're looking to localise)
- Contact Information
- Some pictures to show off your brand
- Brief Intro telling customers all about your brand
Optimise Your Business Account
Optimising your Business account is pretty important. And simply put, it just means using the right keywords. For example, we've told you how the words "near me" saw a 500% increase in search engine results. That's one example of an important keyword which you can use on your websites. Another type of keyword depends on your locality.
Keywords are often really specific. So this isn't something you can just guess. You'll have to do research or you can reach out to a local SEO agency so they can find the most used words in search engine results.
Cater To Your Reviews
The way other local customers feel about your brand is very important. It tells a story. And any potential customer is going to be looking at these reviews. Google results often favour brands which are pretty well-liked by the local audience. But that doesn't mean you should only end up with 5-star reviews.
Any brand that boasts only 5-star reviews is very suspicious. The best way to improve your brand visibility in local search results through reviews is by replying to any suggestions/reviews that you get. This shows that you are interested in providing local customers with the best experience possible.
Why Are Local SEO Ranking Factors Important?
Increased Visibility
By investing your time and effort and possibly money in local SEO, more and more people can find out about your brand when they start searching on Google. Your increased visibility to an online potential customer can also increase the number of local customers that are visiting your shops.
Available To A Larger Market
Stats from after COVID-19 have shown that people are much more likely to support local brands. According to the US Chamber, more than 56% of people started to substitute non-local brands with local ones.
Increased Credibility
Google has always been any potential customer's reference point when they're looking for services. Knowing that Google is always going to provide results with the best reviews, people are hardly ever going to doubt the quality of services.
Provides A Greater Competitive Advantage
Not every local business is looking to get themselves a Google profile. In fact, there's a pretty high chance that many of the local business don't even know that this is possible. And that's where you can benefit! By following a proper local SEO guide, you'll benefit from more of these potential customers.
The Bottom Line
By now, you've got a pretty good understanding of what local SEO is and how it works. And if there's anything to note, it's that this isn't an easy marketing strategy. So don't worry if you feel a little overwhelmed. The best way to capitalise on a proper local SEO checklist is by taking your time with creating local content. And if that's not something you can do, then you should think about working with a local SEO agency.