Local SEO is all about optimizing your website for increased visibility and engagement in your local area. 

It helps improve your rankings for local searches and considers nearly 50 percent of searches online are local – it only makes sense for local businesses to take local SEO seriously. 

What is Local SEO? – Briefly Explained!

Local SEO is particularly important for small to medium-sized businesses that operate and cater across a specific geographic area. You don’t want to rank for your focus keywords in Michigan when you’re based out of New Jersey and vice versa.

Over the years, Google has evolved, and so have its algorithms to improve user experience. To cater to the audience looking specifically for something “nearby,” it has modified its algorithm to show search results that specifically answer users’ queries.

For example, if you’re looking for a spa “near you,” it would be of no use if the search engine shows a list of top spas in a town hundreds of miles away. Geographic location plays a huge role in local SEO and hence, the name.

Local SEO helps you optimize your website for your target audience in your location to increase visibility, ensure a place in Local Snack Pack, and boost lead generation.

Local SEO strategy involves a number of crucial steps that help your website interact with the search engine to dominate local search results. It helps showcase your website to your audience when they’re looking for something you offer.

Here are a few steps to boost your Local SEO Strategy –

While there are many factors that influence your local SEO strategy, let us focus here on some of the most crucial ones –
Claim & Optimize Your GMB Listing.

Google My Business listing is the key element of your Local SEO strategy. Claim ownership of your GMB listing and be as descriptive as possible in the listing.

It is a critical aspect of Local SEO that helps boost your chances of ranking on local snack packs.
A few details you need to provide in your GMB listing include –

• Business Location
• Business Name
• Business Phone Numbers
• Business Address
• Website
• Opening/Closing Times

GMB Listing is not only a listing but also functions as a social media platform, a business card, and much more. Share updates, photos, events, and much more on your GMB listing to keep your audience engaged and updated. Ask your customers to leave reviews as every review counts and plays a crucial role in pushing your listing up the ranks.

What Is Local SEO? Optimize Your Website for Mobile!

With nearly 82 percent of the users having conducted their local searches on mobile phones, it only makes sense to optimize your website for mobile phones. Your website should open easily on mobile and be compatible with it.

A mobile-friendly website decreases bounce rate, increases engagement rate, and helps with conversion. These metrics play a vital role in telling Google your website is user-friendly and offers value to its audience, boosting your chances of ranking higher. So, develop your website with mobile in mind!

Is it important to collect customer reviews for local SEO for your small business?

YES!!!

One of the critical attributes of your online presence and booster to your local rankings is customer reviews, especially the positive ones.
So, make sure that you encourage your customers to leave reviews and have PR and marketing strategies in place that remind and incentivize customers to leave reviews.

More positive reviews would certainly help boost your local search rankings and chances of featuring in local snack packs. And gather reviews not only on GMB listings but across all the platforms, including directories, social media accounts, websites, etc.
Build Business Citations

While GMB listing is one of the most important citations, it isn’t the only one. There are other directories and websites where your business citation sends positive signals to search engines. Some of these sites include –

• Facebook

• Apple Maps

• TripAdvisor

• Angie’s List

• Yelp

There are many other directories where you can build citations. Make sure your business details across these platforms are the same and consistent.

What Is Local SEO Marketing ? Why is local SEO so important?

You need to optimize your small business’s appearance online if you want to stand out from your competitors. If you aim to dominate local searches, start by optimizing your website for local SEO. There are many ways you can do it, but some of the most important techniques include –

1. Optimizing title tags
2. Optimizing meta tags
3. Optimizing homepage meta information
4. Building local pages
5. Creating geo-focused content
6. Do local keyword research

Local SEO also includes off-page SEO, meaning you must try to build a solid backlink profile by getting links from local authority pages. It would send a positive signal to Google while increasing visibility among your local audience, generating more organic traffic, leads, and sales.
These are the few important techniques that would certainly not only get you started with local SEO but help you grow your presence online for the local audience.

What is Local SEO for Small Businesses?

The key is to monitor your local SEO strategy and make tweaks on the go while keeping a close watch on the market trends and competition. The results won’t be visible overnight, so stick to the plan, and sooner than later, you’ll notice a visible and positive difference.

Source Information:

https://www.google.com/business/

https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors