Winning the Local SEO Game

Winning the Local SEO Game

Local SEO At the exact opposite end of the SEO spectrum is local SEO – and this is not just a catchphrase: when you run any kind of business, being on top of local business is critical. Staying one step ahead of the sharks? You have a little coffee place in Tampa, or a (somewhat) larger store in St. Petersburg, but either way, no need to weep – because we are here for you. And today, we are going to teach you how to do your local SEO correctly, and show you smart ways of being awesome in your locale.

Why Local SEO Matters

Before we even start talking about what is local SEO and how to do it, you should know that it matters. The life-emulating fact is that more than 46 per cent of all Google searches are local. When people need to find a plumber, train station, best burger place or any other local business, they “google” it. And the chances are, they are looking for something close to where they are – that is crucial, I’ll just repeat it for you: They are looking for anything close to where they are. So if you don’t have any local SEO for your business, you don’t catch this traffic – and the money it yields.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO (to give it the posh name) concerns optimising your digital presence so that more business, preferably local to you, will find you through Google, Bing, Yelp, or even through social media sites.

The Basics of Local SEO

For example, when people search for a service ‘near me’ or anything else with a local connection to their location, the search engines will use local SEO to give the best possible results and it’ll be the business that has optimised for local SEO that appears when those all-important search results are pulled up. This brings more people to the business – either feet through the door or enquiries via the website.

Key Strategies for Local SEO Success

There are a number of things you can do to maintain your local SEO, in this paragraph we're going to discuss the most important of them.

Optimize Your Google My Business Profile

If you have a business with a local focus (ie, not doing business with customers all over the world), local SEO is the aspect of web science that is most likely to produce big results for you – and that you can control. Be sure to sweeten the deal by filling your Google My Business (GMB) profile so fully it overflows: complete the business name, address, phone number, website, and hours of operation, and post, include photos, and check/respond to your reviews regularly.

Add Regular, High-Quality Photos

Pictures of a business helps your customer can relate to your business tone. Great photos of your business, products or staff they will feel good about you.

Collect and Respond to Customer Reviews

Encourage satisfied customers to post positive reviews of their appointment in your GMB profile. If you have bad reviews, respond to them promptly. This also helps your local rankings.

Conduct Local Keyword Research

Therefore, find out what (key)words your potential clients use to find local companies like yours on search engines, with a tool such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or SEMrush.

Include Local Keywords in Your Content

Now that you’re clear on your local keywords, sprinkle them across your website, with a nod to landing pages, your blog entries, and your meta descriptions. (If you’re a Tampa bakery looking for Google love, try a little ‘best bakery in Tampa’ action here and there.)

Local SEO Content Strategies

Content still reigns in the world of SEO, and local SEO is no exception. Here are some ways to use content for local SEO.

Write Local Blog Posts

Write a post about what’s happening in your local area, or with your community, or a local event or a local news story that involves your business. Fresh content and you’ve thrown in more local keywords that search engines will love.

Highlight Local Partnerships

If you have relationships with other local businesses, publicise them in your blog and seek reciprocal blogging – more inbound links from the local community to increase your authority in the eyes of the search engines.

Create Location-Specific Pages

If you have a multi-location business, develop a page for each location, and be specific about the services offered at that location.

Include NAP Citations

Make sure your business’s Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP, for short) matches across all your sites, such as your website and pages on social media and local directories. The more search engines can verify that your business’s location is correct, the higher in rankings you’ll be.

Leverage Social Media

Local search even involves social media – the uniquely American sites of Facebook and Instagram, basically – keep your profile up-to-date and post local content.

Geo-Tag Your Posts

This and the fact that you will geo-tag your posts will tell search engines not only where your business is, but something about yourself If you like this (short) lesson you must check out his book The Art of War for Writers.

Run Local Social Media Ads

Local SEO might be improved with local ads, and by drawing more people in to your storefront from your online presence.

Monitoring Your Progress

At the end of the day, this will enable you to track local SEO and see what is working and what isn’t, while simultaneously enabling you to monitor your overall progress with Google Analytics and Google Search Console, including mapping of local citations and tracking of your rankings. If you are using local SEO tools like Moz Local, you can cross-check whether you are showing up in online directories.

Key Metrics to Watch

Look at (or learn to look at) local search rankings, traffic on your website, customer reviews, and other kinds of metrics – those are where some real feedback might be hiding when it comes to your local SEO.

Stay Ahead of the Competition

Hopefully these examples helped to convince you that local isn’t a one-time task but a steady gig that needs to keep getting tweaked and optimised. If you follow these examples, then your business will put and stay at the top of the local listings. ‘Kicking tail’ in local SEO? Start kicking tail in local SEO! This is your moment! Contact MomentumPro now and dominate your local search local market.