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The digital marketing strategy known as Local SEO will help to optimize your website to reach your local audience by allowing you to rank better in search results. When you optimize your address, including the city, you help potential customers find and visit your business online.
Local SEO—Why is it important?
Local SEO is an effective method for online marketing your company to bring more people to your business. Finding local businesses and services near people is what they want. Using a search engine such as Google helps them find you.
That’s why your business needs an effective Local SEO strategy to ensure your company appears as one of the top results when your audience looks for your products or services online.
These statistics prove the need for a Local SEO strategy:
- “Near me” searches have increased by more than 500% in the past few years
- 200% increase in mobile searches for phrases like “open near me now.”
- 30% of all mobile searches related to location
How Google determines local search rankings
Whether you’re an electrician, surgeon, funeral director, or any other local business— it is essential to know the answer to the question, “What is local SEO,” and to understand why and how your local business will appear to searchers. Google Search Console can help you with local seo. You should also include your address and phone number and have a presence on Google map.
Mobile devices are the primary vehicle for the public to view your business listing, so it is important to have a professionally developed website to improve conversion rates. All of this is taken into account as ranking factors with Google.
As Alpha Key Digital builds your local SEO strategy, but you must understand the factors influencing local searches.
Three main factors that influence how Google determines local search rankings are:
1. Proximity
Proximity is how close your business is to the searcher. Google tends to generate listings that are closest to the user. You cannot control this factor, but it’s essential to consider when optimizing your Google Business Profile for local search.
Listing your service area in your Google Business Profile is a great way to ensure you show up local searches nearby.
2. Relevance
Google also generates results based on relevancy. Your relevancy depends on the search query and your products or services. If someone searches for a pizza place, Google compiles a list of pizza businesses.
3. Prominence
Prominence focuses on what other customers say about your products or services. On the Google listing, this comes in the form of one- to five-star ratings, plus user comments or reviews. Google wants to show places with excellent ratings to help people find the best business for their needs.
When creating your local SEO strategy, you must consider these three factors.
Your local SEO influences your business’s position in local search results. It’s also important to know these factors to optimize your local SEO plan to drive more foot traffic to your company.
How to optimize your site for local search: 6 local SEO tips
Now that you know more about the importance of local SEO and how Google determines local search rankings, it’s time to dive into optimizing your strategy and deciding if you need local SEO services.
Six local SEO optimizations Alpha Key Digital will do to help improve your local presence:
1. Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile listing
Your Local SEO strategy’s first and most crucial step is to claim your Google Business Profile listing. Your Google Business Profile listing is the heart of your local strategy. Alpha Key Digital will claim and optimize your listing to drive local customers to your location.
Once we claim your Google Business Profile listing, we will start filling out your profile.
When you claim your local Listing, you’ll want to verify that the most critical data is correct. This information includes your company’s:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
Alpha Key Digital will Add Photos to your Listing
You’ll want to add pictures once you’ve completed the necessary information on your Listing.
Many people look at photos on Google Business Profile to get insight into your company, products, or services. These images are an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your business.
We will use authentic photos to highlight your company rather than stock photos, as people won’t understand your business.
You can upload pictures of your business (inside and out), staff, and products.
Sometimes, the user may leave a review, including an image of your service/product. This is especially useful for restaurants, service and repair businesses, or a company with a customizable business model, as it shows other potential customers how great your products/services are.
2. Localize your site content
When optimizing for local SEO, focus on more than your Google Business Profile listing. While your Google Business Profile listing is crucial in helping you reach local customers, your website can do that too.
How do you localize your website? The best way to localize your website is to include your city, county, or region name throughout your site.
This practice will help you reach more local customers and appear in those high-value search results.
Another way to localize your website is to get involved with local community events. When you get involved with these events, you feature those events on your website. For example, we can integrate locally relevant keywords when you post about the event on your site.
Alpha Key will also write articles about it on your site when involved in an event.
Local SEO content is a great way to generate local traffic on your website.
Not only does it generate exposure for the event, but it also helps people become familiar with your business. By localizing your website, you’ll help more people find your company.
It’s an excellent way to create local SEO content and drive valuable traffic to your site. With the right Local SEO strategy, you can turn your localized traffic into qualified leads in your service area.
3. Choose the right keywords
Keywords are a vital component of local SEO. We will optimize your Google Business Profile listing and website if you want to appear in local search results. To find local keywords, conduct keyword research.
Keyword research will help you find the right keywords to integrate into your Listing and website.
These keywords are specific, so they help drive the most interested leads to your page.
When local searches, users use long-tail keywords to find the right business. When we integrate the proper local long-tail keywords, you’ll attract more foot traffic for your store.
4. Manage your reviews
Reviews play a fundamental role in local leads choosing your business. When someone needs to gain experience with your company, they turn to others’ experiences to help them decide if your business is a good fit.
Your Google Business Profile listing includes reviews. When someone conducts a local search, they will look at the reviews on your profile to see if you meet their needs.
Reviews can also influence your listing’s placement.
Google tends to give top spots to businesses with a higher star rating and a more significant number of reviews. This process doesn’t mean having the best review score will automatically give you top placement. It does, however, help you rank better in local search results.
When you get reviews for your business, it’s okay to have both positive and negative ones.
If you only have five-star reviews, people will be suspicious as to the authenticity of them. It’s good to have a variety of reviews on your page.
If you get positive reviews, thank people for sharing their thoughts. When users leave negative reviews, you’ll want to address their issues to try and make the experience better for them.
People expect to see negative reviews. Alpha Key Digital knows it matters to people how you handle those reviews.
If your audience sees you addressing issues, they will feel confident that you will address any issues that may arise for them. It is essential to manage your reviews to show your audience that you value them as customers and care about their experience.
It’s a great local SEO strategy to help you build your brand.
Alpha Key Digital will help to manage your reviews.
5. Optimize for Voice Search
Greater than 55% of consumers use voice search to find local businesses. With the surge in popularity of voice search devices, Alpha Key will optimize your local search strategy for voice.
When you create local SEO content, you’ll want to include keywords that users use verbally to find your business.
Voice search optimization will help you reach more local leads for your company and get them to visit your organization.
6. Optimize your Website
When users find your Google Business Profile listing, they can learn more about you by clicking on the tab that directs them to your site. Even if your audience skips past the local SEO 3-pack, there’s still potential for them to find you in the organic search results.
Alpha Key will ensure you have a well-optimized website, whether your audience finds your local Listing or your website in search results.
If you want to see success with your local SEO strategy, you must have a well-optimized website. Here are a few ways to improve your website to make it more user-friendly.
Here are a few ways Alpha Key will Improve your Website:
- Provide an updated design: Your audience will lose interest if your website looks outdated or old. You’ll want to give your site a fresh and new look by investing in your website’s design.
- Ensure your site loads quickly: Users hate to wait for pages to load. Alpha Key will ensure page speed optimization services.
- Make navigation simple: Users who can’t find information on your site will get discouraged quickly. Having simple and easy-to-use navigation will help them find the information they need. Use broad categories and organized subcategories.
Optimize your website if you want to see better results with local SEO
Stay busy through the slow season with Local SEO services
Now that you know the answer to the questions “What is local SEO” and “Why is local SEO important,” plus how to optimize for local SEO, you may feel overwhelmed. SEO is a technical process; learning and implementing it into your business strategy can take time.
If you need the expertise to do local SEO, our team at Alpha Key Digital can help since we’re a full-service SEO agency.
If you’re ready to see how Alpha Key Digital can help you create a better local SEO campaign, contact us online or call us today at 440-796-9152 to learn how Alpha Key Digital can help you drive more traffic and revenue for your organization. You can also feel free to contact us with SEO questions!
