Everyone is running the race of getting online. They are doing so to win by ranking high on search engine result pages. Small businesses are also following the same strategy forgetting about local SEO. We always talk about following the marketing practices to provide you with high ROI. But in the case of small businesses, you forget the rule and turn towards the big things.
You keep your focus on the global market only. You forget that your real market is affecting your business ranking in the “local market”. Once you grow and rule the local rankings, it will become easier to maintain top positions. This will also help you get a steady traffic influx to your local business.
Many high quality SEO companies assist businesses that need help to perform local SEO operations. They guide them on how to grow their businesses within their geographical location. Every local business owner must understand the significance of local SEO. They should know why there is a need to perform local SEO for their business.
SEO agencies guide them on the same and help them gain popularity. They make them popular in a defined geographic area where they run their business. Customers in your area are looking for businesses like you that are local and whom they can trust. This is the reason why you should focus on the local marketing of your business. You should also consider launching a local search engine optimization campaign.
Many companies overlook some important elements of local marketing. This could cause some major issues. Below we discusse five important local SEO elements, which you should include in your strategy for better results.
1. Claim The GMB (Google My Business) Listing
Google My Business Page is an important component for local businesses. Though it is not new, still many small businesses haven’t used it so far. This is a big mistake. GMB listing is the most powerful citation that is available to you for free. It plays a significant role in increasing local rankings.
The first thing you should do is claim your GMB listing. It will inform Google that your business is on the map. Searchers are also given a direct way to get information about the business. This is possible through reviews, ratings, and even clicking and reaching your site.
Similarly, you can use Bing Places for Business. Though it only caters to users of the Bing search engine, there is no harm in getting the extra exposure in local SEO. You can consider some reputable general directories like Yelp, or even Apple.
2. Take Complete Benefit Of Google Maps
One must know that Google Maps use SEO to return results. Google Maps ranking also exists which is determined by rank and proximity. Proximity is something that is not under your control. It means that search results will appear on Google Maps based on the physical location of the user.
The ranking is far more important, and you can influence it. There are so many things that Google analyzes. These include reviews, local keywords, star ratings, and optimization of the GMB listing. Based on this, you must fill out all the information required. Don’t forget to include store hours and photographs.
When you do the right things, factors like proximity will not act as an obstacle in your ranking.
3. Citation Audit
Citation audit means checking your business NAP (name, address & phone number). The aim is to make certain that the NAP is always the same in all locations. Incomplete citations or discrepancies may confuse Google. This could affect your ranking in local searches.
When local SEO is performed, several local citations are created. These are formed in reliable general directories and niche-specific directories. As long as there is a link between the directory and the business, the citation is beneficial. But, if the NAP is not consistent, it can affect your business ranking.
4. Take Benefit Of Local Schema Markup
Local schema markup is the most effective local SEO tool. It is not much used by the people. In simple words, it can be defined as a unique code. It can display rich information when users look for something on the search engine.
Schema is important from the search engines’ perspective. It is used to understand the content better. When you include a local schema, it is easier to get better local results. Put your query and search engines will recognize them. They will find out what area is served, together with services, and products offered.
5. Optimize The Business Website For Mobile Users
Unfortunately, many business owners pay attention to strategies that can improve SEO results fast. They miss out on much more important things. The best example to prove that is they forget to optimize the website for mobile users.
Never forget that most of the local searches are performed through mobile devices. This is the reason your mobile website should be responsive so that it appears perfectly on all possible screen sizes.
Creating responsive websites is very easy and it doesn’t cost you much. You need to take the help of a developer who can perform some code changes. This will make changes to your website and make it responsive to different devices. When you use content management systems, they come with themes. These themes are already responsive.
Conclusion
Local SEO is vital for the business and its significance will become even more in 2021. If you have a local business that depends on local searches such as electricians, hotels, plumbers, grocery stores, and many more, having an influential local footprint in search engines is very useful.
You must take professional help for performing local SEO on your behalf for your business. Professional agencies are experienced. They know how to create business-specific SEO strategies that will give you the desired results. These results could be in the form of maximum exposure and top search engine results.
No matter how big or small your business is, you would definitely need to perform local SEO of your business for increased sales.
[Recommended reading: Challenges SEO Companies Will Face In 2021]
[Images: Main Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels; Photo by Ali Pazani from Pexels; other images from their respective websites and/or social platforms]
Navneet Singh is CEO of SEO Experts Company india. He is an experienced SEO professional who not just knows every marketing detail but also strategically plans them for each one of its clients. He likes to share his experiences and SEO knowledge with others.