If you want people to find your business online, you need to make sure that your website is optimized for local search.
According to a recent study, 46% of all searches on Google are local. This means that people are using the search engine to find businesses and services in their area. The study also found that 78 percent of these local searches result in an offline purchase. This highlights the importance of local SEO for businesses.
Here we cover our top best practices that you should consider when optimising your business website for local search.
Create a Google My Business Account
Opening a Google My Business account is a great way to improve your local SEO and help your business be found online. It’s free, only takes a few minutes to set up, and provides valuable insights into how customers are finding and interacting with your business. Plus, it gives you control over how your business appears in search results and on Google maps.
To create a Google My Business account, start by going to google.com/business and clicking “Start Now.” Then, enter your business name, address, and phone number. You’ll also need to choose a category that best describes your business. Once you’ve completed all the required fields, click “Finish.” After your account has been created, be sure to add photos and updated information about your products and services.
Get Customer Reviews On Your Google Business Account
It is well known that online reviews play an important role in influencing consumer behavior. In fact, a recent study by BrightLocal found that 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Asking your customers for reviews may seem daunting, but it’s essential if you want to grow your business. Reviews are one of the most important factors potential customers consider when choosing a product or service, so it’s crucial that you have positive reviews to show off. There are many ways to ask for reviews, so you can find the method that works best for you and your business. You can ask for reviews in person, over email, or even on the phone.
While there are many factors that contribute to a website’s ranking on Google, it is widely believed that reviews are one of the most important. This makes sense when you consider that Google’s algorithm is designed to deliver the best possible results to its users. And what do users want? Convenient, relevant, and accurate information. Online reviews can provide this type of information about local businesses, making them an essential component of any local SEO
Ensure Your Name, Address, Phone Number Are Consistent Online
If you’re trying to optimize your website for local search, it’s important to make sure that your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all of your online listings. Having accurate and up-to-date NAP information is one of the key signals that search engines use to determine whether or not your business is relevant for a particular search. Therefore, if your NAP information is incorrect or outdated, it could hurt your chances of showing up in local search results.
There are a few different ways to ensure that your NAP information is consistent. First, you can list your business in online directories such as Yelp or Google My Business. These platforms will allow you to input your NAP information once, and they will then propagate it across their respective networks. You can also include your NAP information on your website and be sure to mark up with schema, something we cover a little later on in this post.
On-Page Optimization: Optimize URL, Title Tags, Headers, Meta Description, & Content
If you want your site to rank well in local search results, it’s important to optimize your URL, title tags, headers, meta description, and content.
Your URL should include your location and be formatted to be easily readable, and your title tags and headers should be keyword-rich and also reflect your location. Your meta description should give potential visitors a clear sense of your business, and your content should be relevant to your location.
By optimizing these elements for local search, you can improve your chances of appearing in the top search results for your area.
Create Location-Specific Landing Pages On Your Website’s Store Finder
The next step in optimising your website for local search is to create location-specific landing pages on your store finder.
By creating a separate page for each location, you can include relevant information that will help improve your ranking in local search results. For example, you can include the address and phone number of each location (which helps optimize your NAP information as discussed above), as well as providing a map and directions.
You can also include information about the products and services that each location offers.
By taking the time to create these landing pages, you can improve your chances of being found by potential customers who are searching for businesses like yours in their local area.
Create Local Content For Your Target Regions
If you want your business to have a global reach, then you need to start thinking about creating content that is relevant to your target regions. For example, if you’re targeting customers in the United States, then you need to make sure you’re using the right keywords for that market.
What works in the United States might not work in other countries, so you need to research the best keywords for each region.
Another option is to translate your site content into the languages that are relevant to your target regions. This will allow you to scale your content quite quickly and be able to go for local search terms in a native language.
This does present a problem though when it comes to the actual keywords that you use so as mentioned above make sure you know what local search terms look like rather than translating them directly.
Make Phone Numbers Clickable On Mobile Devices
If you’re looking for ways to make your local SEO more effective, one simple change you can make is to make your phone numbers clickable on your website.
By doing this, you’ll allow your users to get in touch with you immediately, which can improve your chances of converting them into customers. And since most people now use their smartphones to access the internet, it’s more important than ever to make it easy for them to reach you.
Once you’ve made your phone numbers clickable, be sure to monitor your website traffic and track how many people are calling you as a result.
In addition, making phone numbers clickable makes it easy for mobile users to save your number into their contacts list for future reference, and provides a better experience for mobile users.
Use Local Business Schema Markup On Your Location Pages
One way to help your local pages perform better in search is to use local business schema markup.
This type of markup helps to provide search engines with information about your business, such as your name, address, and phone number. In addition, it can also help to indicate your business hours, categories, and payment methods.
Including this type of information can help your local pages to rank higher in search results, making it more likely that potential customers will be able to find you. In addition, using local business schema markup can also help to improve the click-through rate to your website, as searchers will be able to see more information about your business before they even click on your listing.
Local SEO Is Critical For Your Business To Succeed Online
You have to do everything you can to boost your local rankings and get found by potential customers online. There are a lot of things you can do to improve your chances of success, from optimizing your website to producing great content as we have outlined in this post.
You can start optimizing your site today with our tips, but if you are ready to start dominating your competitors in the local SERPs, and need a little help, get in touch with us and we will let you know how we can help.
Author : Peter Jooste
