What is local SEO?
Local SEO, or Local Search Engine Optimisation, is a digital marketing strategy aimed at improving a business's online visibility within a specific geographical area. Effectively trying to increase the likelihood of the business appearing in search engine results when individuals seek relevant products or services locally.
Why is Local SEO important?
Local SEO is crucial for businesses aiming to connect with their local audience. With the increasing reliance on mobile devices, local searches are becoming more prevalent, making it essential for businesses to optimise their online presence for local visibility.
What can you do to improve your Local SEO?
Improving local SEO can take time if the local market is competitive but a few small things done well can have a massive impact on visibility in search results.
Google My business
Creating and optimising your Google My Business profile is essential to local SEO success. Ensure that your business information is accurate, complete, and regularly updated.
NAP Consistency (Name, Address, Phone):
Maintain consistency in your business name, address, and phone number across all online platforms and directories. This builds trust with both search engines and users.
Relevant Images:
For businesses with physical locations, high-quality and relevant images can significantly impact local search rankings. Highlight your premises, products, and team to create a visually engaging profile.
Service Area Optimisation:
Clearly define your service areas to inform search engines and users about the regions you cater to. This is particularly important for businesses that provide services across multiple locations.
Services Listings:
List all the services your business offers. This not only helps potential customers understand your offerings but also provides additional content for search engines to index.
Link Social Media Accounts:
Google has just updated to allow you to manually link your social media accounts to your GMB profile. With social profiles being updated far more regularly than website, it is an opportunity to build trust with the customer and provide essential links between online platforms.
Reviews Matter:
Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your GMB profile. Reviews play a crucial role in local search rankings and influence the decision-making process of potential customers. This will also give you an opportunity to reply publicly to any poor reviews and show your thanks to any great ones. Again, building trust with the potential customers.
Optimise Local directories
Consistency between all the directories is one of the most important things for google to trust the information you are providing. So, make sure all information (especially NAP) is up to date and relevant.
Yell
Yell is a prominent local business directory. Ensure your business information is accurate and up to date on this platform.
Local Newspapers
Engage with local newspapers or community news websites to feature your business. Local press coverage can boost your online presence and credibility.
TripAdvisor
For businesses in the hospitality or tourism sector, having a presence on TripAdvisor is crucial. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on this platform.
Socials
Service area should be listed in your socials and tagged on every post (to improve further tag smaller local areas instead of the main town/city)
Ensure you are engaging with the local community. This could be following all local pages, participating in local events, or using other local businesses to work with together. This will (if done properly) build backlinks to your sites and more importantly build long lasting relationships within the community.
If you are looking for assistance in reaching potential local customers and target audience, then we are here to help!
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