In the US alone, there are 7 billion local searches per month. Local search is becoming more and more important for all businesses big and small. Customers nowadays want to know the business address, hours of operations, reviews, driving directions, etc. Thus, it’s important for businesses who want to seize the huge online market to pay attention to their local SEO strategy. You can get started by optimizing your on-page elements for local SEO.
The following are the key steps:
1) Insert local and optimized keywords in the title tag
The first step is to do keyword research to ensure that you’re using the most relevant and high-converting keyword for your business depending on the kind of product or service you offer. It could be “sneaker store”, “fashion boutique”, “wedding dress”, or any specific keyword. Just add your geographic location to your chosen keyword. Do this naturally and avoid going too spammy. Keyword stuffing is a big no-no.
2) Create local content
Another on-page technique to boost your content for the local market is to craft articles that are specific or relevant to your country or city. Make them as interesting and relatable as possible. Prepare a list of topics that your target market would find interesting and use Google’s Keyword Planner or go to Google Trends to check the demand for your shortlisted topics.
If there are local events, festivals, or holidays coming up, you may want to think about how you can associate these with your products or services. You may also craft content pieces featuring local attractions that people usually “google”.
In your site’s content, do mention your company’s history, such as how you started, how long you’ve been in the industry, or the team’s backstory, linking them to the area you operate in.
3) Get local reviews
Do ask for the feedback or reviews from your local customers, so you can display them on your site as a ranking signal or a social proof.
More local people will trust you if you have a number of positive reviews in the area. Interview your happy customers and ask them how you’ve been of help and what they think about your products or services. Your high-quality reviews have a positive impact to your local SEO campaign.
4) Add your NAP in HTML
In adding your name, phone number, and address to your website’s HTML; make sure that they’re consistent with the NAP you are utilizing to make citations across multiple local search directories on the web.
This ensures your credibility and can help the search engines verify the data you’ve submitted. This way, search engines can cross-reference the details for quality and accuracy check. Don’t use abbreviations when setting your Nap or any short-forms. If it’s “street”, don’t place “st” and so on.
Also, many business owners think that their address on all of their pages is already in HTML. However, it’s probably just an image, which is technically not crawlable. Make sure that you check on this by hovering over your address to see if you’ve highlighted individual characters as a means of verification.
5) Ensure your site is fast and mobile friendly
Your site’s speed and mobile-friendliness works not only for local SEO but also for the whole SEO course in general. Google’s algorithm has recently been set to bring favor to fast and mobile-friendly sites. A non-frustrating loading time and a platform that is decently viewable on all screen sizes can get more SEO benefit and more conversions in a local and global sense.
Local SEO is expected to further advance in the years to come. Don’t forget to always be updated on the local SEO trends to ensure that you’re treading on the right trail.
