Local Search Strategy: Essential for Businesses
A local search strategy is incredibly important for community businesses and those looking to leverage mobile and changing consumer behaviors. Having a local SEO plan is now a necessity rather than an option.
Customers across all industries are searching for the best products and services near them – this includes more than just retail and ecommerce. They want fast, local answers and services.
One significant difference between local SEO and “regular” SEO is the way you target customers. As local consumers seek better and more relevant experiences, “near me” searches continue to rise. Approximately 46% of all Google searches have local intent. Consumers with smartphones increasingly use GPS-based apps to find local businesses nearby.
Smart marketers are enhancing their local search campaigns with hyper-local strategies such as geolocation and mapping tools like Google My Business listings and Google Maps. If your business doesn’t appear when someone in your location performs a search, that’s a missed opportunity.
Want to stay ahead of your competitors? Here’s your complete local SEO checklist.
Local SEO: Optimizing Your Website
- Define your location strategy: Multi-practitioner businesses (e.g., medical, legal) have different, more complicated processes than a single location, brick-and-mortar business, or a home-based business.
- Create essential pages: Include a contact, about, and home page on your website.
- Detailed contact page: Include the complete name, address, and phone number (NAP) for each location.
- Address listing: For businesses with less than 10 locations, list all addresses in the website’s footer.
- Privacy concerns: If you don’t want to include your business address, ensure all phone numbers for business purposes are visible.
- Mobile-friendly contact: Ensure phone numbers are clickable via mobile.
- Consistency: Ensure all NAP entries are consistent wherever mentioned on the website.
- Google Map embed: Add a Google Map to the contact page.
- Schema markup: Use Schema structured data markup to help search engines quickly identify your local business.
- Google My Business: Complete and verify your Google My Business listing.
Local SEO: Content
High-quality content attracts links, which are crucial for a local content strategy. Links and content are the top Google ranking factors. A recent study demonstrated that being proximate, ranking highly in organic results, and having rich review and link profiles with category and geographic keywords are essential.
- Consistent strategy: Create and maintain a website content strategy.
- Localized keywords: Optimize title tags and meta descriptions with localized keywords.
- Semantic variations: Optimize text and blog content with local keyword targets and variations.
- Visual content: Include local photos and videos optimized with relevant keywords.
- Original content: Publish unique content.
- Duplicate listings: Clean up duplicate listings, possibly using tools like Moz Local.
- Duplicate content: Address any duplicate content issues.
Content for Multiple Locations
If you have multiple businesses in multiple locations, consider having one consolidated website.
- Location-specific promotions: Differentiate each location by offering promotions specific to each area.
- City events: Host or sponsor events in different cities to create content.
- Targeted blog posts: Write blog posts on tips that apply to specific demographics, seasons, or locations.
- Content calendar: Plan your content with a calendar to stay on top of seasonal trends.
- User-generated content: Encourage users to submit reviews and testimonials.
Local SEO: Citations
Citations are references to your NAP+W (name, address, phone number, and website) online.
- Manual vs. automatic citations: Manual citations offer control but can be tedious; automatic citations save time but offer less control.
- Third-party providers: Use services like BrightLocal, MozLocal, Whitespark, Advice Local, and Yext for local citations and listings.
Local SEO: Social Media & Customer Reviews
- Customer reviews: Post customer testimonials and reviews on your website.
- Business listings: List your business on platforms like Yelp, Foursquare, Zagat (if applicable), and Bing Places.
- Google My Business: List and verify your business, add photos, and encourage customer reviews.
- Review management tools: Use tools like BirdEye, ChatMeter, OnDemandReviews, and ReviewTrackers.
- Social media strategy: Create accounts on major social media platforms, localize them, and link them back to your website.
- NAP+W on social media: Ensure NAP+W is included on each social media listing.
- Social media management: Designate or hire someone to manage social media interactions and maintain a consistent content strategy.
Local SEO in the Real World
- Employee training: Ensure your staff is well-trained and knowledgeable.
- Customer service: Consistently deliver excellent service to your customers.
- Presence: Be present and proactive in managing both staff and customer interactions.
- Preparedness: Anticipate problems and have a backup plan.
- Regular meetings: Conduct meetings to celebrate successes and learn from challenges.
- Offline advertising: Use a mix of local advertising like flyers, newspaper, radio, and TV.
- Brand excellence: Strive to be the top brand that comes to mind for your products or services.
Final Thoughts
Local SEO is growing rapidly and differs significantly from general SEO practices. By following specific local SEO strategies, you can effectively optimize your website, market your business, and reach more local customers. Hyperlocal optimization will help you stand out and capture customers at the right micro-moment when they are ready to buy.
Following this local SEO checklist can help you stay ahead in local search and attract more local customers.
