But it's not just these types of companies: large fast food chains, such as McDonald's, need to take a completely different approach.
In this guide to local SEO, we'll explore local search engine optimization, why it's essential, and how you or your client can harness its powers.
Complete Local SEO Guide: Master Local Search
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What is local SEO?
The process of search enhancement involves optimizing a business's online presence saudi arabia numbers to increase its visibility and display more prominently in local search results.
As part of search engine optimization, local SEO is the practice of creating and optimizing content, updating and managing online business listings, and creating local mentions to increase the chances of local customers finding a business.
It also involves selecting keywords specific to a particular location and optimizing a website for mobile users, who often search for local businesses on the go.
The best coffee shop near me is something I look for every time I visit a place. And no, I don't always carry my laptop with me.
The main goal is to help businesses attract more customers from their local area and increase foot traffic to their physical locations.
To achieve results, the campaign manager should focus on using local keywords that are relevant to the business and its target audience. This can be achieved by conducting extensive keyword research to identify the most effective local keywords to optimize the business's website and online content.
Pro tip: Many tools don't offer keywords that local residents use, slang, or the nickname that a place has. Try to get a local to help you if you're not familiar with local vocabulary.
Why is local SEO important?
Importance of Local Searches: 46% of all Google searches are local. [Local searches play a vital role in online user behavior, with nearly half of all Google searches having local intent. This underscores the importance of optimizing your online presence for local search rankings and effectively reaching your target audience.
Mobile Search Impact: 78% of Local Mobile Searches Result in an Offline Purchase. [SEO Court] The majority of local searches on mobile devices result in real-world actions, with a hefty 78% leading to offline purchases. Ensuring your local SEO is mobile-friendly is crucial to turning digital interactions into tangible business outcomes.
Google My Business Influence: Businesses with a complete Google My Business profile are 2.7x more likely to be considered trustworthy by users, and customers are 70% more likely to visit and 50% more likely to consider purchasing from businesses with a complete business profile. [Google Business Profile Help] A complete Google My Business profile significantly increases your business’s credibility, making it nearly 3x more likely to be considered reputable by potential customers. Prioritize the comprehensiveness and accuracy of your GMB profile.
Impact of Online Reviews: 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. [BrightLocal] Online reviews have a huge influence on consumer decisions, with a staggering 88% trusting them as much as personal recommendations. Encouraging and managing positive reviews is vital to building trust and attracting local customers.
Local SEO and Voice Search: It is estimated that around 60% of searches will be done via voice. [The increasing prevalence of voice search requires adapting local SEO strategies. With a forecast of 60% of searches being done via voice, optimizing for natural language queries becomes paramount for local businesses that aspire to dominate by 2024.
Ranking factors for local SEO
At the local level, some of the key factors that influence ranking are how closely the business matches the user's search terms, its proximity to the user's current location, and how well the business is recognized in the local community.
Other important factors include the accuracy and consistency of your business's information across online platforms (your business's NAP citations, which we'll discuss later), the quantity and quality of customer reviews, and whether your business's website is optimized for local search.
Pro tip: Social media profiles and posts also appear in the SERPs, and there have been studies done on the influence of social signals on some of these search results
By focusing on these ranking factors, businesses can improve their chances of appearing at the top of Google's local search results and attract more potential customers in their area.
Use Google to search for your top terms and see what kind of results it brings up. You may find that websites, ads, and the local map pack appear prominently (most local results are very noticeable on mobile devices).
This is one of the best ways to determine what type of approach you should take to help potential customers find your business.
Tools for local SEO
While there are plenty of local SEO tools out there , the best way to approach it is to use common sense. From a business owner's perspective, I always recommend working with an SEO consultant or agency to help you navigate all of this, as it is time-consuming.
You just need to know a few things and some good practices.
If you're a digital marketer helping business owners stand out in local search, then you have a suite of local SEO tools to help you better manage all the work involved. It wouldn't be fair to mention some and leave out others.
That said, the following can also be called tools :
Your website
The most important asset of any business when it comes to marketing. A Google profile can be suspended, and an Instagram account can be deleted, but a website has been and always will be the main point of attraction and the place you want your potential customers to go.
A well-optimized website is the first step to a successful local SEO campaign.
Google also thinks this is good
What does a well-optimized website mean?
Make sure your on-page SEO is done: accurate information about your business, location, proper titles, subtitles that mention your location, meta description , and generally good content relevant to the user's query are the first steps to improving your business' visibility and local ranking.
Good website speed – A decent local server will do the job. Don’t overload it with useless plugins and large photos. You rarely need an image to be larger than 1 MB.
Don't overthink it either: common sense.
Multiple location pages
Have a page for each location you service. This is important because often, to be listed in the local pack, you need to mention that specific location on your website, and a full page is better than a paragraph. A plumber services multiple cities or counties around their main location.
The idea here is to target the areas you are serving; don't overdo it, and don't use the same content verbatim - Google has slapped many people down because the content on these types of pages wasn't unique.
And no, just changing the name (Best Roofer in City X) is not enough
Pro tip: Do your local keyword research and don’t be alarmed by low search volume – it’s been proven that there can be value even in keywords with no volume.
Look for different local keywords and mention them. Don't forget to mention your products and services - I've seen some who "forgot" to do so.
Pro tip: If you have a car with your logo and website URL printed on it, take a photo that includes some local landmarks, for example next to the town hall. Don’t forget to add the Alt tag to these images and mention the location. You’ll be surprised to see that you show up in other types of searches too, which, in this case, isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it helps reinforce brand awareness .
NAP Consistency
NAP is an acronym for Name, Address, and Phone Number, and it needs to be consistent across all platforms and profiles. I usually pull the NAP from the Google Business Profile to make sure the address and ZIP code format is what Google shows and not some other interpretation. So if your street address is blv. on Google and your website spells it boulevard , adjust it to match Google's.
Fun fact: You won't believe how many companies have their company name wrong. What does this tell Google?
Google Company Profile
Previously known as Google My Business. The most important profile for many businesses, such as plumbers or roofers who live off of GBP. In a hypothetical extreme situation, if you had to choose between working on the GBP or the website, you might choose the GBP. It is also the "profile" that powers Google Maps.
UTM tag all links: I add the company's services as products, a great, optimized and attractive image, a good description and a link back to the site. Do the same for your services or products. Make sure that no setting, option or paragraph - called business attributes - is left out.
Pro Tip: I've been using Claire's spreadsheet for UTM tagging for years .
Get your customers to leave positive reviews on your Google Business profile, mentioning your business name and geographic location.
Pro tip: Got negative reviews? No problem; there's no business without negative reviews. And Google doesn't do a great job of weeding out fake reviews. What can you do? Get new positive reviews with photos. Your customers have the option to upload a photo of your products or services. Google likes that, and it will make them more prominent.
Pro tip: Enable your Google Business Site. Although they have hidden this option, go to edit your business information, under the contact tab , just below where you put your actual website address, you will see the option to manage this Google Business site which is fed with your profile information: photos, posts, etc.