Local SEO is all about optimising your website to rank in the search engine result pages (SERPs) for a local audience. It has quickly become a marketing priority for many small businesses because 88% of consumers who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit or call that store within a day.
But where are you meant to start with local SEO if you want to be seen and heard by your target customers? Well, here’s a brief guide on what you need to know.
Your Google My Business (GMB) listing
Google business profiles are most typically shown when a user searches for a company by name. Almost all the elements of your listing will be controlled within the Google My Business dashboard.
Here’s what you should be completing and optimising:
- Business name
- Address
- Hours
- Phone
- Website
- Description – Call out desirable aspects of your business in the description.
- Photos and videos – Both owner and user-generated photos significantly impact CTR, so watch for spam.
- Google Posts – A form of microblogging that enables you to post short pieces of content with links, images, and video right to your business profile.
- Google Questions & Answers – An important new hub of social interactivity, customer support, and a possible ranking factor.
- See what’s in store – Scan in your stock and have it appear on an inventory landing page.
- Categories – Look at the primary category your top competitors are using for the top searches you’re targeting.
- Booking – The optional Reserve With Google program enables businesses to take bookings.
- Google Messaging – This function lets customers message you directly.
Even though Google hasn’t said which elements of a My Business listing are ranking factors, the more information you provide, the more favourably you’ll be looked upon by Google.
Google’s algorithm for ranking local search
Google has hundreds of ranking factors contained within its algorithms, but for local search there are three main pillars you need to know about:
- Proximity – Where Google believes a user is in relation to a business address at the time they search.
- Prominence – How important Google thinks a business is in relation to its nearby competitors.
- Relevance – How closely related a result is to the words a searcher uses in their search engine query.
Local SEO hinges on a clear understanding of user-to-business proximity and seeks to develop as many signals of prominence and relevance as possible when answering a query.
Coming up with a ranking strategy
Google is continuously testing and tweaking its platforms, with rankings sometimes changing from hour to hour. And while every ranking scenario is unique, most businesses will come up with a strategy that targets the following avenues:
- Local Packs/Maps – Ranking in local packs and map results is often down to proximity. But if there aren’t many similar businesses around you, there’s a chance of ranking here beyond your neighbourhood, town or city.
- Organic Rankings – If your business can publish authoritative content or gain visibility on other notable websites, you’ll start to rank organically on Google.
- Paid Advertising – Google’s Local Services Ads program has become a major disruptor in several industries, which has forced some businesses to pay for the kind of visibility that used to be free.
Coming up with a review strategy
Before a customer has clicked through any aspect of your Google My Business listing, be it photos or your website, they’ll probably check your reviews. Although this is quite difficult to manage and maintain, there are several proactive steps you can take to boost your rating.
- Actively pursue private complaint resolution – Most businesses will receive some negative review sentiment at some point, but this should be kept to a minimum.
- Gain reviews in compliance with guidelines – Always read any available guidelines of any review platform on which you’d like to ask a customer to review a business.
- Actively respond to all reviews – Respond as quickly as possible, remember it’s a two-way conversation and showcase your excellent customer service.
- Analyse review sentiment for quality control – See whether multiple customers have a complaint theme, such as slow service, rudeness, or lack of cleanliness.
- Avoid and fight review spam – Review spam networks span the globe, turning the purchase of fake sentiment into a business model.
Local SEO during COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the majority of businesses with a local footprint. Here’s how to keep serving your customers effectively:
- Update and improve your website with COVID-19 information
- Make full use of GMB listings and citations
- Carefully manage reviews and Q&A for COVID-related issues
- Expand product and service visibility online
