For a small, brick-and-mortar business, there's nothing more important than dominating local SEO. Your traffic is much more targeted than online retailers with national customers. It cannot be emphasised enough how important it is to focus your SEO strategy on keywords and phrases that relate to the cities you operate in. If you're not yet convinced that local SEO should be a part of your online marketing strategy, read on.
Why should you focus on dominating local SEO?
How about a few statistics to give you a little perspective:
- 51% of consumers search for local shops via their smartphone/tablet (on the move)
- 40% of consumers prefer to buy in-store rather than online (if they knew where a local shop was located)
- 50% of consumers use their smartphone to search for local shops
- 80% of consumers use search engines to find local information
- Around 3 billion search queries per month consist of local keywords
- 70% of consumers use local search to find a shop near them
- 30% of Google search queries relate to local information
That says a lot about local search and should make you want to get a piece of this gigantic pie. Now let's look at the different ways you can do just that.
5 ways to increase local traffic
Optimising for local search can boost your online and offline traffic tremendously if you play your cards right. Here are the steps you need to take:
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Classify your company as a local business
People won't know you're a local business if you don't let them know. In search engines that have indexed your business, you need to make sure that you are classified as a local business. Firstly, you need to submit your Google My Business page and then classify your business as local. You should then optimise the page by adding all the information required for your profile, including a description of your business. Also enter your address and local phone number. You need to select relevant categories related to your business. Avoid spamming on your page because Google frowns upon this and will not hesitate to penalise you.
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Ensure consistency in your online presence
If you have different entries on the Internet, you should make sure that they all contain the same information. This will make your small business appear more reliable and trustworthy. Check all your listings to make sure they contain the same phone number, address and description. If you have recently moved or changed phone numbers, update these details as soon as possible. The appearance of your listings should also be similar so that you can establish yourself as a brand and be recognised for it. Google doesn't like to show profiles of businesses that are closed or have evidence of a change of ownership or inconsistencies in the data. Remember, this is about attracting visitors and building your online image. The more listings you have pointing to your website, the better your rankings will be - and ultimately your traffic and conversion rates.
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Search and claim all your online entries
The business listings you create online won't be the only ones you have to worry about. Other databases will take over your listings and you will need to find them to make sure the information in those listings is up to date. You must first claim that the business is yours, and then you can customise the listing. You can start by listing your business in the top five local directories, including Google My Business, Yelp, Yahoo Local Listing, Bing Places for Business and Manta. Then list in industry-specific directories. Take the time to expand your listings regularly and look for the listings you haven't claimed yet. The larger your network of listings, the better your search engine ranking will be for related keywords - allowing you to dominate the local market.
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Use keywords to optimise your social posts
Your company's search engine and social media listings need to be optimised with relevant keywords. It's not enough to place your listings everywhere - not if you want to dominate local SEO for your market. Choosing the right keywords can be confusing, but with a little research, it's not a problem. If you haven't done so already, you should introduce Google Analytics so you can get a bird's eye view of how your customers are finding your website. You'll see what search terms they're using, which you can then utilise for your offers. You can also think about what people are likely to type into search engines to find what your business offers. A little brainstorming and A/B testing can go a long way. Just make sure that the keywords you choose aren't too competitive. Check the keywords you want to use with the Google Keyword Planner before you make your decisions. The longer your keywords are, the less competitive they are. For this reason, it's not too difficult to dominate local SEO. Just add different city names to keywords that are already specific and you'll have a long-tail keyword.
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Keep your contents fresh
If there's one thing search engines hate, it's outdated content. After you've taken the steps above, you need to keep your local business relevant to search engines and people by updating your content. You don't have to do this yourself - if your budget allows, you can invest in a copywriter to do it for you. Your content needs to be of high quality and published regularly. A great way to do this is to use a blog. The content should also be fresh and engaging for people to read and share on social media. Not only will this keep your search engine rankings up, but it will also help raise the profile of your local business. Here are more benefits of using content to dominate local SEO:
- This helps to position you as a thought leader in your local niche.
- It shows Google that you are active in a specific niche. So keep your topics niche-specific and you will rank better for your niche keywords.
- High-quality content provides you with more organic inbound links, which further improves your local position in the search engines.
Your local business has a chance to compete
If you thought your small business couldn't compete with the giants, think again. Local search engine optimisation is one of the surest ways you can try to be recognised as a leading provider of your service or product in your region.
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