The use of mobile internet has increased exponentially in the last few years. Customers are using tools like “Google nearby” to search for local services and businesses.
In result, the internet has become the main source of information by leaving behind the print media and advertisement.
In this scenario, Local SEO is one of the best tools for a local business to reach the customer who uses internet over print media. Local SEO makes the business visible in local searches at the times when a customer needs the most.
Local SEO has many benefits for a business such as:-
- It reaches to the target customer at the time of requirement,
- It works day and night free of cost,
- It is a low-cost high return investment,
- It is still new and competition is low (According to Google data, less than 50 percent businesses are listed yet)
Here I’m sharing few tips on using local SEO to increase the online visibility of your business:
- Local SEO with SEO:
Don’t misunderstand SEO with Local SEO. SEO improves page ranking on search results but Local SEO improves your ranking in the region based search. Always include localization in the web content.
- List your Business on Google My Business listing:
Google is the most popular search engine worldwide. So there is a good chance that the target audience will search for a service on Google using “nearby” keyword. It is very helpful and free of cost to share complete business details on Google forms for listing because it helps the customer to easily contact the service provider. There is less competition because only 44 percent businesses are listed yet.
- Get your business located on Google maps:
The presence of the business on Google map helps the client to get direction and make your service easy to access. While providing details on Google map, categories should be selected very carefully. You should try to provide address information as detailed as possible and it should be accurate.
- Stay updated:
It is important to keep your information updated. If there are some changes in the contact details like mobile number or representative changed than it should be updated in local SEO setting too. If the company has changed the business address or there is some change in the services, it should be reflected online.
- Web content localization:
Localization is important to reach the local customer. The web content for the business should be available in regional languages and translation should be of high quality. All changes should reflect in each language. The language selection should be easy to find on the website. The keywords about the region should be included in data, URLs, metadata, and web content.
- Add reviews on relevant sites:
The online reviews for business are the pure organic marketing tool. You should try to provide online reviews about the business and services as much as possible. It increases the ranking in local search engines and encourages the customer. You should create a Facebook page for the business and request your customers to provide their feedback. These reviews can also be provided on Google maps. You should use these free of cost option to increase local search ranking and to get good ratings.
- Use lots of images:
You should try to provide multiple good quality photographs of your business and services. There should be some photos of the workplace, office in and out. It makes it easy for a customer to recognize your workplace. It also helps the customer to know about your services, for example, Google my business provides a very user-friendly photo section with a 360-degree view in which user can see your office as shown in the image below.
- Take professional Local SEO services:
The professional help can make your local SEO easy to manage. It covers all aspects of listing on different search engines, local social media marketing, local digital marketing and local FB ads. These are different tasks which are managed by Local SEO services. Taking professional help is good for those who don’t have good command in programming and technology.
