Blog

If you think you are the only business out there trying to gain visibility in the online landscape, think again. The internet has broken down the shackles of geographical boundaries, and has served customers alternatives on a silver platter. Customers are looking for answers and they are looking for it fast. Digital marketing, local SEO, content marketing, sales, and brand management are the few things you can rely on in order to maximise your brand’s visibility. 

Though digital marketing has expanded horizons and serves so many opportunities for virality across the globe, local SEO is what your company needs if it wants to shine in the customer’s local searches. Focusing on local SEO can help your business rank on the first page of Google search engine results pages (SERPs), generate leads, increase footfall in your physical stores, help potential customers locate your business on maps, gain reviews and feedback in addition to a lot more. 

If you want to understand how to implement local SEO in your website, you need to first understand what it is, the tools that can help you streamline the process and the benefits they bring with them. Let us get into all these niches one by one, so that by the end of this guide, you are ready to create your own local SEO strategy. 

What Is Local SEO? 

Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the practice of enhancing local companies’ exposure on search engines, particularly for those having physical presence. Businesses may increase organic traffic from queries made by local consumers by adhering to local SEO best practices.

As you know, Google ranks hundreds or thousands of websites instantly using a variety of signals. When a user searches for anything on Google, an algorithm scans the index and displays a list of pages that are relevant to their search in organic results. Based on the relevance, importance, and popularity provided by inbound links, those results are selected, rated and ranked.

Google discovered that consumers looking for particular kinds of companies want local results. The proximity factor, which is a fancy way of saying that Google considers your location when you search for a local term, is part of Google’s local search algorithm as a result (a query with local intent). Even when the searcher excludes a city name or “near me,” this local discovery still occurs.

If you are new to this and have trouble figuring out where to get started with local SEO in your digital marketing plan, get in touch with an SEO agency that can move the needle for you and get you on the Google Local Pack listing. Professionals such as these can bring to you the right tools and techniques to ace such marketing strategies that keep Google at its focal point. 

Google Local Pack 

This unique prioritised area of the Google search engine result pages appears for queries with a local purpose and is also known as the “Google Snack Pack” or the “Google 3 Pack.” It highlights three businesses and provides a sneak peek of their Google My Business details, including their address, phone number, position on Google Maps, and customer ratings.

The two key ranking elements for the Google Local Pack, in addition to addressing all the fundamentals of website SEO, are business information and Google reviews.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that local SEO is a strategy that extends beyond Google when thinking about it. Customers use a variety of search engines and platforms to find local businesses, including Google Maps, Google Search, Bing Local, Bing Maps, Apple Maps, and others.

Now, before we get into the nitty gritty of how to build a robust local SEO strategy for your business, you must be aware of the platforms that you and your digital marketing agency need to keep in handy while creating the plan. 

Moz Local 

Initially free, Moz Local is probably the most well-liked local SEO tool out there. Given that it has been operating for more than ten years and has pioneered the SEO software market, you may trust its statistics and methodology.

In order to increase website exposure, Moz Local works with small and large companies to ensure that online listings are accurate and consistent. Moz automates the remainder of the process when you use it as a local listing management tool, so you only need to create a listing once.

Moz functions by distributing your entries to significant directories, applications, search engines, and company data aggregators. You don’t have to adjust listings on each directory separately if you ever need to make changes to your listing; simply log back into Moz Local.

Other prominent Moz Local characteristics include:

• Facebook and Google integration
• automated removal of duplicates.
• Social media posting

Moz offers you location-centric data to assist track your performance and identify the most important consumer interactions on your listings in addition to the features that support the growth of your brand name in local search.

SemRush’s List Management 

Semrush is a well-liked search analytics and local SEO software product that is used by eBay, HP, and Quora.

Together with Yext, Semrush created a local listing management solution. It may be used to manage your local pages, reviews, and classifieds. To publish data across sites like Facebook, Foursquare, and TripAdvisor, Semrush’s application utilises Yext’s Knowledge Network.

From the Semrush listing administration dashboard, you may manage information. Utilising the tool is simple. You must first enter the information and determine your location.

The tool will provide a list of your listings along with information about their status on each directory website. Semrush will automatically update your listings when you make any required changes.

Uberall 

Uberall employs digital technology to support cutting-edge physical businesses in being relevant, successful, and competitive.

Through listings and citations on search engine and online directory platforms, Uberall assists companies in increasing their local online presence. Uberall CoreX allows you to follow a customer’s journey from initial contact to subsequent transactions.

Other characteristics include: 

• Data could be improved for local search ranking variables.
• 125+ websites need their brand location data maintained.
• By producing interesting local social content, you may create online communities.

With Uberall you can really claim the benefits of local SEO in a single place. 

Google My Business Management: Thanks to Uberall’s close connection to Google’s GMB location content infrastructure, updating your listings is quick and simple.

Local Listings Management: Uberall’s Local Listings Management purges inaccurate local business listings from the ecosystem to guarantee that only the most up-to-date information is displayed at the time of search.

Local data optimization: By using location data optimization, Uberall avoids mistakes in the way your company is listed and syndicated online.

Local Search: By claiming, validating, and optimising your listings for local search on Uberall’s robust platform, you can be sure that they will appear highly in map search results.

Yext 

Yext listings, pages, and reviews assist companies all around the world in facilitating in-person encounters that raise awareness of their brands, increase traffic, and promote sales.

The following tools are offered by Yext:

Data cleaning: Yext will make your company’s facts consistent throughout all of your internal data sources, allowing you to have complete confidence in the information you give consumers.

Duplicate Listing Suppression: This tool will permanently fix the issue of duplicate business listings.

Management of Google My Business: Thanks to Yext’s interaction with GMB, you can make modifications immediately through the platform and publish them to GMB at any moment.

Local Pages: Yext Pages are search engine optimised so that your mobile clients can easily obtain pertinent, reliable information about your closest locations.

Listings Management: Yext has direct integrations with a wide range of maps, applications, search engines, and social networks, enhancing the visibility of your locations in search results and ensuring that clients can discover you at the precise moment they need you.

In comparison to some of the other local SEO firms on our list, Yext is less priced. The cost of the beginning plan is $4 per week.

Now that you and your agency know which tools and platforms to keep handy, let us look at how you can get started with local SEO along with some tips for local SEO that you can implement to improve your local search visibility. 

Optimise Your GMB 

In local search, Google My Business has emerged as the top dog. Google My Business is a perfect tool to assist your company in meeting Google’s requirements because Google willingly supports, validates, and distributes its own material.

You should: if you want to make sure you’re optimised for Google My Business.

• Make a Google My Business page and confirm it.
• Use your account’s Google Posts.
• Encourage your clients to leave online reviews.
• Authentically respond to reviews and provide your location.
• Google may provide your company with a highly sought-after sidebar spot in its local search if it can confirm your company’s legitimacy.
• Update your contact information, working hours and addresses as and when they change. 

Pro tip: While responding to the reviews on your GMB, make sure that you mention your company’s name, location and the service name that your business offered for which the review is for. 

Include Social Media 

Google now places a greater emphasis than ever before on social network content. Sharing your Google My Business page on social media with the help of your social media agency, that can optimise your page for you, can better integrate search and social media.

In addition to adding your contact information and other details on your GMB profile, make sure you also add them on your social media handles. To make things easier, follow the NAP (name, address and phone number) rule. 

For Google to display your NAP more accurately in location-based search results, it should be regarded as crawlable HTML content on your website. Avoid the typical error of merely placing the NAP within a picture; unlike HTML text, images cannot be scanned by search engines.

The header or footer of the website is the most typical position for the NAP. On a “Contact Us” page, you should also give your NAP.

Create Local Content 

Google is becoming increasingly intelligent and therefore, content producers need to now write more for people and less for search engines. While writing about general subjects will draw in a sizable audience, there are times when it’s more crucial to narrow your emphasis and write about local or industry news in order to draw in a local readership.

Promote regional industry events, news, employees, and other instructive information on your blog to establish yourself as the neighbourhood authority in your field. Consider creating top-of-the-funnel content that is different from what your company offers.

For example, if you are a local saloon in the neighbourhood, and are new to the area, make a useful resource to assist these companies get to know your city. A citywide events calendar or a map of nearby services might both be useful for your persona and offer on-page local signals that are extremely pertinent to your persona.

Have A Mobile-Friendly Website 

Now, if you want to be featured on Google Local Pack, you should consider the type of people who are going to perform local searches. In most cases, they are performing the search on their phones, looking for directions and making calls directly from your GMB listing. 

Additionally, Google uses mobile friendliness as a ranking criterion, which might improve your company’s exposure and ranking. As a general guideline, ensure that your website is quick and convenient. If not, visitors could close the website while they are still exploring.

Every small business owner hopes to become the busiest shop on the block. Since your clients are turning to the internet to research products before making a purchase, online exposure is the local companies’ next-best tool.

Your marketing efforts will be more effective if you build for local search exposure, regardless of whether you sell goods or services or have a physical store. With these eight strategies, it may be rather easy.

All the best!