Are you looking for a guide to help you optimise your local SEO activities? If so, this is the right place. Here are six tips to optimise your local SEO activities. From keyword research to link building, these tips will help ensure that you take the necessary steps to maximise your local SEO efforts.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is optimising a website and online presence to rank higher for geographically related searches. Local SEO activities include:
- Optimising a website for a specific location
- Building citations and backlinks from local websites
- Creating content relevant to the target audience in a specific location
Local SEO is important for businesses that want to attract customers from a specific geographic area, such as a storefront that serves a particular city or neighbourhood.
Some common strategies for local SEO include optimising the business’s Google My Business listing, building local citations on directories and review websites, and creating location-specific content on the business’s website.
Local SEO objectives
Local SEO aims to rank the best-known business listings high in local searches: this is one of the three search results displayed with the Google Map extract in the 3-pack.
The first results from a local search are displayed to the user along with a link to the region in Google Maps. To help users make decisions, there is information such as opening hours and reviews. You can click on the restaurant you like to see more information and directions.
Local searches (like “toy store Miami”) allow the user to enter specific services/products, cities, and regions. Additionally, Google can provide local search results based on your localised IP address or a Google account you’re logged into if you enter a generic search term (such as “toy store”).
How does local SEO work?
Local SEO works by optimising a website and online presence to rank higher in search engine results for geographically related searches. When someone searches for a local business or service, search engines like Google will return relevant results to the user’s location. To optimise a website for local SEO, businesses need to ensure that their website is properly indexed by search engines and contains location-specific information, such as the name of the city or neighbourhood where the business is located.
Different ways to optimise your website for local SEO
Here are a few ways that will optimise the website for SEO and will prove as a guide for a local SEO:
Add location pages
Having location pages on your website is a key factor in optimising your website for local SEO. Location pages are devoted to your physical locations and provide the important information customers need, such as directions, opening hours, contact details, and more.
Location pages should be optimised to rank for your city, town or neighbourhood. You can add title tags and Meta descriptions that include the relevant location keywords and write content that focuses on the services you offer in that location. Remember to add images, reviews, and other content to engage the page more.
Be sure to include a contact form or click-to-call button on each location page so customers can easily get in touch with you. Once you have added a location page, link to it from other website pages. It will help Google understand this page’s importance and increase its visibility in local search results.
Optimise your website for mobile
With the growing popularity of mobile devices, businesses need to ensure their website is optimised for mobile. Not only does this help ensure a good user experience for customers, but it can also help with local SEO. Google prioritises mobile-friendly websites to provide its users with the best search experience.
To optimise your website for mobile, start by ensuring your website is fully responsive. This means that the layout and design of your website should adapt to the size of the device being used to view it.
Secure your local business website with SSL
Adding an SSL certificate to your website is crucial to local SEO. This ensures that any data sent from your website is encrypted, thus boosting the security and trust of your site. An SSL Certificate also boosts your ranking in search engine results, making it easier for customers to find you.
SSL certificates are an important part of ensuring the security and privacy of your website. An SSL certificate adds a layer of encryption between your website and its users, preventing hackers and other malicious entities from accessing sensitive information.
Additionally, having an SSL certificate can help boost your website’s local SEO rankings, as it reassures potential customers that their information is secure when they access your website.
To ensure that your website has an SSL certificate, you should Buy SSL from a trusted provider. Then, you will need to install the certificate on your web server so that all traffic to your website is encrypted.
Add local Schema markup
Adding local Schema markup to your website is an important step in optimising local SEO. Schema is a type of code used to help search engines better understand the context of your website and its content. Adding schema code to your website can provide more information about your business and its location.
When it comes to local SEO, it is important to include information about your address, phone number, opening hours, and other details. It can be done with Schema’s Local Business markup, which adds structured data about your business that search engines can recognise. It will make it easier for them to display your business in the local search results.
To add schema markup to your website:
- Go to the Structured Data Markup Helper by Google.
- Choose the type of markup you want (in this case, local business) and enter the URL of the page you want to mark up.
- Select all the data items you want to include in the markup.
For example, your business name, address, phone number, opening hours, etc. Once you have selected the data items, you can generate and add the code to your website.
Use local keywords
Using local keywords can help boost your SEO rankings and make your website more visible to potential customers in the local area. Local keywords are phrases related to a particular geographic location, such as “Sarasota plumber” or “Seattle flower shop.”
When using local keywords, include them in titles, Meta descriptions, URLs, and content throughout the website.
In addition, you should use relevant keyword variations to capture different search queries. It will help ensure that your website ranks for the most relevant local searches.
Optimise your Google My Business listing
Google My Business (GMB) is an essential tool for local SEO and an important part of any local SEO strategy. GMB is a free platform that allows businesses to provide important information such as their location, hours, contact details, website URL and more, allowing them to appear on Google Maps and other Google-owned properties like Google Search and Google+.
It is important to make sure your GMB profile is up-to-date and complete. To optimise GMB listing, you should:
- Add photos and videos. Visuals are a great way to capture attention and help customers learn more about your business.
- Ensure all the information is accurate and up-to-date, including your address, phone number, opening hours, website URL, etc.
- Invite customers to write reviews and respond to them promptly.
- Include relevant keywords in the description of your business to boost SEO rankings.
- Keep track of your listing’s performance by tracking metrics such as clicks, views, calls and directions.
Takeaway
Optimising your website for local SEO is essential to ensure your business is visible and competitive in the local market. Following these tips can increase your visibility and gain more local customers.
Additionally, investing in an SSL certificate and ensuring your site is optimised for mobile will help you rank well in the SERPs. With these tips, you will be able to get ahead of the competition and boost your local search engine ranking.
John Wayne, a psychology graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, has a keen interest in the fields of mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.
