The Importance of Having a Local Search Marketing Strategy
For your business to thrive online, it must have an effective local search marketing strategy in place. Consumers rely on local searches as part of their customer journey as they use smartphones and search engines like Google to research goods and services near them.
Optimizing your website with relevant keywords will enable Google to recognize that your business is local. This can be accomplished by including Local Business structured data on contact and directions pages of your website.
Keyword Research
Local SEO involves developing an in-depth knowledge of the keywords customers use to locate your business online. Keyword research allows you to optimize your website and content to match these search terms, so search engines can more readily recognize its relevancy to a particular location.
One effective method to identify keywords your customers use is to put yourself in their position and consider how they might describe your product or service and generate a list of possible words they might use to do so. Modifiers can help further refine search terms to bring in high quality leads and customers.
Another effective method for finding local search terms is analyzing competitor websites and using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to discover what keywords your competitors rank for. These tools also give an accurate picture of keyword difficulty, so that you have an idea of how difficult it will be for you to rank in the top results for specific terms.
On-Page Optimization
Search engines take into account several on-page elements when assessing websites for relevance and credibility, including URL structure and site architecture. A clearly-structured URL structure and logical site architecture can help enhance these factors while improving both user experience and search rankings. Adding localized keywords throughout webpages also plays an important role in making sure content relevant for specific geographic regions; Google will recognize this connection between what information you are providing to people searching for answers online through its algorithm and search queries entered into Google by target audiences.
Implementing schema markup can give your business the competitive edge it needs by providing extra relevant information about it, such as customer reviews and ratings, opening hours and other details. There are various tools that can help make this possible such as Whitespark, Ahrefs and BuzzStream; in addition to these on-page strategies it’s recommended that each of your physical locations has its own location page with NAP consistency, store descriptions that highlight unique services provided and parking/transit details and an embedded Google Map displaying exactly where the store location lies.
Directory Submissions
Directory listings like Yelp, Superpages Yellowpages and Google are integral components of local search strategies. Customers and search engines rely on these listings to locate relevant information about a business’s services and products; so it’s crucial that the listings contain accurate, up-to-date data that is optimized.
Local directories offer businesses the chance to establish themselves as experts in specific niches or areas of expertise. When considering including themselves in these directories, though, only when it makes logical sense with regard to organic visibility and referral traffic goals should inclusion be taken into consideration.
Maintaining consistent NAP (name, address, phone number) data across the web is paramount for local ranking factors. Any inconsistency could create duplicate listings which negatively impact local performance; by using data aggregators and agency tools to detect duplicate listings at scale and rectify them quickly – an ongoing process designed to create a reliable representation of your business across the internet.
Social Media
Social media can be an intimidating beast, and many companies overlook optimizing their listings online. This could prove costly for any business.
Local Search Marketing is becoming an essential element for all types of businesses – retail chains, Mom & Pop shops, financial services brands, service providers and enterprise brands alike. Searches beginning with “where” or “near me” indicate a need for local results such as plumbers in Boston or accountants in Washington.
Search engines take many factors into consideration when providing results for local searches, from physical location of businesses to their prominence in their community. On top of traditional ranking signals like keyword relevancy and proximity from searcher’s location. To increase your odds of being found by local searchers more effectively, create separate web pages on your website for each of your business locations.