Local SEO Complete Guide : Boost Your Online Presence

Local SEO is the way to take your local business to the next level and rule the local market. Want to increase your business well, you're at the right place.

In this Local SEO guide, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about getting started and stand out from everyone.

What Is Local SEO?

You would have heard people on the internet preach about optimization but is it worth it?

One thing every beginner should know is that Local SEO is all about improving your online presence which attracts more local businesses from local searches.

When someone searches for a product at a specific location on Google maps or search engines such as Google provide the closest results that the user searches for.

By optimizing the website and your online profiles, you can increase your visibility and attract traffic to your business.

If your business ranks on top, you will see around 584% increase in your business in three years and attract more customers of the service you are providing.

Why Is Local SEO Important

1. Increase in visibility: when someone searches for a location which is yours or near you, your profile will appear and gain more reach.
2. Targeted traffic: The traffic your website will observe will be relevant. Users when they find relevant content are likely to click and access your website.
3. Competitive Advantage: Through SEO, even after having a new or small business, you won't lag behind. You'll appear more for the relevant searches.

Preparing The Base: Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile, also known as GMB, is an important part of the Local SEO strategy. It is the first thing that people see when they search for something relevant to your business.

Just like the front view of a store, the view of your profile matters too. If it's attractive, great work! And if it's not, then good luck!

But we're here to solve your problem right? 

Here you go-

Google Business Profile (GMB) is a free tool offered by Google. It helps you manage your appearance in Google Search and Maps.

How To Create Your GMB Profile-

1. Log in to Google Business Profile 

2. Enter your Business Information 

3. Select Business Type
4. Add Contact Information
5. Verify Your Business
6. Optimize Your Profile 

While creating your Google Business Profile, provide up to date and correct information about your business and identity.

Include high quality images, videos, graphics to make your profile look attractive and make people click and view. Content does play a great role in attracting customers.

The Power Of Citation

People think, "Oh! Citations? What good is it going to do". Well, for your information, Citation is the online information of your business.

Making sure people can find your business easily online is super important. That means having the right details about your business, like its name, address, and phone number.

It helps people who are looking for what you offer to find you faster! Search Engines use citations to check how reliable and trustworthy you are.

It's also really important to make sure that all the information about your business is the same everywhere online. So, if it's your website, social media pages, or other sites, keeping everything in flow helps people trust your business more.

How To Build Citation

Building a citation is a simple process. List your business on popular directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages and TripAdvisor. With that, search for the directories similar to your business and provide correct and up to date information.

One thing to keep in mind is, if by any chance your information is not the same on two platforms, it'll confuse the audience. Be consistent and monitor your citation regularly.

Content Quality Matters: Content Is King

As you can read the heading itself i.e., "Content Is King", you'll most probably guess it right.

High and relevant content quality plays a big role in improving your website's search engine rankings. Create content relevant to your target audience and potential customers. Here's what you can post:

1. Blog posts, Articles
2. Videos (long forms and short forms)
3. Latest news about the industry you're in.
4. Attractive offers or valuable information which helps customers in solving their problem.
5. The steps to take to access some service of yours.
6.  Shortcuts, tips and tricks about the industry, business , the product or services you provide.

Providing valuable content can help you gain authority and attract visitors to the website.

Don't forget to add keywords to optimize and rank in Google search!

The Importance Of Customer Reviews

Someone's business reputation depends on their customer reviews. It can either grow your business or destroy it.

Positive customer reviews help you in building trust with new customers. Search engines also use these customer reviews to help you gain trust.

What you need to do is, just ask the customers to post their online reviews or star ratings on Google reviews, Facebook and other websites that they use.

Provide quick links or QR codes to your review sites to help the customer and make the process quick.

Respond to both positive and negative customer reviews to show that you value their thoughts and choices.

1. Thank customers for positive reviews and ask to visit again.
2. Solve the queries or concerns of the customers who gave a negative review.

It shows that you are open to improving the quality and making changes according to customer experience.

Local Keywords

Keywords are phrases or terms that people put in the search bar to search for things. Using keywords in the content on your website can boost your reach.

Research the keywords through Google, or keyword researching tools. Try to use local Keywords, i.e., keywords related to some local event that happened or local news.

Identify your target audience, use targeted keywords and optimize your content naturally. You'll observe organic boost in your rankings.

Use customer reviews in your content too. It helps build trust.

Some Advanced Ways For Local SEO

We are done with setting up the base, now let's get to know the advanced strategies. These advanced ways will help you boost your online presence and attract more customers.

1. Local Link Building

Local Link Building is an important ranking factor of SEO. Local Link Building can boost your rankings quickly and most effectively. Here's how to approach-

1. Local Directories and Citation: Other than improving your citation, many directories accept backlinks. Submit your business to popular directories and see the change.
2. Local Businesses: Make relationships with other local businesses and explore how to collaborate. Collaboration in the form of guest-blogging and cross-promoting each other would help you grow as well as others.
3. Sponsor: Sponsoring local events and charities also play a role as providing backlinks or as sources to reach your business.

2. Schema Markup

Schema Markup is a way to add extra information to your website to help the search engine understand you better. 

Here's how you can do it-

1. Local Business Schema: This type of Schema Markup tells the search engine about your basic information. It tells the search engine that you are a local business and can appear in local searches too.
2. AggregateRating Schema: If there are customer reviews or ratings for your website, then this Schema Markup would show your rating in the search results. Positive ratings will make people click on your website.
3. GeoCoordinates Schema: This type of Schema Markup helps your business appear in Google maps and tell your exact location or near your location.

3. Mobile Optimization

Not all the users in the world use a laptop or desktop, you agree right? If you want to be available to everyone , then you should appear as a nice profile for mobile phone users too. 

Personally, I've been a mobile phone user for a long time. When I see some websites which are not optimized for mobiles, I get irritated instantly.

But don't worry, we have all the solutions to your problems.

1. Mobile Friendly Content

Write short content, which is adjustable on both desktop and mobiles. Use clear headings, subheadings, lists and paragraphs to avoid cliché and confusion and make it easy to read.

2. Creative Designs

Post creative designs such as images, logos, graphics so that people take interest. Adjust the images to fit the screen size. Make sure your website works and looks well on both mobile and desktop.

3. Fast Loading Speed

No one in this modern world likes to wait for loading some website. I, myself, don't like to wait for more than 10 seconds.

Make sure your website loads quickly. 

How can you achieve it?

1. Optimize images
2. Use Browser Caching
3. Fix every technical issue

Delay in loading does make you lose your audience and potential customers.

Conclusion

Local SEO isn't just some option- it's a must when you're running your website and want to rank on top. All the steps and processes in the guide would help you in achieving your goals and boost your performance.

Be aware of the trends and be ready to adjust and adapt new styles regularly to keep yourself updated. Consistent effort and showing up would definitely help you build a solid profile and help you grow.

Even if you're just starting out, local SEO would lead to driving in more traffic, customers, audience and reach. What are you waiting for now? Lights! Camera! Action!

Frequently Asked Questions