4 Important Actions to Improve Local Search Rankings

Whether you’re a local coffee shop or a national Subway chain, the key to driving more customers to your doorstep is adapting a local SEO strategy. Only that helps to get your business ranked for the coveted search engine queries.

From the moment Google announced the Hummingbird Update, local results have evolved - they are now more personalized, relevant, and geo-targeted.

True, Google has become a lot smarter now, and that means now you being a business need to put more effort to rank high! You can even hire a professional experienced Local SEO Specialist for the task.

Importance of Local SEO

Let’s understand it by looking at the below statistics.

• According to a study, to get local information, 4 in 5 users perform search queries on search engines.
• After doing a local search, 50% of the customers visit the store within a day.
• Near about 18% of local searches on mobile devices lead to offline purchases.

All these statistics prove the significance of local SEO for any online or brick-and-mortar local business.

How To Improve Local Ranking On Google?

In comparison to your traditional and average SEO campaign, Local SEO requires a little more effort over.

Here we are listing a few important steps of improving your local search rankings:

1. Get on Google Places

First and foremost, it’s essential to create your listings on Google My Business if you want to get your business displayed on the Google local pack. It will help you have a strong presence on Google+ Local and Google Maps.

If you are not aware, Google My Business can make any local business visible and searchable on the webspace for targeted users that belong to a particular locality (wherever your business operates).

Well, if, by any chance, you do not have a listing here, you need to create one and claim it. If you need, you can directly contact a Google SEO Specialist and get help from the expert!

2. On-site Optimization

On-site optimization covers the following:

a. Target the right keywords

It is an undeniable fact that your audience reaches you only through keywords. Hence, your targeted keywords must always include your location. For example, if you are a salon in Sarasota, you need to include Sarasota in your short as well as long-tail keywords. All you need to do is, research a little through Google keyword planner by performing a quick Google search on target keyword + target location. Further, come up with keywords that have a high search volume and low competition. Again you can reach a Local SEO Consultant as he/she is versed in such a process.

b. Meta title & description

Meta Description is the first information that your customers read on search results. Make sure you include your target location-specific keyword, so the search engine reaches you when some user looks for your keyword.

c. Heading tags

Google bots discover the theme of the web page content by looking at the keywords, mentioned within the H1 tag. Hence, try to keep the most vital keywords in H1, then H2, and so on.

For example: <h1>Best Coffee House</h1>

<h2>Book a table</h2>

<h2>Discounts</h2>

<h3>Special Drinks</h3>

d. Content

To begin, if your business has multiple locations, then make sure that you create separate landing pages for each of the location-based keywords. Besides, each of these location-specific landing pages should contain unique and relevant content (else it will be deemed plagiarized content). For better attraction, include a small gallery of photos of your employees, products, or shop front. For instance, if you’re a coffee shop, you can add photographs of your different kinds of coffee.

In addition, ask your Local SEO Expert to embed a Google Map on your website so that it is easier for your audience to locate you.

3. Local Link Building

The extremely essential, but often overlooked aspect by marketers is getting backlinks from local websites. Local Link building is all about acquiring backlinks from local websites which helps to improve local visibility of the website and increases ranks for local search queries.

Pro tip: You can start by getting listed in local directories.

4. Get Reviews

Local reviews affect your local search engine rankings directly. So, you must invest some time in getting good reviews. Now, getting reviews does not mean just Google reviews but also reviews on top directories.

Plus, you can simply add review links on your email signatures and webpages.

Hire a Local SEO Expert now!

In a nutshell, if you don’t already have a Top Local SEO Expert, it’s high time to make that call. There is no other digital marketing tool for a better ROI.

Not sure who to choose? Give Freelance Digital Marketers a call! We’ve got years of experience to help our clients improve their local SEO and drive customers to their business. Good Luck!