Local SEO is defined as online marketing activity that allows local businesses to promote their services to local customers at the exact moment they are looking for your type of business. Four out of five people are said to use the Internet on their smartphones to obtain local information. For Google and other search engines to provide users with relevant information from the vast amount of data they have, local results will become more and more relevant and prevalent.
Directory listings are an important feature of local SEO. They can be niche or general listings. They serve as online phone books with NAP data along with a map at times and its URL. Some also allow photographs. Some are free, others are paid; some for life, others only for eleven months, the options are many. There are thousands of directory listings. At least some of them are worth appearing in. Yelp! Google My Business are some of the most popular in the US.
Local SEO is a great tool for small businesses because there are a limited number of competitors. The better visibility you have in a SERP, the more likely your target will find you! It is also a great way for search engines to provide the most relevant results to the search engine user, providing locations as well.
In a Google search, the local search results are displayed in the new carousel format, which comes with a map, with an indented list that provides directions, phone numbers, reviews, etc.
Why is local SEO becoming more and more important?
- Local customers are using the Internet to find local businesses.
- Local search is becoming more popular over the years.
- Local search is very specific and timely
- Gives better results than traditional advertising options
- The use of mobile devices is very frequent. Local SEO covers both mobile and portable telephony.
- Higher return on investment. No wasted exposure
- If you claim your local Google listing, you will be way ahead of the competition
- Local SEO is still free. Newspaper reading has dropped by a large percentage: from 40% to 80%.
- Customer reviews that are very popular are a big part of local SEO.
How do you improve your company’s local SEO?
- When building your local page, pay close attention to how you classify them into many provided subcategories.
- Make sure your NAP (name, address and phone number) is consistent on the web, on your local pages, directory listings
- Use good quality directories. Use category and location searches to find out if there is a possibility of showing up somewhere.
- Work to get more reviews on your site. Reviews are displayed in SERP
- Add lots of images to your local ad to make it look interesting. Make sure the keyword appears frequently.
- Try to get inbound links from bloggers, newspapers, and through social sharing, content development, etc.
- Hire a reputable local SEO company if you don’t have enough time, because this is an ongoing process with search engine changes happening all the time.
