06 Jul Local SEO

Local SEO

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is an effective way to market your business online. It helps businesses promote their products and services to local customers at the exact time they’re looking for them. Local SEO uses a variety of strategies — getting your site ranked on search engines like Google, business directories such as Yelp, Super pages, Foursquare, Yellow book, Google My Business listing, Bing Places for Business page, localized content on your website, online reviews and other strategies.

Millions of customers use local search every day to find the best local businesses in their area. You can help increase your chances of getting found by these potential customers, by working with a local SEO company, of which there are a growing amount of. Local SEO services offer a very targeted online marketing approach, (it’s not like dropping off brochures on front-porch steps or paying for an ad in a local newspaper that may or may not be seen by a potential customer that is interested in your products or services). Local SEO companies allows you to position your business on search engines and other digital marketing platforms, so you’re seen by potential customers — on their terms.

What are the main Local SEO services?

Website ‘localization’

‘Localizing’ your website means including your city, county or region name naturally throughout your site. For businesses with several locations, this could involve creating separate pages for individual locations and other local content strategies, like getting involved with local/community events and featuring articles/information about them on the site.

Citation Building

Ensure your site features on citation sites and online business directories. Not only will this help customers find your business, but featuring your company’s name, address and phone number on citation sites and extra information on business directories will help improve your search rankings

Claiming your Google My Business listing

Claiming your Google My Business (GMB) page is a key step towards helping your business display on important Google services, such as Local Search, Maps and Google+ pages. GMB (and its Microsoft equivalent, Bing Places for Business) should always be the first online directory you take ownership of.

Managing reviews and ratings

Genuine, honest reviews are critical both for showcasing the quality of your service and for sending signals to search engines that your site and service are trusted and useful. The amount of reviews you receive, the overall quality of the reviews and the authority of the review sites themselves are all important factors for local search rankings.

Getting quality backlinks

Naturally obtained backlinks from well-regarded websites helps search engines recognise your site as a trusted source of information. Links from local newspapers, bloggers and business associations, as well as citations, can all help improve your search visibility.