4 Local SEO Strategy Suggestions

Local businesses are frequently the lifeblood of their communities. They may have a devoted fan base that knows them well, but they still struggle to compete for online space. As search engine result pages (SERPs) evolve, adding more elements that take up space, and competition grows, it can be difficult for a local business to stand out. A solid local SEO strategy can assist them in claiming their online space and showing up when it matters.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is a subset of search engine optimization and marketing that focuses on your company’s specific location or service area.

It all boils down to getting your company’s name and website to appear for your local target audience when they search for products or services related to your business.

Local SEO is concerned with strategies and tactics that assist people in your service area in finding you in person, whether they visit your business in person or visit your website.

4 Tips for Your Local SEO Strategy

A solid Local SEO strategy will assist you in optimizing your website and focusing your marketing efforts in order to increase brand awareness. It increases traffic to your website and location by allowing you to appear when people in your area search online. Here are a few pointers to consider for your local SEO strategy:

1. Claim Your Google My Business Profile

Google My Business is essentially a dashboard for managing information about your company. The “knowledge graph” or “knowledge panel” is one of the elements that frequently appear in Google search results.

This is the informational “box” or “panel” that appears on the right side of Google search results from time to time. It frequently enhances your business listing in mobile results with extra features that help it stand out.

There’s a lot that businesses should know about Google My Business, and there’s even more that you can do from your Google My Business dashboard. Aside from managing your company’s information, you can also add photos to your profile, manage and respond to reviews, create posts, and much more.

Making certain that you have control over this profile and that the information is correct is an important step toward good local SEO.

2. Make Your NAP Citation a Priority

A NAP citation includes your company’s name, address, and phone number. It may also include your website address and possibly a contact email address. Your NAP citation is the foundation of your local SEO strategy; it tells people who you are, where you are, and how to contact you.

It is critical that it be consistent. Inconsistencies in your NAP citation can result in duplicate listings in directories, a lower or nonexistent listing in the local search block, and a lot of confused and lost customers.

You want to claim as much “digital real estate” as possible in areas that are relevant to your business. After you’ve determined your NAP citation and company information, begin claiming your listings in relevant, authoritative business directories. Participate in your local Chamber of Commerce as well.

Claim your social media profiles, as well as any custom URLs available in those profiles. The goal here is to secure that digital real estate for your brand and claim your name before someone else does.

Claim, fill out and use social media profiles for your business to help you maintain a consistent brand across platforms and make it much easier for your customers to find you. It also aids search engines in recognizing and connecting your brand name, website, and these other web properties.

Manage it with a Service

If your company is still in the early stages, you may be moving around a lot, which can lead to inconsistencies in your NAP citation because it takes time to update the listings you have and for that information to filter everywhere else. However, it is not only startups that have issues with their citations; established businesses that may have changed addresses may also have inconsistent or duplicate listings.

The filter-down effect from larger data aggregators to smaller ones can take months, resulting in a large number of incorrect NAP citations for your company. You can either spend a significant amount of time searching for and updating everything yourself, or you can use a service to assist you.

Whether you use Moz Local, Yext Powerlistings, or another service, there is usually an annual or monthly fee. However, for that fee, you will be able to access a single dashboard from which you will be able to find, update, and manage the major listings and directories. This can greatly simplify listing management and monitoring while also saving you a significant amount of time.

3. Create Location-Focused Content

Search engines love crawling new content, especially if it’s relevant, authoritative, and useful. So, if your business is heavily focused on the local market, make sure the content on your website reflects that. Location-related keywords should be included in your on-page SEO. You can also create content that is specific to your region.

You can also create a location-specific landing page on your website for use in a PPC (pay-per-click) campaign aimed at driving local traffic. With a combined strategy like this, you will be able to target your region and support it with relevant content from the first click to the final conversion.

4. Get Involved With Your Local Community

Don’t underestimate the power of community in your local marketing strategies, and remember that not all of your activities have to be online. You should try to incorporate them into your online efforts if you want them to benefit your local SEO. This can be accomplished through press releases, local news coverage, social media posts, and other means. Regardless, you will want to get involved in your local community.

You can start and fund a much-needed community program, assist with an existing program, collaborate with local charities, host an event, and more. Often, doing something for the community that also benefits the community will improve your company’s reputation and raise brand awareness.

You may even be able to boost your online efforts by obtaining local links and mentions. These could include charity websites linking to you as a partner, interviews with local bloggers or journalists, local fans and communities on social media, and more. The opportunities are limitless; all you have to do is get involved in ways that best fit and represent your brand while also providing something valuable and helpful to the community.

It’s difficult to keep up with everything, and it’s common to feel as if you’re juggling a lot of different things. But you don’t have to be a master juggler to catch it all; all you need is a solid local SEO strategy and the tenacity to implement it.