Local SEO is a tricky gig but, when 28% of local searches lead to a purchase order, it’s value putting in some labor.
Thankfully, local SEO gets much easier when you’ve got all the foundations in place and this 10-point checklist will show you how to do that. Crack all 10 of those key essentials and also you’ll be well in your approach to having fun with the lofty conversion rates and ROI of a winning local SEO strategy.
What Are the ten Steps We’re Looking At?
In this text, we’re laying the foundations of a winning local SEO strategy with the next 10 steps:
- Complete your Google Business Profile
- Create listings on business directory web sites
- Optimise your website for local SEO
- Optimise for mobile sessions
- Develop a neighborhood content strategy
- Target local backlinks
- Build your local profile – online and offline
- Merge the web and offline customer experience
- Capture customer reviews
- Engage together with your customers online
By completing all of those, you’ll have all the pieces in place to start out getting results and fine-tuning your technique to maximise ROI.
#1: Complete Your Google Business Profile
The first step in any local SEO strategy is completing your Google Business Profile. This is the HQ of your local search presence. It makes you visible within the local pack of results and other placements – most significantly, in Google Maps.
Your Business Profile also includes all of the knowledge local searchers need to decide on you over other businesses.
Crucially, your Business Profile puts key actions at users’ fingertips. They can click through to your website, call you on the push of a button and even browse products and reserve a table, depending on which sort of business you’re.
To maximise leads and foot traffic out of your Business Profile, ensure you complete it 100% and keep it up-to-date with accurate information – eg: opening times.
Also, take full advantage of the chance to upload images and videos, showing the very best of your small business, services, products, etc. Show potential customers why they need to select you over the competition and make it as easy as possible for them to convert, whether this happens online or offline.
#2: Create Listings on Business Directory Websites
Once your Google Business Profile is complete, you’ll wish to get your small business listed on relevant business directory web sites.
Here are a few of the top directory sites to start with:
You don’t have to have listings on every relevant site but each listing expands your reach to a wider audience.
Google and other search engines like google use the knowledge in directory listings as a signal to confirm the legitimacy of your small business. So ensure you might have a minimum of 3-4 listings on other directory sites and ensure your entire information is 100% accurate and consistent across all of them.
#3: Optimise Your Website for Local SEO
Assuming you might have an internet site (you don’t need one for local SEO, nevertheless it helps), the subsequent step is to optimise it for local search. First, ensure your name, address and phone number information matches the information in your Google Business Profile and directory listing profiles exactly.
These have to match right down to the letter so don’t use “St.” in a single place and “Street” in one other or have your phone number starting with 020 in since places and +4420 elsewhere.
At the structural level, you would like to create location pages for every key area you’re targeting. If you simply have one business premise, your homepage can act as the situation page for your organization but you’ll wish to create separate pages for each location if you might have multiple premises.
If you would like to goal local searchers outside of the areas your businesses are situated (eg: the entire county), you possibly can create sub-location pages for each business location page. This helps people searching outside of your immediate business location to see your listing, so long as other, more relevant businesses aren’t closer to them (proximity matters in local SEO).
#4: Optimise for Mobile Sessions
As of March 2023, 60.67% of all website traffic comes from mobile and smartphones play a good greater role in local search. The overwhelming majority of local searches happen on mobile and 88% of people that conduct a neighborhood search visit a related store inside per week.
If you’re serious about local SEO, you have to prioritise mobile sessions and optimise every touch point for mobile users.
This is very vital in the event you’re trying to drive website visits from local searches. Mobile-friendliness has been a rating factor for a few years now but Google is taking a stronger interest in UX signals with Core Web Vitals and the page experience update.
Loading times are crucial and Google can also be timing the responsiveness of interactive elements and measuring the structural stability of your pages. If interactive elements like buttons take too long to trigger actions or your layout jumps around as elements load, your search rankings are affected.
Google is especially strict with these signals on mobile because they affect the user experience more on smaller screen sizes.
More importantly, in the event you’re driving local traffic to your website so that they can book a table or buy your products, a poor mobile UX will kill conversions.
#5: Develop a Local Content Strategy
Content marketing is just as vital for local SEO as some other search strategy. The difference is, it is advisable to localise your content strategy to incorporate local keywords and canopy topics relevant to your area(s).
You don’t need to focus on local keywords in all the pieces you publish or post unnecessary articles about local topics. Prioritise relevance to your audience and aim to publish as much localised content as you reasonably can.
You’ll also wish to hunt down content opportunities on local third-party web sites to achieve wider audiences, increase citations and earn relevant backlinks.
#6: Target Local Backlinks
The best businesses in any given area are most certainly to earn backlinks from reputable sites in the identical area: local news web sites, events venues, other businesses, etc.
Ideally, you wish a combination of high-quality backlinks (no matter location) with the very best local backlinks you possibly can get.
Obviously, the common quality of local backlinks will probably be lower than other links. This isn’t an issue in the event you’re getting a few of the very best links you possibly can out of your local area and these should, in theory, be easier to win than the non-local backlinks you’re targeting.
#7: Build Your Local Profile — Online & Offline
The best approach to earn local backlinks is to construct your local business profile, offline in addition to online. Network with local businesses and web sites, get in contact with local publishers and get entangled with the local people.
Make sure people know you exist and play an energetic role within the interest of local people’s lives and the local business community.
For example, you possibly can get entangled in local events by attending them, sponsoring them or running your individual. Being an energetic member of the local people will construct your profile in the realm and provides people reason to speak about you. It will even make you newsworthy for local publications which might be more likely to jot down about you, reach out for interviews and have your organization in their very own content.
#8: Merge the Online & Offline Customer Experience
Earlier, we linked to a stat saying 88% of people that conduct a neighborhood search visit a related store inside per week. Local search is an omnichannel experience that takes place online and offline – so it is advisable to merge these touchpoints into one experience.
This may start with a neighborhood search on mobile, a click-through to your website to make a purchase order and picking the product up in-store. It could involve booking a table – either through Google Maps or your website – and the group arriving for their meal.
Alternatively, users may simply perform the local search, compare the choices available and pay a visit to your small business.
Whatever customer journeys your audience may take across these online and offline touchpoints, it is advisable to be ready for all of them.
Make it easy for customers to purchase your products, reserve them for pickup or select delivery in the event that they prefer. Make it easy to book a table online or call up and make the reservation. And give users all the knowledge they need in your Business Profile to decide on you over your local rivals: opening times, service information, amenities, images of your small business, etc.
Once customers walk through the door, deliver the very best service you possibly can because online reviews are just one step away they usually’re visible for everyone to see.
#9: Capture Customer Reviews
According to insights from ShinyLocal, 98% of individuals read online reviews for local businesses.
Thankfully, customers are happier to go away positive reviews after they’re impressed by local businesses than they’re with larger or online firms. Use this to your advantage and politely ask customers to go away a review in the event that they’re completely happy with the service they received.
For any online transactions, send emails to customers asking them to go away reviews.
You don’t need an ideal review rating to impress latest customers. In fact, research has found people don’t trust perfect review scores. Instead, aim for a powerful average rating of 4+/5 from a high variety of reviews because individuals are more prone to trust average scores from 100 reviews than 10.
#10: Engage with Your Customers Online
Local SEO gives you plenty of opportunities to have interaction with customers online. The most evident place is on review pages (Google Reviews, Trustpilot, etc.) where you possibly can reply to customer feedback. Thank people for positive reviews and address any negative comments or feedback they supply – show that you simply value their input.
Likewise, you’ll wish to cope with negative reviews as quickly and comprehensively as possible. Don’t be afraid of negative feedback. Respond to it with positivity and show others that you simply excel at customer support, even when the shopper is likely to be within the incorrect.
You may also interact with customers via your Google Business Profile through posts and Q&As. Publish posts to maintain local people informed about latest services or products, changes to opening times or the rest occurring with your small business.
Users can post questions which might be visible in your profile and other users can answer these questions for you. So get in there first and reply to questions quickly. Give people the satisfaction of getting their questions answered by you and show your enthusiasm to have interaction with people directly.
You’ll also want to have interaction with customers on social media. You can include them in your content, run contests and polls and even ask them to create user-generated content for you.
Be authentic and show a real interest within the people you would like to call customers.
Putting It All Together
Once you’ve covered all 10 of the steps we’ve explored on this checklist, the one thing missing is a strong analytics system to measure the performance of your local SEO strategy and attribute purchases to every step of the shopper journey.
This will show you how to get an accurate picture of how your local SEO strategy is generating revenue for your small business – online and offline. From here, you possibly can construct on the foundations we’ve set in this text and optimise your technique to maximise ROI.
Need Help?
We have a team of local SEO specialists readily available to support you all the best way. You can visit Vertical Leap, or call 02392 830281 to speak to one in all the team.
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