While standard SEO practices can help all websites boost their search engine performance, if you are a business that serves a local community, there is a different set of strategies that you need to implement in 2024. Known as local SEO, they are especially useful in getting your business noticed online in your area, whether that’s a region, city, town, village or suburb. In this post, we explain what those strategies are and how to put them into practice.
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Get a Google Business Profile
As far as search engines go, Google dominates the market, so if you want your business to be seen by more people, one of the first things you should do is set up a Google Business Profile. This is free to do, and the process is relatively easy. With a Google Business Profile, your business is far more likely to get listed in local searches, including the ones featuring maps of your area. It also means that if someone searches for your actual business, your profile will be prominently displayed.
When you create your business profile, you will be able to provide Google with lots of information that can help attract new customers. This includes your business name, address and phone number, your business type (e.g., plumber, restaurant, hair salon), a list of your services and your opening hours. There will also be a link to your company website and a map showing where you are. Here is part of our Google Business Profile.
Aside from the information above, you can also create a description of your business. While this is useful for promoting the services you offer, you should also take this as an opportunity to use relevant local keywords in the description. This will help your profile appear in local searches. Besides a description, you can add images, links to blog posts, news updates and other information to your profile.
Another advantage is that by opening a Google Business Profile, customers will be able to leave reviews and ratings of your business, and these will be displayed in some searches. Obviously, the better your ratings and reviews, the greater the chance that visitors will visit your website and become customers.
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Use local keywords
In the section above, we mentioned using local keywords on your Google Business Profile. It is equally important that you also use them on your website as this can have a significant impact on your local search results.
If you are not familiar with what we mean by local keywords, it basically means putting the type of business you are and the name of the area you serve together and adding them to the content of your website. If you are a café in Croydon, for example, then you need to think of the search terms people will use for finding a café in Croydon, for example, Croydon café and coffee shop Croydon. You can also include your name in the keywords, e.g. Cosy Corner Café Croydon, or words that make your business stand out, e.g., vegan café Croydon. To have the greatest impact, remember to use these terms in titles, headings, general content and meta descriptions.
While there is no end to the different local keywords you can choose, you can check how popular they are as search terms and identify the best ones to use on your website with Google’s Keyword Planner. To do this you will need to open a Google Ads account. There is no charge for this, and you do not need to buy Google Ads to use the service.
If your business provides services to multiple localities, it is possible to create different location-based web pages for each area, each with a different local keyword. For example, a West Yorkshire-based builder could have separate pages targeting Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Halifax, and use keywords like builder Leeds, Bradford building services, building contractor Wakefield and Halifax building company.
Start selling from your website, read: How To Set Up An Online Store In 10 Easy Steps
Create local content
Aside from local keywords, another strategy is to create locally focused content. If your website has a blog or news section, then start writing about things in your local area. If your business has participated in a local event or helped with a local charity, then there is a ripe opportunity not just to use a greater number of local keywords but to attract new visitors who might be searching for that information. This type of content also lets search engines know where your company’s geographical interest is centred.
Get listed locally
Besides a Google Business Profile, it also helps to get listed on other listing sites. While there are some major ones you can join, like Yell and Thompson Local, you should also consider those that specifically serve your area. These services are often provided by local councils, newspapers and business associations. Again, these are indexed by search engines and are searched by local people.
One important thing to remember when listing on these sites is that whenever you provide the name, address and phone number, the details should be identical every time. Together, these three pieces of information are known as your NAP. By using this consistently on all listings Google will understand that the business being referred to is yours. Even slight changes, for instance, using ‘&’ in one listing and ‘and’ in another, or Co. and Company, can lead to search engines thinking there are two companies with similar names and addresses.
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Encourage local backlinks
Backlinks from other websites can be a signal to search engines that your business is considered reputable, and this can significantly boost your ranking in search results – provided the links themselves come from reputable websites. For local SEO, it helps if these links come from reputable local websites as they show your company’s reputation in your locality. While links from local listings sites are helpful, getting links from your local council, newspaper, nearby businesses and blogs can also be highly beneficial.
To encourage these, publish press releases and website and social media updates, and take the opportunity to network with other local businesses.
Enable reviews
As search engines want to provide users with the best results, they are more inclined to rank businesses with better reputations. One way to tell this is by customer reviews. While we have already mentioned that setting up a Google Business Profile lets Google viewers leave ratings, you should also provide other means for them to do this, for example, on Facebook or websites like Trustpilot. Not only will search engines take note of these reviews, but local customers too – so if you have positive reviews and ratings, this could boost income even further.
Remember that not all reviews are guaranteed to be glowing, indeed if everyone gives 5-star reviews it can even look suspicious. If you do get a negative review, then respond quickly and in an appropriate way – other people will read your responses.
Conclusion
Performing well in local search results can make a huge difference to small businesses, especially if there is a lot of competition in the area. Optimising your website for local search plays a key role in improving ranking and the strategies provided here have been proven to help. Hopefully, by implementing these, you will see more visitors to your website.
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