What is Local SEO and 7 Ways to Improve Your Site Visibility

Local SEO requires a different approach from the general organic SEO. If you have an offline store or any other business, the best way to reach out to maximum potential customers is to optimize your website for local search results. However, it is essential to have access to the right resources and tools to get the most out of your local SEO efforts. 

You can either do it yourself or partner with an experienced local SEO services company. Whichever path you choose, you should first understand how local SEO works and how you can improve your website’s visibility using it. Let us dive deeper into the world of local SEO:

What is Local SEO?

Local Search Engine Optimization refers to the process of optimizing a website to rank on local search results. These results are location-specific and are targeted at users who look for products or services in nearby areas. Google and other search engines deliver relevant results based on your location when you search for some particular service or product. 

For example, if you search for shopping malls, Google itself will show you the shopping malls nearest to your location. This is where Local SEO optimization plays an important role. Local SEO is different from global SEO. A website that ranks high on local searches might not be even on the first page of global search results. Although local SEO is not as powerful as Global SEO, it is a great way to bring more organic traffic to your website from the most relevant audience. 

Ways to Improve Your Site’s Visibility with Local SEO

Below are listed some effective ways to improve the online visibility of your website using local SEO services:

1. Optimizing Google Business Profile

Optimization of your Google business profile is important. You need to make sure that all the details are accurate and updated on your business profile, such as the business name, contact information, address, customer reviews, etc. When planning to optimize your Google Business Profile, the first step is to create or claim it. This step is crucial to ensure that you own this profile and can make changes to it. 

Once you create it, go to Google Business Profile and click on the option ‘Manage Now.’ Enter the name of your business if it’s not already there. If it is there, you will need to claim it by proceeding further. Fill in all the required fields and after submitting the details, choose a verification method. Whether you create a business profile from scratch or you are claiming an existing one, you will have to verify it using phone, email, video call, or any of the provided methods. 

The Q&As feature of Google Business Profile can also do wonders for your business if you know how to use it effectively. You will be able to see the ‘Ask a Question’ option on your business profile after setting it up. This option allows users to ask any question related to your business. An interesting fact here is that this question is not only visible to the business owner but to everyone who visits this business profile. Therefore, it can be a great way to boost engagement on your business profile if used wisely.

2. Performing Local Keyword Research

Local keywords refer to the terms or phrases that people around you are searching for on Google. For example, when a user searches for ‘bakery shops,’ he/she may see results from all around the world, which might not be relevant to their needs. But when they search for ‘bakery shops in XYZ location,’ they will see more relevant results. 

You can optimize your product pages for such keywords so that people around you can easily see your website when they search for something related to your business. You can use keyword research tools to find the most searched keywords by people based on your locality and optimize your pages accordingly. Also, make sure to perform local keyword research regularly and keep your pages updated with them.

3. On-Page SEO Optimization

Your web pages will never appear on Google search results until they are SEO optimized. If you want your website to rank high for local searches, make sure to optimize your pages for the local keywords. Along with the general organic keywords, you must add location-specific keywords if you want people to visit your physical store. This is one of the best ways to boost traffic to your offline store along with improving the online presence of your business.

4. Customer Reviews & Reputation Management

Online reviews are much more important than you think. They do not only influence the reputation of your business but also affect your search engine rankings. These reviews may appear on Google search engine results like featured snippets. 

Therefore, gaining more and more customer reviews and positively responding to them is extremely important. You can take the help of a review management tool to see all the reviews of your business across different platforms and manage all of them in one place.

5. Local Link Building

Local link building refers to creating backlinks, i.e. getting links on other websites redirected to your webpages. You can contact relevant local websites to get backlinks. You can use a link-building tool to find potential local websites and reach out to them. These tools provide you with the basic information of multiple prospects around you and you can choose the most suitable ones as per your requirements.

6. Local Citations & Business Directories

Once you set up your GBP (Google Business Profile), you can get it listed in the local directories to make it more relevant to the search engines and to your target audience. The more local directories a business is listed in, the more trustworthy it becomes over time. 

Talking about local citations, you can easily manage them with a listing management tool. This helps you see all the listings with inaccurate or incomplete information, You can get these issues fixed in order to ensure that your potential customers do not return just because of insufficient information.

Find The Best Local SEO Services for Your Business

Local SEO can take your business to the next level. You just need to have the right knowledge and access to a few essential tools. As discussed earlier, you can also partner with a local SEO services company like MadHawks, which has experience in leveraging local SEO for every type of business. 

With the help of a professional SEO services company, you can optimize your website for not only one but multiple locations. So, even if you have a business spread across different cities, local SEO can help you reach the maximum target audience.

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