What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is critical and it has helped several small businesses around the globe to attract their customers. If your business service is targeted at a specific region then it's high time for you to focus on local SEO because 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information.
This blog can help you understand how to enhance your brand's online visibility through local SEO.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the process of optimizing the brand's online presence to attract nearby online searchers organically. Local SEO optimization can help any business that has a physical location or serves specific demographics. And this process includes finding local keywords, optimizing Google’s My Business profile, and building “NAP” citations.
How Does It Work?
Google search results and Local SEO results almost work similarly but the ranking factors for Local SEO are a bit different.
How Google determines local ranking?
Google Algorithms are based on these three factors to rank on the Local Search
- Relevance
- Distance
- Prominence
Relevance
Relevance refers to how well a local Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. Add complete and detailed business information to help Google better understand your business and match your profile to relevant searches.
Distance
Distance considers how far each potential search result is from the location term used in a search.
Prominence
Prominence refers to how well-known a business is. Prominence is also based on information that Google has about a business, from across the web, like links, articles, and directories. Google review count and review score factor into local search ranking. More reviews and positive ratings can improve your business's local ranking. Your position in web results is also a factor, so search engine optimization (SEO) best practices apply.
How to optimize for Local SEO?
- Create and verify a business account on the Google My Business tool.
- Ensure information is up to date as your business changes.
- Verify your business locations so they’re more likely to show in local search results across Google products, like Maps and Search.
- Update your business hours regularly, including when you open and close, and special hours for holidays and events.
- Reviews from your business customer are so important. Positive reviews can enhance your business visibility so make sure you respond to them quickly.
- Add High-quality images to your business profiles with appropriate descriptions.
- If you’re a retail business owner ensure to add all the products to your business profile.
Tracking performance is one of the key factors for a successful business. So, make sure that you set up a clear business goal and track them using Google Analytics and Google Search Console tools
It’s common for any business to get negative reviews for your product or service but ensure you reach them personally and address the issue asap. Negative reviews have the potential to create a huge impact on your business.
Source: Google Help Center
