Until now, SEO was shown as a fundamental element for any online business that wanted to boost its visibility on the Internet and grow its customer base. But we already know that SEO never ceases to surprise us and that every day it brings new developments, and one of the latest comes with Local SEO, a type of positioning specifically focused on physical businesses.
Local SEO focuses on performing relevant searches for users, based on their current location. This means that if, for example, you're in Reus and search Google for a men's barbershop, the barbershops closest to your current location will appear in the results.
This new local positioning technique comes as a result of Google realizing that, increasingly, users perform local searches from their computers, smartphones and tablets, with the aim of finding businesses located near their current position. Already in 2015, 4 out of 5 Internet searches were related to obtaining local information, and 60% of those local searches were performed through mobile devices. Data that, two years later, will undoubtedly have increased.
Hence Google's need to implement a new positioning system that would allow it to offer increasingly relevant information depending on the search area. That's why if you have an SME or a physical store, Local SEO is indispensable for you, since it will allow you to attract potential customers located near your business.
It's something very advantageous both for users and for the businesses themselves, so if until now local positioning had completely gone unnoticed by you or you hadn't given it the importance it deserves, the time has come to get to work.
How to optimize your business's local SEO?
Google My Business
The first thing to do to optimize your business's local SEO is to make sure the data that appears on Google My Business is correct. It's a platform that unifies Google Places and Google+ Local, and that allows you to manage the business through a single tool.
Here it's important to fill in all fields with your contact information, opening hours, address, services, etc. The more complete your profile is, the easier it will be for Google to identify the sector to which your business belongs and relate it to user searches.
And to avoid confusing Google, we recommend that you always use the same NAP, an acronym corresponding to name, address and phone.
Highlight your city or province
It's important to highlight and make clear the city or province where your business is located, adding it in different important places that can be key when offering information: titles, headings, meta tags, URL, content, image tagging, etc.
Get reviews and comments
Reviews and comments play a leading role in local SEO, and the first results that will appear after a search will be those that have the best ratings and have received the largest number of reviews, enormously increasing the conversion rate of visits into customers.
An effective way to get reviews and comments is by offering a series of benefits to your customers (discounts, promotions, incentives, etc.), in exchange for them leaving a review on the profile. And forget about buying reviews from pages that offer this possibility, as you'll most likely risk Google penalizing you.
Insert a Google map on your website
Inserting a Google map on your website will be very positive, although make sure you've inserted it correctly. It's important that the map you include doesn't just show your address, but also the classic pin indicating your position on the map. The best place to include this map will be on your contact page.
Local directories
Registering your business in local directories will increase your chances of appearing in the top search results. Register entering the NAP you've inserted in the rest of the sites, always making sure the information is correct. This will affect your business positioning very positively.
You know it now: local SEO will be the definitive boost your business needs to stand out and attract new customers. Get to work with it, and if you have any doubts or need help, don't hesitate to contact us, we'll be happy to assist you and help your business grow.
Related reading
- How to index your website in Google
- Ranking on Google: technique, content and authority
- Best SEO agency: real criteria
Shall we work together?
If you want to apply this in your company with a team that combines technical SEO, GEO and paid acquisition measured against the income statement, request a no-commitment audit. You can also check real case studies or read the public GEO baselines that Elevam Labs publishes every quarter.
