Most people think of the internet in its global aspect but in fact, when people search, they want to find localized goods and services. They are looking for a nearby restaurant, hospital, wholesale drinks supplier, and the list goes on.
As a seller or a business owner, you don’t want your website to be left behind the trend. Yes, you are using SEO strategies but don’t forget that SEO is evolving. One part of the evolution is the rise of zero-click searches. A zero-click search is when the user doesn’t click on any of the ranking results because the query is already answered by the Search Engine Result Page (SERP) itself. This technique is actually called a “Local Pack”.
What is Local SEO?
While national SEO focuses more on ranking in searches across the country, Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that optimizes your online presence to increase search engine visibility with local users on a regional scale. Roughly 46% of search queries on Google are for hunting on a local business or local service. This statistic only manifests that most people utilize Google to scout for neighboring stores or establishments.
Notice the three businesses that are shown in the box at the top of the search page along with a map and dropped pins…They get more clicks and conversions more than any of the links below them.
In that sense, your website has to rank up on local search results in order to gain traffic and attract customers. You have to understand the concept and build the structure of your marketing campaign with local SEO.
Why is Local SEO Important?
Whether you have a website or not, Local SEO sets you ahead of your competitors even against larger national brands that have unlimited resources to spend. By focusing on how to effectively implement the local SEO technique, you can counterbalance the edge of bigger brands that most of the time optimize for broader keywords and depend on brand acknowledgement, instead of giving value on concept or idea, to gain traffic.
Approximately, 78% of people who search locally proceed to purchase afterward. This includes purchases online and in physical stores. With that being said, Local SEO helps direct the customer’s decisions in favor of your business. If they read more information about your business prior to visiting your store, the more reliable you are in their eyes.
How does local SEO work?
When a customer searches for a business online with a specific location, results will appear on the search engine based on proximity. Thus, optimizing your website for local search for desktop and mobiles should help your page rank higher on search engines if a nearby user searches for your business.
For example, if you search for Ceramic Car Coating + Geylang on Google, you’ll get the following results:
What are the Ways to Develop Your Local SEO Right Now?
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Use a Google My Business Account
A Google My Business is 100% free and an essential step of any Local SEO campaign to increase visibility and to rank higher on Google Maps. It allows you to engage with customers, discover their demands, and manage details about your business.
For you to perform the optimization process, you have to associate a Google My Business account with your Business profile then request for verification. Once Google has approved your Profile, you can put more information on your listing like your logo, hours of operation, acceptable payment methods, the product or service you sell, and plenty of images.
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Get Reviews from Satisfied Customers Regularly
Encourage your happy customers to leave reviews on your web store. Their reviews will not only optimize your online visibility but also creates curiosity, hence, encouraging other customers to avail of your products or services.
But be mindful of your responses. Make sure it’s done in a professional manner – thank your reviewers and address complaints with a reasonable solution.
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Optimize for Mobile
Mobile devices represent 58% of all searches on Google alone; that is a great shift from desktop online searches. While 76% of people who search their smartphones for something close visit a business in one day.
This data is proof of why optimizing mobile devices for Local SEO is significant. Also, get busy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Quora. The more responsive you are, the more your store appears on search engine results pages (SERP).
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Create Local Content with Local Keywords
- As the cliche goes, “Content is King”. So give them unique content that will wow your audience. But consider your niche and local customers instead of targeting a broad audience. Here are some of the strategies that you may use:
- Write blog content using local keywords that mention the location of your business as well as region-specific landmarks and hotspots.
- Create a different page for every business location you have and feature news events or local activities.
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Pay Attention to Getting High-Quality Backlinks
Link signals are backlinks pointing to your site and are the first- and second-most important factors for local pack (or snack pack) results and for localized organic results, respectively.
To get high-quality backlinks:
- Ensure that the content you publish is also of great quality to persuade others to link to your content.
- Guest blog on trusted sites – with great reviews, large number of engagements.
- Connect with local influencers by sending them an email or communicating on social media to encourage them to link back to you
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Maximize the Use of Online Business Directories
Yelp, Foursquare, MapQuest, and YellowPages are a few of the online directories that will drive traffic to your website/store. Apart from that, most often, users will be getting your business name, address, and phone number into these directories.
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Optimize for Voice Search
Voice search is advancing in Google so better get your Business Account ready for it. Your SEO should suit the conversational tone since users tend to speak more long-tail keywords compared to encoded searches. The most common searches will begin with how, what, why, when, and where and that may include your business hours; in that case, it should be readily available.
Conclusion
Just like any big store with big names, small stores have to begin with small steps before becoming successful. Make your stores or websites known on a regional scale and target local customers. Implement the various ways in optimizing your Local SEO and you will be surprised with the results.
Now, if you are ready to start your Local SEO campaign, contact the best SEO Expert in Singapore.