Local SEO Introduction: Getting Started With Local Search

Table of Contents

Introduction

It’s no secret that local SEO is an important part of your business marketing strategy. It can help you build a positive reputation in your industry, attract more customers and increase overall revenue. If done correctly, your website will show up at the top of Google’s search results when people are looking for nearby businesses like yours. However, it’s not always easy to get started with local SEO because there are so many factors that play into it—from understanding what metrics are important (such as keyword research) to working with professional content writers to create engaging copy that speaks directly to these potential customers’ needs. In this blog post we’ll discuss some basic tips on how start improving your local search rankings today!

Why is local SEO important?

Local SEO is important because it helps businesses rank higher in local search results. Since you’re already running a brick and mortar shop, this is the most logical way to get your business out there. When customers are searching for something like a “dentist near me” or “plumber near me”, they will see your business at the top of their list if you have more reviews than competitors.

As we mentioned above, when people search for a nearby business on Google Maps (or another search engine), they expect to find that business on the first page of results. If they don’t see what they want on page one then they will move on to another result which could lead them away from your website altogether! You need those clicks from Google Maps so that users can find out more information about your products and services before making an appointment with their local dentist office for example.

Getting more repeat customers through local SEO means that people who are happy with their experience with one company will come back again because they know exactly where it is located within miles of their home or place of work without having any idea where it may actually be located physically until walking into its doors after all these years later.”

What are the best tips to improve your local SEO results?

  • The Local Pack

The local pack is an area of the organic search results where businesses are listed based on their physical location and other information about their business. When a user searches for something local, Google will show this box at the top of its SERPs. You can see an example in the image below:

  • A Local Business Directory

There are many local business directories that are very useful for getting new clients and increasing brand awareness in your area. Search engines like Yelp and Insider Pages provide great opportunities to build up your online presence by submitting your information to these sites and adding reviews from customers who have already been there! Make sure to include contact info so people know how they can reach out if they want more information about what you offer!

On-page ranking factors for local SEO.

  • Keyword usage. The most important and most obvious factor of local SEO is keyword usage. For any local business, the keywords are ones that are associated with your business or service. So if you’re a restaurant, you’ll want to rank for terms like “Italian restaurants” or “Italian food delivery.” You can easily see these by using Google’s keyword tool or Moz’s mozBar browser plugin—just search for what you want to rank for in the search query field and take note of the suggested keywords that show up below. If there are no suggested keywords, add one! In addition to ranking for those specific phrases on Google, this will also help you reach more general audiences who are looking for information about your business but might not know exactly what it does yet (e.g., someone searching “where can I find Italian restaurants near me?”).
  • URL structure and site speed: Both have been shown time and time again over years as significant factors when determining where a website ranks on its SERPs (search engine result pages). A good example of an excellent URL structure would be https://www.bestplacestoeatitalianfoodintown/restaurants/. While this may seem like a lot more work than just typing in www., don’t forget that URLs are meant to make sense out loud so they’re easier for humans—and especially search engines—to understand; plus they give off signals about what kind of page it is so users know ahead of time if they’ll enjoy reading it before clicking through.* Content length: It may sound counterintuitive at first glance given how much emphasis we place nowadays on brevity in content marketing campaigns; however long form articles tend actually perform better than short ones because they allow readers enough space (and therefore time) needed when doing research into their next dining experience before making decisions based solely upon reviews left behind by others

Local content marketing.

Local search is a great opportunity to get in front of your audience and build trust, authority and credibility. By creating local content that answers their questions, you can reach them through the use of keywords and start building links from local websites. This also includes citations on business directories and blogs.

 

Social media and local SEO.

Social media is a great way to build links, citations, reputation and brand awareness. Social media can also help build trust with your audience.

One of the best ways to expand your reach is by using social media as a tool for generating links. One way to do this is by getting involved in conversations on relevant blogs or forums where your target audience hangs out. This might mean commenting on posts from other bloggers, joining Facebook groups related to your industry or even starting up some Twitter chats where you get people talking about topics that matter most (and can be linked back). These types of interactions will show Google that you’re an expert in your field and give them more information about what makes you unique compared with other companies offering similar products/services

Reviews and citations for local SEO.

Reviews and citations go hand in hand with local SEO. The more reviews you have, the higher your search engine rankings will be. Citations are basically links to your business on other websites, such as Facebook and Yelp. They help increase your online presence by getting more eyes on what you have to offer.

To get more reviews and citations, focus on providing a great customer experience for every customer who walks through your door or makes a purchase from you online—and ask for feedback from them! If someone spends time writing an honest review about their experience at your business, make sure you thank them!

If there are negative reviews out there about your business (because if there aren’t then either someone’s lying or the world is ending), don’t panic: just respond positively with grace and empathy so that people know exactly how things went down when they were at one of your locations or contacted one of those employees—it’ll help clear up any confusion around whatever happened so that it won’t happen again in the future (and also take steps towards improving).

Citations can come from anywhere: Yelp reviews; Facebook posts; Instagram photos/comments/likes containing location data (if applicable); blog posts mentioning keywords related specifically towards what’s going on within each individual field such as “car repair” (if relevant); etcetera!

Links for local SEO.

Links are still an important part of your overall SEO strategy. When it comes to local search, you need to build links that are relevant and useful to the user searching for your business’s services (i.e., not necessarily a link back to your homepage).

Links can be built through guest blogging on another website, commenting on other blogs, participating in industry forums and Q&A sites like Quora or Reddit, etc. The goal is to create content that adds value for users while also providing links back to your site from high-authority domains.

The future of local SEO.

In the future, local search will continue to evolve as Google and other search engines try to provide the best experience for their users. The difficulty of ranking in local search results has made it more complex than ever before, but that’s a good thing! If you’re serious about getting found online, then you need to seriously consider what it takes to rank well in local SERPs.

So where do you start? The first step is recognizing that local search is different from traditional SEO (and there’s no point trying to do both at once). After that, it’s all about building great profiles on the right sites with relevant information so people can find them. Then comes creating engaging content—content that answers questions people are asking in their community—and promoting those pieces through social media and blogs so they get shared across platforms. That’s how you build authority and trust with potential customers while driving traffic back to your site. And finally … well … if all goes well from here on out then those loyal followers should eventually become paying customers!

A positive user experience will help you build a positive reputation, which could have an impact on your overall rankings as well as your local search results.

The user experience is important when it comes to local SEO. Google has made it clear that they value providing a positive user experience by offering features like “Add To Home Screen” and AMP pages, which give users faster page load times across the board. Users are more likely to return to websites that provide them with a positive user experience, so this can help build your reputation on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). A positive reputation can then lead to improved rankings for local searches and overall organic search results.

Conclusion

So, now that you know some of the best ways to improve your local SEO and what factors influence it, you can get started on improving your website’s ranking. Don’t forget that this is a process that takes time and requires patience.

 

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