How to Take Advantage of Local Search Featuressubmitted on 10 March 2020
With the global reach of the Internet, it’s easy to get carried away with your ability to reach people around the world. However, for many businesses, the most important thing is being able to reach the local people in their area.
Around 46% of Google searches are seeking local information, and your business could be showing up for these kinds of searches if you’re getting your local SEO right.
Here are 5 important aspects you will need to take care of if you’re going to show up at the top of the rankings for local searches.
Keywords
To show up in Google’s local results, you’ve got to be able to signal to them that you’re a local business. If you hardly ever include local keywords such as “accountant in Naperville,” then Google is less likely to understand the focus of your business.
Keywords still play a big part in search engines’ algorithms, so make sure you’re finding the keywords that fit your business. For local SEO, they’re pretty self-explanatory; you want keywords that describe your services and the locations you serve.
Google My Business
Another important tool that Google uses to understand your business is your Google My Business account.
When you type in a local query such as “accountant in Naperville,” you’ll notice a map with local accountants, along with their name, address, contact details, and opening times. If Google is going to list your business in these local packs, then it wants to know it has the right information for your business.
By using the information in your My Business account, Google can be confident it’s giving its users accurate information and you can feel more confident about listing your business.
Links
Away from the Internet, local businesses have quite a close-knit community. If you walk into a local salon, you often find business cards for other local businesses, and if you ask for a recommendation, the owner will pass you on to another local business.
Google views the Internet in a similar way; local businesses are linked to each other. Building these “recommendations” by linking to and from other local businesses is a great way to signal to Google that you’re a trustworthy local business.
NAP Citations
Another important part of your local SEO is building NAP citations. Any time your business name, address, and phone number appear together on a website, this is seen as a positive sign by Google.
NAP citations are a big factor (about 13%) in your ability to rank for local search queries. This means building NAP citations should be a key part of your local SEO efforts.
Structure Your Website to Show Locality
If you provide services in different areas, then your website needs to reflect that. If your accountancy firm covers Naperville, Lisle, Woodbridge, and Downers Grove, then demonstrate this by creating a page for each locality.
Users want the best answers for their queries, so if you’re looking specifically for accounting services in Downers Grove, you’d rather read a page dedicated to Downers Grove than one that briefly mentions Downers Grove whilst focusing mainly on Naperville.
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