A Comprehensive Guide to Improve your Local SEO in 2020

Local SEO is important to SMB businesses that operate on a local, as opposed to a domestic, level. While nationwide SEO focuses more on ranking in searches around the country, local SEO focus on appearing on SERPs in a specific location. Concisely, local SEO is essential if you want your business to stay important.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO belongs to the method of ‘optimizing’ your online existence to draw more business from appropriate local searches. These searches happen on Google search engines and other search engine as well.

What do you mean by Local ‘Snack Pack’ Vs. Organic Result?

Let’s take an example “Indian Restaurant near Dockland”

I’m sure most of you are familiar with ‘Organic Search’ Google search results.

But what do you mean by “snack pack” results?

Google Snack Pack is appears on the first results page in boxed area when you search for local business/service in Google search Engine. The Snack Pack displays the top 3 result of local business Listing which most relevant to the search enquiry.
Optimizing your local SEO means more website traffic, leads, and conversions since the strategy is more relevant to your base of local customers. Think of this focused strategy to help you compete more effectively against larger national brands that have unlimited resources to spend.
To help you boost your local SEO, we’ve created a comprehensive Local SEO guide, which will cover local SEO tips.

 

1. Create and Optimize Google My Business:

   Firstly, you need to claim your Local business onGoogle My Business Page. This establishes your presence, for free, on the search engine, and it means your business will also show up on Google Maps.
   

To optimize Google My Business, you should Keep the following things very precisely:

• Verify your Business listing
• Provide correct and up-to-date business information.
• Include business logo, hours of operation, payment methods, the product or service you sell, and business images
• Encourage your clients to review your business
• Respond sincerely to customer reviews
• Create attractive content within your account with Google Posts 

2. Getting Reviews from Customers 

Getting your customers to write positive reviews for your business doesn’t just optimize your Google My Business presence; it also encourages more local customers to buy from you.

 

Tips to encourage customers for reviews:

• Ask for a review in person after Post-sale
• Send an email post-purchase email or texting to customers for review
• Send Review links from different platforms to get Customer reviews.
• Respond to existing reviews in a positive way, always try to response both positive and negative reviews

3. Create Content Marketing Strategy based on Local news, Blog or Events

Content Marketing is the only way to reach out to the targeted audiences. Find out some most relevant news or blogs where you can publish or promote your business or services!

Some strategies include:

• Write article or Blog posts around local news, public sites or events
• Creating video and share on social media and local groups
• Setting up location-specific webpages on your website with quality contentto promote services or product
• Collaborate with blogger and start blogging on specific topic

4. Optimize Website for Mobile Device 

Looking out survey in2019 mobile vs. desktop trends discovered that the shift to mobile is going on faster than expected. Mobile visits to websites increased from 60% in 2018 to 72% in 2020, and the overall visits to websites from desktop dropped from 50% in 2017 to just 32% in 2019. This study proves that you must improve your website optimization for mobile device.

Here are some tips to achieve this:

• Ensure your website loads faster (in less 3 sec)
• Font should be bigger as easy to read
• Use image with the content
• Ensure instinctive UI for great UX
• Optimize for Mobile & Tablets in cross-platform

5. Target Local Keywords 

Local Keywords should be relevant to your local area customers only. Is it make sense?

Find out the keywords on Google Keyword Planner tool, which let you filter keyword based on location and geography in terms of competition. This will let you create a list of local relevant keywords to the target audience. Create location pages with content to target more specific customers in local.

Use the target keywords in content, Meta Title description, and Blogs as well. Also, Include region-specific landmarks in content. Just take an example, if you are planning to go out for dinner, you will be supposed to do search “Restaurant near Local area name”.

6. Use Local Business Directory Listing 

Local business directorieswebsites like Yelp, Foursquare, Locanto, and Yellow Pages, etc. These all are helpful to boost your local SEO.When users click on one of these local directories, they havea choice of dozens of local businesslist from which to prefer. Hours of operation, website Location, phone number, and even with customerreviews for businesses can be found on these directories.

Your website listing should include the following:

1. Business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, category
2. Link to your website
3. Brief Description about your business product or services

Listing your business website on these types of local business directory will improve online presence, increase brand visibility and improve business reputation.

7. Create Dedicate Web pages for each product/services Including Local area

 While it can be exciting to just combineall your products or services together in one big page, avoid doing so. Instead, create dedicate separate page to every unique product or service you offer.

Your local SEO isn’t as effective if you combine everything into one page because search engines be inclined not to see your brand as an influence in one specific area. This drops your ranking possibilities.

If your business have various locations, simply create location-based copy of each page with specific content. It makes senses rather than lump it together!

Local Business SEO is More Important Than Ever 

SEO changes frequently day by day. You never know when Google will announceadditional new features on its SERPs for local searches, but you can count on these changes going. That’s why it’s important to stay on top of local SEO.