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How to Make Local SEO Work in Your Favor

  • December 15, 2022
  • Bradley Taylor

How to improve local search results

Today, small businesses and startups can leverage local SEO to boost their site traffic, increase revenue, and improve local searchability. A local SEO-driven strategy can work wonders for small businesses. It is ideal for businesses with a dedicated site and operates from a brick-and-mortar location.

Your local SEO strategy has to be grounded and growth-driven to help you realize your business’ full potential. In terms of local SEO, your goal should be to bring more customers via organic search. However, local SEO propels you to concentrate on your search engine optimization efforts.

Local SEO in 2023

SEO refers to creating a site with more visibility to users looking for specific products and services and directing them to your business site. On the flip side, local SEO is about making your site more searchable so potential local customers can easily find you.

If you run operations at a physical location, your objective should be to get on Google’s first page and maintain a top position in the search results. When you rank on Google’s first page, it automatically boosts your visibility. And the more customers see you – the more leads you can convert.

It is one thing to strategize your local SEO strategy and another to climb to the top of the ladder. In local SEO, your overall approach has to be simple and effective. You should adapt and embrace evolving local SEO strategies to make your local business site more searchable.

Once you realize the need to have a solid local SEO strategy, you need to demonstrate trustworthiness and credibility to the targeted audience. Your local SEO strategy should cover all the ground to be successful. Remember, over 50% of site traffic stems from organic search.

In fact, more than 70% of digital marketers now want to focus on concentrated SEO efforts to get quality leads and engage customers. When potential customers search for a solution, you need to fulfill their needs by ranking higher on top search engine results pages.

Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at the main considerations that can help you make local SEO work in the best interest of your business:

Determine Your Needs and Wants

Part of the process of making local SEO work is to be aware of your needs and wants. Figure out the outcomes you want to achieve through local SEO campaigns. In terms of local SEO fundamentals, set the right targets to ensure prompt business growth.

One of the best ways to determine your needs and wants is to plan actionable goals and fit them with your current marketing processes. Ensure your goals are short, strategic, and realistic. Your first goal shouldn’t be to rank on top of Google search engine results. Instead, target a position through specific metrics.

Keywords Research for Local SEO

Solid local SEO strategy depends on how effectively you use specific keywords for your business site. Ideally, you should focus on relevant and location-specific keywords. While relevant keywords are essential to your business, they might not work based on your business location.

Relevant keywords are the targeted keywords and phrases potential customers use to search for your business. On the flip side, location-specific keywords are phrases and words that narrow your search radius. But make sure to use keywords that complement your marketing efforts in the local area.

In local SEO, you can start with the ten most relevant topics to look for the ten most searched keywords. Don’t hesitate to consider moderate to difficult keywords based on your business location. You can also use a few low-volume and long-tail keywords. But make sure to adjust and track these keywords when necessary.

Understand How Google Search Engine Sees You

It often escapes businesses how Google search engines see their brand. So, when you choose your goals – consider how the site comes across to Google. After all, Google takes into account numerous ranking factors.

Speaking of how Google sees your local business site, check your key metrics against those elements to see how you can rank higher. You can perform an SEO audit using SEO tools to understand technical elements. You can ask a professional SEO expert to dig deeper, fulfill content gaps, rank higher, and help your site make it more searchable on Google.

On-page Local SEO

On-page SEO involves following practices and methods to optimize one or more web pages, improve your search ranking, and drive more organic traffic. Once you select your SEO goals, research keywords, and audit the site – leverage on-page SEO elements.

Start by covering the basics of on-page SEO. It means focusing on content, internal links, external links, meta descriptions, title tags, readability, image optimization, anchor text, and header tags. Also, implement keyword research, and follow standard HTTP protocols.

Create and Maintain an Individualized Local SEO Strategy

There is no end to navigating content clusters and inbound links to improve local SEO strategy. But after all these efforts, maintain an individualized strategy to improve your site’s local SEO. It means optimizing your content strategy, off-page strategy, and on-page strategy.

Remember, you’re on-page SEO comes down to what users see when visiting your website. Conversely, you’re off-page SEO involves elements like social media posts that users can see on the web but not on your site. So, creating and maintaining an individualized SEO strategy helps you change the elements that render the most impact on your local SEO.

Final Thoughts

Using the best aspects of local SEO, you can optimize different aspects of your business site. When your site becomes more searchable, you will be able to gain more local ground and gain a competitive edge. Businesses have an opportunity to leverage local SEO and raise brand awareness and brand equity.

While digital marketing involves myriad strategies and options, you can drive consistent growth for your business through local SEO. In retrospect, businesses have to set clear local SEO goals, create attractive content, optimize web pages, and understand how Google reviews sites to make local SEO efforts successful. 

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