4 Essential Local SEO Tips You Need to Hear in 2021

Google has fine-tuned its algorithms, placing a greater emphasis on search results that match a user’s location. While global SEO still brings benefits, optimising your website for local search provides you with lucrative sales opportunities. Here are some essential Local SEO tips to boost your website rankings.

1. Include NAP Information

Local search is booming. What started as a cottage industry has evolved into a profitable way for businesses to target users in a specific geo-location. Here are some stats might surprise you: 50 percent of consumers who carried out a local search on their smartphone visited a store that very same day, while 34 percent of people who used local search on a desktop computer did the same. What’s more, a respectable 18 percent of local searches resulted in a sale that very day, according to research. Pretty impressive, no?

One of the best ways to lure consumers to your website is to optimise your pages. NAP information (the name, address, and phone number of your company) should be clearly listed at the top of every page. This pages is easier for Google’s search bots to crawl your page and include your website in their search listings. If you change your business address or phone number, don’t forget to update this information on your website!

2. Add Your Company to Business Listings

Old, outdated information can hamper your chances of securing a high position on the search engine results page. Google gives preference to sites that are frequently updated and provide useful information to their users. While on-page SEO optimisation (elements like meta descriptions, headers, footers and the like) always work in your favour, off-page optimisation can be just as beneficial.

One of the best ways to improve your rankings for local search is to get your website added to business listing directories like Yelp — sites that prove popular with Google’s search spiders. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to sort out, either. You’ll be able to claim your business page on these platforms, add information about your company and increase your search rankings.

3. Create Compelling Content

Google loves sites that incorporate fresh content. If you want to increase the number of people who visit your pages, optimising your site with content on a regular basis could help. “Content is king,” famously declared Bill Gates in the early years of the Internet. Today, content reigns supreme, with thousands of articles and blog posts uploaded to the Web every single day.

There are a number of ways you can use content to boost your search rankings. Start by creating a simple blog using a platform like WordPress. This will allow you to keep your customers up-to-date about the latest company news, discounts, and new products and services. To add a splash of colour to your pages, experiment with graphic elements such as videos and images. These could keep your visitors on your pages for longer. Finish up with a good call-to-action that leads prospects to your sales page — something that could boost sales and revenue.

There are a number of different content types you can use, including how-to guides, listicles, and testimonials. Try a few of these and see if your rankings improve on local search for your desired keywords!

4. Update Your Social Media

Social media, like content, could boost your search rankings, with Google taking into account social signals from sites like Facebook and Instagram. If you still haven’t yet set up social pages for your business, now’s a good time to get started. It’s completely free and you could expose your business to a potential audience of millions.

Just having a Twitter account or Pinterest page isn’t enough. Like with content creation, you’ll need to update your social pages on a regular basis if you want more people to hear about your business and accelerate your search rankings. This is a lot easier than it sounds. You can schedule posts ahead of time when you use various automation tools and software, allowing you to keep your pages fresh 24 hours a day.

Why not add photos to your social pages? Or tell your customers about new arrivals to your online store or services you are offering over summer? To increase traffic back to your social pages, include a link to your e-commerce platform at the end of your social posts. Within time, you could see your social rankings skyrocket!

Are there any other essential local SEO tips you are using in your business?

Make sure you check out our definitive Intro To SEO here.

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References

http://www.business2community.com/infographics/local-seo-statistics-must-know-infographics-01557523#kpl92QW8ULT8rkbO.97