78% of users find out information about local businesses on the internet more than once a week, and 21% do a local search every day, according to BrightLocal’s most recent local consumer survey.
Consider local SEO if you are a small business owner. You will get maximum exposure by applying local SEO to your local business.
This article lets you know how to do local SEO for small businesses.
If you have done SEO well, your products and services ( say, florist in Mumbai) gain top visibility in search engines, which will help grow your business indirectly.
Optimize for Google Business Profile
The Google Business Profile is a free and easy-to-use tool that lets businesses manage their online presence. Business profile on Google can be used to provide information about your business to customers who are searching for you on Google.
Businesses can add photos of their business location, create a description of the business, upload their logo and more. They can also respond to reviews left by customers.
Get started with the following steps to optimize your Google business profile.
- Claim or Create Google business profile
- Complete profile data and publish your listing
- Add photos, videos and services to your profile
- Respond to reviews
Ensure your business profile is updated and accurate, and monitor your profile every week.
Optimize online directories
Ensure your profile data is complete and consistent across online directories, like, Yelp, Bing, Google, etc..…
Differences in your profile data, like, name, address, and phone number in online directories, can be problematic.
If business information has discrepancies, it may be difficult for Google to conclude and decide which information is correct. Hence, it may not show your business at all in search results.
Add location pages to your website
Location pages are perfect if your business has more than one brick-and-mortar location or you provide services in several cities.
Consider creating location pages if you want to increase your local search rankings.
Ensure to add a complete business profile on location pages, including name, address, phone number, store hours, and unique store descriptions. And it will be a bonus if you add a Google map to your website on your respective location page(s).
Perform a local SEO audit
Local SEO audit is the process of analyzing your website to make sure it is optimized for local search. It can be a time-consuming process, but it’s necessary to rank in local search results.
Also read: Different Types Of Search Engines
The first step of the local SEO audit is to identify the geographic location you’re targeting. You should also identify what pages you want to rank for. Next, you need to check if your website has all of the elements that Google needs for a page to rank well in its index. Finally, you need to make changes and improvements as needed.
Implement a local backlink strategy
Local link building is important for local SEO as it can help a website rank higher in search results. Links are important because they improve the site’s credibility and trustworthiness with Google and other search engines.
Local backlinks can be obtained by:
– Getting links from local directories (e.g., Yelp, Foursquare)
– Guest posting on local blogs or forums
– Creating a Google My Business page for your business and getting reviews and citations there
– Getting links from other websites within the same niche as yours
Create a mobile-friendly website
A mobile-friendly website is important because it’s where people are going to spend most of their time browsing the internet. It’s also important because it’s where people will find your business, which means if your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re missing out on potential customers.
Some of the most common ways people will use your site on a mobile device are to look up reviews, find directions, and get in touch! So make it easy for your customer by making your site mobile-friendly.
