If you have been doing online marketing for your business, you understand the challenges of creating effective SEO and Local SEO campaigns. There are many differences between these relatively similar sounding terms.
Local SEO focuses on your website’s ranking in the local search, while global SEO targets on ranking and getting more clicks for your website from the global SERPs. Local SEO is relevant if you own a business where a majority of your potential customers are based locally.
In this article, we focus on understanding local SEO and how to use it to boost the visibility of your business. Before moving ahead with the ranking factors for local SEO, let’s define what we mean by Local SERPs.
What Do Local SERPs Look Like?
SERPs for a local search are different from normal searches. For example, this is what Google returns for search words “plumbers in NJ”:
In the above screenshot, the black rectangle shows Google’s 3-pack results and the yellow rectangle shows the organic results. This is, of course, after the initial sponsored lists and links.
Herein lies the problem – the local business industry is more saturated than you may think. The competition to rank in local search is much more fierce. Every business is trying local SEO and the competition for the top slot is tight. Use your available resources and seek the help of local SEO experts to stay ahead of your competitors in the market.
Looking for local SEO in NJ? Call LBMS 888-416-7752 or fill this form to contact us today!
Top Ranking Factors to Use for Local SEO in 2019
1. Keywords
Keyword research is one of the most crucial parts of Local SEO marketing. You must develop a comprehensive list of all the keywords you want to rank for. For instance – if you are a plumbing company in NJ, you would want to rank for keywords like plumber in NJ, plumbers in NJ, best plumbers in NJ, and other variants of the same phrase. There are many tools that can help you with your keyword research.
Optimize your website using these keywords. Use them naturally in your content, meta descriptions, and title tags (website localization).
2. Business Listings (Local Citations)
Business listings help Google to understand and categorize your business. They are also a great source of local citations. Local citations are one of the top ranking factors for successful marketing.
Register your business on Google My Business with accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number). Make sure you fill every field in detail when registering, such as your business category, website, opening hours, location, etc. 56 percent of local retailers haven’t yet claimed their Google My Business listing. Besides GMB, register your business with accurate information on every popular local business listings such as Yelp. Keep the business information same, down to every letter, on all of these listings.
3. Mobile Friendly Website
46% of Google searches are local and 82% of smartphone users conduct “near me” searches.
With the increasing number of mobile internet users, it has become compulsory to optimize your website for mobile devices. To reduce bounce rates and increase the dwell time of your visitors, make sure that your website has a fast loading speed and offers great UX.
4. Reviews, Ratings, and Recommendations
Good customer feedbacks attract more customers. People trust and visit businesses with good customer ratings, reviews, and recommendations. This is exactly why they are one of the top local ranking factors. Things like review quantity, velocity, diversity, etc. are important factors that are measured by Google in order to rank a website accordingly. It is important to register your business on rating and local listing websites and directories like Yelp, Angie’s List, Foursquare, etc. You should always make an effort and ask your existing or old and loyal customers for a quick review on some of these listing websites, as well as on Google Reviews. This will ensure you get honest feedback from satisfied customers with whom you have already worked or who are still using your services because they trust your work. Ask them to write an honest opinion always, and avoid any kind of influential talk to get an exaggerated review, which can do more harm than good.
These are some of the top local ranking factors you can use to boost your visibility in local search. In order to guarantee success, you can always hire an experienced local SEO expert to help increase the number of visitors and get conversions for your local business.
Local Business Marketing Solutions, LLC offers local SEO services in NJ and has helped many local businesses to grow using their expertise in the field. Call at 888-416-7752 or fill this form to contact us today!
