Local Search Engine Optimization is crucial for smaller businesses that operate their business on the regional level, or only at the national level. However, national Search Engine Optimization focuses to rank the Google searches all around the country, whereas, local SEO mainly focus on searches at a specific location.

Optimizing local SEO means attracting more and more website traffic to your product.Consider it as the best strategy that can help you to compete with the larger national brands and companies more effectively. You can better compete with the biggest brands of the nation that have unlimited resources to spend on marketing. You can neutralize the advantages of larger brands by focusing on the specific local SEO. By doing so, you can optimize broader keywords.

Here, in this handout, you will find top 10 best ways by which you can improve your Local SEO successfully.

1. Get your Google Business Account created and optimized

To start with improving your local SEO, the first step is you need to create your business account on Google My Business. After creating the business account, make and use strategies to optimize it. Your Business account on Google establishes your presence while people search on internet through any search engine. Your business will also take place on Google Maps. This would not only mean that your business will appear on the devices when people search about it. It will also maintain its valuable sidebar space in a Google search is Google authenticates your business account.

You must ensure the following to optimize Google My Business for your business account;

• Verify your listing up on Google
• Update all required data and information
• Include all information related to your business like hours of operation, logo, acceptable payment method, products or services you deal with, and lots of images of your business
• Encourage your local customers to view your business online in Google searches
• Respond to customers reviews
• Upload content in your Business account with Google posts

2. Try to get positive reviews from customers daily

If you are getting positive reviews from your customers regularly on your Google business account, it does not only mean that you optimize your Google account, but also encourages more and more local customers to come and buy your products.

Below are given few tips that encourage more and more customers to write up positive reviews;

• Ask a person to review after closing of sale
• Send text to your customers and ask them to write a review for your account
• Timely respond to existing reviews on your account in a professional way. Thank your customers and listen to their complaints for creating better image of your business

3. Optimize Voice Search

Voice search is an emerging feature to optimize Local SEO in a better way. This feature is growing rapidly and will come into full existence next year. It is very important to optimize how local people question you when speaking through their devices or looking for voice search. Usually, people use search long-tailed keywords while doing voice search. So, you need to adjust SEO of the content uploaded on your website to fit the tone of customers doing voice search. While searching for specific piece of information about anything, people use these keywords, so it becomes a crucial to consider while SEO optimization.

4. Create effective content based on the Local News and Events

There is nothing more useful than authoring content which is directly related with local issue. It is crucial to use to grab attention of local customers towards your products. There are strategies that you may use for this;

• Creating blog posts for local news, events, and activities
• Create videos related to local charities that your business supports on daily basis
• Set up specific high-quality WebPages for your site for top-notch content uploaded there is your business is serving various parts of the region.
• You can also create different pages for your different locations if you are a local real estate business. On the different pages for your locations, you can feature hyper-local content for local news, events, and activities in the local real-estate market. It would help you get ranked for different locations for your business.

5. Get your website optimized for Mobile

Most people search through their mobile phones, which have grown from 63% to 85%. The visits to desktop have got shrunk. This would mean that, now you have to optimize your business website for mobile phones as they are key players in local SEO.

Here is the list of few tips that can help you in doing so;

• You must ensure that your website gets loaded in just three seconds.
• Use large font size that is very easy to read by its users.
• You must ensure that intuitive UI for great use
• Use more copy sparingly and images that cover the complete information that you need on your website.

6. Home in Feature on Local Keywords

The keyword that you use in the website content must be relevant to the local customers. It should make some sense according to your product and website. Keyword Planner of Google can create a list of relevant keywords for you to target your customers. You can use specific keywords in your content.

7. Use Location Specific Pages in About Us

If you are serving in more than one location of a particular area, your website must contain location pages. The location pages of your website must include the following things;

Name, address, and phone number

Store hours

Testimonials

Description of individuals

Parking availability

Promotions

Location on Google Maps

When you serve in multiple locations, take care of the particular location because there is need to create unique content for all. You can directly create About Us if you serve only at one location and focus on relevant information, which is essential.

8. Use Online Business Directories

These are some websites like Foursquare, Yelp, MapQuest, and YellowPages. There are even many more websites like this. These Online Business Directories not only include the name, address, and phone number of your business into these, but also helps in boosting up your local SEO.

You must include the following information in the Online Business Directories;

• Accurate name, address, and phone number of your business.
• Create a backlink to your website
• A complete description about your business

9. Use High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are the most important factor for snack pack result. These Backlinks point out your website. It is very important to get high quality Backlinks for boosting up your local Search Engine Optimization.

Here is the list of some useful tips to get high-quality Backlinks;

• You need to create high-quality content to upload on your website, so that others attract towards it and want to link to your website content.
• Post your blogs on some reputable sites having high domain authority
• Get engaged with local influencers on Social media, so that they link you back.

10. Create an impressive Webpage for the Services you offer

It can be difficult to put all your products and services together in one page only. Rather, you can create one impressive page for each unique product or service that you offer your customers.

If you are not operating for different products but serving in different locations, you can utilize location-based page.

These were some ways to improve your Local SEO. We hope you go through all these and implement them for improving your SEO.