Not that long ago, when someone wanted to find a business they would go straight to Yellow pages. If they had to physically visit the business and didn’t know the location they would look up the address in a map book.
Times have changed. The successor to Yellow pages is location-aware search engine technology. This technology knows exactly where you and the organization you are searching for are located.
That is… unless the business you are looking for hasn’t taken care of their local SEO.
What exactly is Local SEO?
When a person is searching for a business or organization near their physical location, local SEO is the most relevant answer to their search query.
For example, when someone is out running errands and they remember they need something from a hardware store they can take out their smartphone, type into Google “hardware store” and be rewarded with a list of hardware stores that are in close proximity.
As a business owner, what are you planning to do if your business doesn’t show up in such a search?
How to set up your Business for Local SEO
Ensuring you are completely covered for local search can be somewhat overwhelming as there are a number of search engines and directories to be considered.
At a minimum, you should make sure that your business shows up on a Google local search. To do this, head along to Google My Business and sign in. Do a search for your business. If it doesn’t show up you can add it.
The right information implemented correctly can mean the difference between customers finding you, versus being lost to your competitors.
The Importance of a Local SEO Strategy
It’s not as simple as just filling out a form and forgetting about it. A number of decisions are involved which require careful thought and planning including:
- Defining your “type” of business
- Deciding which directories to add your business to
- Methods to grow your Google page
Getting your website ready for local SEO
Optimizing your website for local SEO can provide a strong foundation and help you build a winning local search strategy. Some of the best ways to start are by listing your business in local directories, making sure your contact information is visible on every page of your website and optimizing key pages for local keywords. Additionally, it’s helpful to ensure you have local webpages that promote local content, localized links and schema markup such as local citations and structured data. Implementing these steps can help ensure more local customers find you online through local search systems like Google My Business.
SEO should be a key ingredient of your local marketing efforts when it comes to connecting with customers around your area.
If you would like to find out more about how best to set up your business for local SEO or to obtain actionable feedback about your existing strategy, please get in touch with our team.
