How to Dominate Local SEO

Do you want to dominate the local scene in the virtual marketplace?

Then you need to step it up with local SEO. Optimizing your website for searchers looking for local businesses will make it stand out in SERPs and readily accessible by people who actually want to buy your products or hire your services.

Statistics say it all. And you can base your strategies on such data.  

1 – A huge number of consumers who searched for local businesses online visit a store within 5 miles of their location.

 

 

With 80% of the population of Canada crowding online, you can just imagine the amount of traffic and profit you will make if you get a big slice of the pie. That is, if you rank high on the first page of search results. But how do you dominate local search?

Local SEO Strategies to Copy

• List your brand through a variety of local listings to make it highly visible. Don’t forget to create unique descriptions and insert local keywords across multiple listings.
• Get high-quality links that will direct traffic to the website, but don’t just limit it to online sources. Show your authority over your business or subject matter by leading a discussion at organization meetings or hosting a business presentation. Then, have organizations and entities link to your website.
• Make sure your internal linking structure is not limited to the main navigation or footer. Internal links should also be added where relevant within your website’s content.  
• Include local keywords in your title tags, pointing users and crawlers to the right direction.
• Create and optimize a local business profile, particularly in Google My Business.  

 

2 – More than 60% of consumers are likely to contact a local business with a mobile-friendly website.  

 

 

This highlights the importance of having a website that is accessible through different mobile devices. And not only do mobile searches contact local businesses, a majority of those searches also result in an offline purchase and a sale within one day of a mobile search.

Updating your website to be mobile-friendly will also prove advantageous on other aspects of your business, what with more searches being done on mobile devices. Such gadgets have become essential to up to 70% of Canadians, after all. A mobile-friendly website is also one way of protecting yourself against Google’s algorithm update that hurts non-mobile-friendly websites.

Make sure to take advantage of mobile ads as well since 86% of smartphone users tend to notice them.

 

3 – 80% of searchers use Google Maps to locate a local business.

 

To rank high in SERPs, you need to be seen and be visible in more ways than one. Google My Business (GMB) lets you do just that. If you claim your GMB, your business will show up in local listings complete with a map, a link to your website, directions, and other pertinent details. Google made finding you so much easier with GMB. If you optimize your GMB listing, then you will show up in Google’s local three-pack.

How to Optimize Google My Business

• Pick the right category for your business.
• Write a solid and compelling description.
• Provide additional contact information, such as business hours or mode of payments accepted.
• Upload your business logo along with photos of your products, services, or your store.

 

4 – Social media is used by nearly 50% of business owners to promote their brand.

 

Aside from a website, you should create a social media profile. Take advantage of the fact that 64% of Canadians are part of social media networks, with more than 70% of them regular users in social media.

You should also take it from other businesses that are using the social platform for social media marketing and a means to track users’ comments and feedback about their company. In some cases, business owners use social media to crowdsource and to search for new talents.