9 Ways to Improve Your Website for Local SEO

Converting Your Website Visitors into Paying ClientsLocal SEO is a powerful element for any small business. A recent study found four out of five consumers use search to find local businesses. Local SEO for your website is an excellent investment for your local business, but there are some misconceptions behind it. Here we’ll try to debunk some of those misconceptions and show you how easy it is to rank for local search results.

What is Local SEO?

Local search engine optimisation (local SEO) is a strategy that helps businesses promote their products and services to local prospects. It’s the process local businesses should follow to optimise their local presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. It can dramatically increase website traffic, leads and brand awareness from local search queries.

The Evolution of Local Search Results

We have all seen the time when local search results consisted of ten blue links for desktops. It then shifted to show maps (local pack) results on mobile phones. And now we are seeing users increasingly moving towards single answers from voice-controlled assistants think Siri, Alexa.

Till the last count in June 2020 Google search’s market share in the UK stands at 86.36% compared to the next highest Bing stands at 9.72%. Although, the steps mentioned below will be somewhat similar for all search engines, given the large majority of the users use Google, we’ll focus his article on Local SEO ranking in Google.

Why Is Local SEO So Important?

• Search Engine Land found 43% of all searches in Google have Local Intent
• A recent Google study showed search queries with the term “Near me” has grown 150% faster than traditional searches without the term.
• A recent Moz study found that when searching for a business 44% clicked in the Local Pack vs 29% clicking on organic listings
• New statistics show that 29% of all Google SERPs contain a local pack in the results
• Deloitte found that 76% of people who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit a business within 24 hours and 28% of those searches result in a purchase

How Do Local SEO Work?

Google actually has analysed user’s behaviour during searches and has concluded that people who seek certain businesses need results from their nearby area. About 46% of searches on Google are local. Which is why Google’s local search algorithm counts in a proximity factor; that actually is quite a whimsy way of saying that Google monitors your location whenever you search. Interestingly this also happens even if you don’t write ‘near me’ or enter the city’s name.

The fundamental difference between the local SEO and organic SEO is the component of geography. That’s why search engine shows related results from nearby whenever you search for something. For example, if you want a pizza for lunch while at work, you’ll Google ‘pizza delivery.’ Google will then provide you with a list of pizza locations that are near your office. Similarly, if you do the same search while at home, you’ll get totally different results.

The main reason for local SEO existence is to let search engines provide you with the most relevant results possible. In fact, Google has set a few unique ranking signals for local SEO:

1. Relevance indicates how relevant your business is to the search phrase.
2. Prominence indicates the extent to which the business is well known and how much online authority it holds
3. Proximity shows the closeness of the business to the searcher.

Google Map Pack

It won’t be right talking about Local SEO without mentioning Google’s Map Pack. The map pack, also known as The Local Pack or The Snack Pack; is the set of 3 local businesses that appears with a map of their locations pulled from Google Maps. The Map Pack has its own algorithm with its own set of rules.

For example:
When you search for “Barbers London” in Google, the map pack appears right at the top with the top 3 finds followed by the normal results underneath it.

As discussed below, NAPs (Name, Address & Phone) are pretty much the only ranking factor in the map pack. Although backlinks and reviews do play a part.

A good point to note though, Google doesn’t only prioritise results for keywords that contagion specify town or city. If Google thinks that your business is relevant to the user’s search intent, they’ll show it; even if the keywords they searched by isn’t obviously local. This is something you should place close attention to when doing local keyword research.

Local Organic Rankings

For a local business, the Map pack is the ideal place to be. However, you wouldn’t want to ignore traditional organic results, which appears right underneath the map pack. Most local searches have strong commercial intent, so it’s very lucrative to rank in the local SERPs too.

Unlike the Map pack for Local organic rankings, your web page would need to have a lot more ranking factors. Once again top Search Engine Marketing Agencies place a strong emphasis on keyword research. Your web page needs to be relevant and steer to try and solve a particular problem or provide a particular product or service. Remember your web page should always try to answer a particular question or solve a particular problem.

Ways to Optimise Your Website for Local SEO

Now that we have discovered what Local SEO is and the importance it holds for local businesses, let’s discuss how to optimise your website for Local SEO. The following methods will ensure that your local business’s website is local SEO optimised resulting in more traffic, more leads, and eventually more conversions because its strategy lies in the local customers.

1. Create a Google My Business Account

The very first step to optimise any website to rank higher on Goggle Local results and gain visibility in local Google map search results is to optimise your Google listing, i.e., your business profile. For this, you need to have a Google My Business account with a link to your website. Pay close attention to your local keywords and try to integrate these keywords in your profile.

Now, as you optimise your business profile, make sure to:

1. Verify ownership of your business while you create a Google my business account
2. The information you provide should be accurate.
3. Encourage your customers to leave reviews for your business on Google
4. Add your logo, working hours, payment method, the product or service you are selling, and images to attract your potential customers. This is where you would add your relevant local keywords.
5. Publish posts involving any special offers, events, product announcements, etc. to your business profile using a GMB account. Here is a more detailed instruction on how to optimise your Google My Business account.

2. Get Your Webpage Consistent with NAP

NAP refers to your business name, address, and phone number. For Google’s local pack algorithm and building citations, NAP consistency to your Google my business listing is quite crucial. Your NAP should be precisely the same in your every website you have your business listings on including your websites and social media accounts.

3. Ask Your Customers to Leave Reviews for Your Business

Request your customers or clients to leave you reviews. Google reviews help your Local SEO in 2 ways; first, it optimises your Google my business presence. Secondly, it encourages other local customers to buy your products or service. As per BrightLocal’s 2020 survey, about 85% of customers strongly believe in the online reviews that customers share and take them as a personal recommendation.

Now you must be wondering how to encourage your customers so that they may leave you reviews, right? Well, follow these tips:

1. Ask the customer or client in person.
2. Try sending your customer/client a post-purchase email asking them to write a review.
3. Respond to your existing reviews and thank them. Also, professionally address your customer’s complaints or concerns.
4. Remember, do not offer reciprocal discounts or incentivise people to leave reviews. This will have a negative impact when (not if) detected by Google.

4. Try Adding Your Business to Local Directories

Another significant way to optimise your website for local SEO is to add your business to a local directory listing; what we call NAP citation. You may find the process a bit time-consuming, but yes, you can take the help of various tools (if you are willing to pay) to make it less challenging. Well, here’s the key; each of your entries should be the same! You need to mirror your company/business’s exact representation and format from your Google My Business account page and list it in your local directories in an exact way. Make sure your NAP is consistent everywhere, this helps Google to recognise your validity. The more often Google recognises your NAP citation the more confident Google will be that you say who you are, your address is where you say it is and your phone number is correct.

When you add your business to any directory, try and make sure they have a link back to your website, preferably a do-follow link. Links pointing back to your website encourage search engines to determine your site’s reputation which we digital marketers refer to as backlinks. However, make sure the backlinks are from reputable websites, and not spammy ones. The higher the reputation the better chance of higher local ranking.

5. Use Local Business Schema to Your Each Web Page

Add Local business schema, or we could say structured data markup; to each of your web pages. It’s an excellent way to optimise your website for local SEO. Local schema is an additional code that, once added to your website pages, will make it easier for search engines to fully understand your business, your location, and how relevant you are to the people searching for products/services that are similar to the products you’re offering.

6. Each of Your Products or Services Should Be on Different pages with a unique URL

Don’t lump all of your products or services together on a single page. Dedicate a separate page to each of your products or services with a unique URL. Your local SEO won’t be powerful enough if you add all of your products on a single page. It is because the search engines couldn’t see your product as an authority in one particular area. For this reason, your ranking possibilities go down. Search engine ranks individual URLs, so the more relevant your product/service offering is to the product itself and focuses on how it could solve a particular problem or how it could cater to a need the more chances the page has of ranking higher.

If your business does not have different products but has various locations, then you should use a location-based copy for every page.

7. Your Website Should Be Mobile Optimised

A recent study by Search Engine Watch found that people are now shifting from desktop to mobile, and this shift is occurring faster than expected. Further research also found that 75% of all mobile searches were intended to exhibit locally while producing offline in-store visits within 24 hours. This actually gives you confirmation that to be a local SEO player; it’s essential for you to optimise your website for mobile. Ensure that your website loads quickly within 3 seconds. Use bigger fonts that may not hinder reading. Moreover, use only those images that perfectly represent the information you’re trying to convey.

8. Keep Your Focus on Link Signals

As per the study held by Moz’s 2017 for local search ranking factors, link signals are primarily crucial for local pack results and secondly for localised organic results. Link signals are basically backlinks that point to your site. Getting links to boost your local SEO is vital, but you shouldn’t be ignoring the quality. To create high-quality backlinks, try the following tips:

1. The content of your website should be of high quality so that others might want to link your content.
2. With a high domain authority guest blog on a reputable site
3. Get yourself engaged with local influencers on social media or via email so that they may link back to you.

9. Social Signals

Generally speaking, Social Media is not a major platform to effect changes on local rankings. However, just like our beloved Tesco slogan, “every little counts” any local business should make full advantage of this platform. Here though, instead of focusing on social media activity, businesses should focus on optimising the social profiles themselves.

At the bare minimum, every local business should create a profile on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn; even if the business doesn’t plan on using some of these profiles.

However, just remember to have a conversation with your audience if they do send a query through. Engagement plays a big part in rankings and conversions.

Final Thoughts

With your local SEO-optimised website, your company/business could outrank bigger competitors just with a small footprint. Local SEO is already powered with user intent, so naturally, the conversion rate will be much higher when compared to Organic SEO. Hence, for local businesses, local SEO actually paves the way for your audience to find you. Implementing these methods ensures your business is taking a lucrative local search advantage and stands on a firm foundation whenever new SEO features are introduced.

Where to Find Local SEO Services in London?

Underline Agency is a multi-award winning website design and digital marketing agency in London that can assist any small business to attract their target audience and increase their conversions online. Learn more about our Local SEO services and see how we can help you achieve your business goals.