The Local SEO is often forgotten when it comes to search engine optimisation. In this local SEO guideWe want to tell you what basic points you have to take into account when positioning your local business.
Word of mouth can be a great ally in attracting customers to your local business, we don't doubt it. But reality crushes us with its data:
More from the 90% of the business fabric in Spain is composed of small and medium-sized enterprises.
The Where to buy+near me" mobile searches grow every year. In 2019 they grew by up to 200%
The 46% of searches on Google are localWhat does this mean? People are looking for a nearby business where they can solve a need.
The 72% from users who carry out a local search on your mobile phone visit a shop within a radius of 5 km.
The 28% of local searches on mobiles end in a purchase in shop on the same day.
If, in view of these data, you want to start to develop a local SEO strategyIn this section, we will go through point by point what needs to be done to carry it out.
What is local SEO?
Let's start with the most basic aspect of it local SEO guide.
The Local SEO optimise your online presence to get more visitors to your business from local searches.
Because this has not always been the case. Before the "division of power" between global and local SEO, your website could be positioned irrespective of their location when doing a local search.
Google has optimised its algorithm to geolocate you and thus deliver results that match your search intent. And the proximity is the main factor that Google takes into account to give you a result.
Importance of local SEO
Is it important to Local SEO as part of a business strategy? As we have seen in the introduction, the figures speak for themselves. These are high converting searches.
We can therefore state, without any doubt, that a business without a local SEO strategy has its days numbered..
So let's start with the first step in this local SEO guide: Optimise the Google Business Profile. If you want to boost your ranking in local searches, you have to start here.
Create a Business Profile (Google Business Profile)
Google is still the most widely used search engine today and we cannot lose sight of it when we do Local SEO.
When a user uses Google to do a local search, the first thing they will see is a snippet, or piece of data dedicated to local businesses, the Local Pack.
If we search directly in Google MapsThis is the kind of result we will get.
The data that Google shows usboth from the Local Pack as in Google Mapsare those it extracts from the Google Business Profile (GBP).
That is why it is so important to be on this platform. Without a GBP token, as of today, in 2023, we will not rank in local searches.
Category and name of business
The name on card and the business category are, at present, the most important positioning factors for the Local SEO.
We will have to be especially careful with the name of the business. It may seem interesting to include keywords related to the business in the name of the file, after all it is the first thing the user sees. This is a big mistake.
Google has very strict policies and penalises, or even suspends, listings with keywords in the name. The same applies to the category. Under no circumstances will we put the category of our business in the name of the card..
For this reason, it is advisable to put the BRAND NAME. Simple is what works for Googleand which will prevent future unpleasantness.
With regard to the business categoryGoogle allows you to choose from a very wide variety of them (in fact, it updates them according to the needs of the market). Try to choose the category that is closest to the reality of your business.Remember that it is a key positioning factor!
Apart from the main category, you will be able to complete your Company Profile with up to nine secondary categories.
Categories tell Google what our business does, they are almost as important as the name and serve to "rank", that is, to position us better in our sector.
Description of the company, services and products
We have made it clear how strict Google is about over-optimising the listing name and category. But we have to take advantage of those areas where we can have more freedom, such as the description, services and products.
Here we will have to deploy all our expertise in order to place the maximum number of keywordsBoth informational and transactional. Of course, they must be geolocated.
NAP
The NAP stands for name, address, phone. That is, name, telephone number and address.
Although it may seem a simple and logical thing to do, having a consistent name, address and telephone number is a factor that we would like to highlight in this local SEO guide.
But what does this mean by "consistent"? Quite simply, that these three aspects are exactly the same, no matter where we write them.
The NAP on the website will be written in the same way as on GBP's website, on social media, and in any type of media or publication.
In this way, the NAP for the Local SEO will be more effective, as the different search engines will recognise your business address better and earlier.
And not only that. Apart from being consistent, it has to appear in the maximum number of places. Directories such as Yellow Pages o QDQor sector-specific pages such as TripAdvisor o Doctoralia.
There are multiple platforms where our local business can appear. However, we recommend that they are legitimate and focused on your sector.
Don't forget that, for the moment, Google cannot read images or video, so make sure you have your NAP in text format.
Keep a record of the places where you have your NAPIf you have to make any changes, you will have to replicate them on all these platforms.
Reviews
Reviews are the main conversion factor of a local business. It is the first thing a user checks when you are looking for a local business.
But not only that. They will also be important for positioningA business with more reviews (and a higher overall score, of course) will have a better chance of ranking.
But beware of this. Google expects us to receive reviews naturally, so it's not just about quantity, it's about consistency. Our local business needs a steady trickle of reviews over time.
For this reason, encourage the insertion of reviews will be fundamental to improving positioning in local searches.
We have to engage customers in the importance of leaving reviews. To this end, as many channels as possible should be made available to do so, and access to them should be facilitated.
Since leaving QRs in strategic locations in the venue, to provide links to the reviews in our email marketing strategy. Printed material as a flyeror an automatic WhatsApp when the customer has confirmed the order.
Spend time thinking about how you can get reviews of your customers will be one of the best investments in your marketing strategy. Local SEO.
Just in case you were wondering, here's a sneak preview, including keywords in the reviews does not work for positioning.. However, it does will be important for justifications.
The justifications are small snippets of text that Google highlights within a group of reviews. They are directly related to the local search we have done.
An example: If I am looking for a dentist who does teeth whitening and I do a specific local search, Google will highlight establishments with reviews that talk about that particular treatment.
We see that they are a factor to be taken into account for positioningThe most important thing to remember is that, collaterally, they can give you more chances to rank.
Users can also review us or cite us outside Googleand if so, Google will show it.
Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the opinions about our business in places of great importance, such as TripAdvisor or Yellow Pages, or more niche business places, such as Doctoralia.
Images
The images The photographs we include in the file must be attractive and include views of the façade and the interior. If we have products, it is also advisable to photograph them. As well as the rooms where we perform the different services.
As in the other sections, it is a matter of continuing to send signals to Google about the legitimacy of our business.
The images have to be geolocated (normally, if you take them from a mobile phone, they will be) and it is also important to include keywords in the title of the image.
Questions and Answers
The questions and answers section allows any user to ask a question about any type of doubt that arises about the business in question. The nuance of this section is that anyone can answer.
This is important because, on the one hand, it democratises information about your business, but you also have to be careful not to "sneak in" answers that are not appropriate.
For this reason, Google uses a voting system. You can vote on both the questions and the answers, and the one that gets more than 3 votes will be shown by Google. For this reason it is important to monitor questions and answersThis ensures that the most important ones appear in your file.
You can play with this option by converting it to your own FAQs sectionYou can ask yourself questions and get answers - take advantage of the tip of this local SEO guide to get the most out of your GBP token!
Publications
In this local SEO guide we cannot fail to mention the publicationssometimes one of the most undervalued elements of the GBP token.
The publications are spaces that allow you to publish any type of content to make it known to your audience.
The publications can be of different types: news, offers and events. We will choose the category that best suits the information we are going to provide to users.
Publishing them is very simple, in our panel, we will have to access the option "add news".
And there we will choose the type of content we want to publish.
In the case of news and events, we will be able to add a CTA buttonand, in offers, the validity of the offer.
You've optimised your Google listing - now what?
It has become clear to us that the GBP token is of tremendous importance in the Local SEO.
But there is life beyond the Google. Not much, let's be honest, but not negligible.
Outside the universe of GoogleWe have to put the focus on the local business directories and on the sector's own business portals.
The citations in directories are not only important in terms of positioning, but also in terms of business reputation.
And what is a summons? It is simply a mention of some important information about your company, usually the famous NAP, name, address and phone, your company name, address and phone number.
We will not forget the data consistency. The citations will go with these data exactly the same as the ones we have in our GBP file, website, social networks... wherever they appear.
After all, what he is looking at is Google is that they talk about you, and if they do so on legitimate sites, and moreover, in your sector, it will be rewarded.
Therefore, in addition to having the optimised GBP tokenhave citations in local directories outside of Google will also be very important, with a view to establishing a local SEO strategy complete.
The importance of SEO in a local SEO strategy
We must not forget another fundamental element in building a good strategy within this strategy local SEO guide.
We will need to have a pure SEO strategyorganic positioning in Google's results. Apart from appearing in the Local Packor in Google Mapsyour website has to gain relevance in the search engine results page. Google organically.
We will start with the foundations. The page will have a SEO web designthat is, it shall be accessible and functional, optimised for SEOand will have an attractive design.
Web architecture will also be fundamental. The ideal is to leave the home page to exploit the brand and to have location pagesThe localisation pages where it will be exploited, the local keyword linked to the location.
Of course, the content has to cover the user search intentand must not remain merely transactional.
With a content strategy We will be able to reach users with informational content. We will connect with them by solving their intention to searchThis will make it easier to achieve conversions.
Do you have a local business related to health or finance? Especially for this type of business, taking care of it will be of vital importance.
As with the reviews of your GBP tokenon your website, both the actual experiences of your users as well as the expertise of its professionals will be factors that make the difference.
For this reason, watch out for the EEAT SEO will be of vital importance.
We cannot forget that a good SEO strategy is to use all possible tools to improve traffic and web positioning. We will have many possibilities to improve the SEO of our website if we use tools such as chatGPT. They will be of great use.
The future of local SEO
In view of the importance of all these factors, can we say that the Local SEO Does it have a future? It does, and very much so.
In this local SEO guide we have seen the importance of local search. The vital importance of the Google local business listing. And the need to work on a pure SEO strategy on our website.
We will have to take all these factors into account in order to ensure that our local SEO strategy make a difference.
It will be necessary to start with a study of local keywordsWe will focus on the locations you want to target. We will take into account the type of service and the competition around you.
The GBP token and the website itself must serve as a channel for communicating our value proposition. Therefore, they must be optimised, as we have seen.
And not only that, we will also have to be present in important directories and in our sector, outside the universe of Google.
Having a large number of positive and, of course, legitimate reviews will be key to gaining notoriety and improving our online reputation.
Last but not least. We will study our competition to observe the references that are good for us and take them into account for our business.
By applying this series of measures, we are convinced that you will be able to boost visits to your local business, a good local SEO strategy is synonymous with quality.
