Having a local search engine optimization (SEO) marketing strategy is one of the most effective ways to get in front of customers living and working in your geographical area. These are the people who are most likely to need your services, and they should be the main focus of your advertising efforts.
Your marketing budget is limited, so you don't want to waste time and money reaching out to consumers who are not within your target audience. By concentrating on the local community, you can see an excellent return on investment. You can also get ahead of your competition and become the dominant retailer in your area. Let's dive in and look at some essential local SEO tips to boost your brand awareness and sales revenues.
1. Use the Right Keywords
When you Google 'local services', the search engine results produce a wide variety of results, but you can influence these listings. Search engine algorithms use specific criteria to determine which websites should occupy the best places on their pages.
While this criterion changes at various times, you should concentrate on using the keywords that are most relevant to your business and your customers. For example, if you are a hairdresser, you might want to have terms on your web pages such as 'hair,' 'haircut,' 'men's haircut,' 'ladies haircut,' etc.
You should also add your town or street name so the search algorithms can index your pages accordingly.
2. List in Local Directories
It's important to make use of the local online directories. Put your business details on sites such as Yelp or Google My Business, and add your address and contact information. These sites have high authority and attract considerable amounts of online traffic that can then easily find your company when looking for your services.
You can also add photographs and service descriptions that make your business stand out from the competition.
3. Ask For Customer Reviews
When you come across local search company results, it is natural to click on websites with the best customer reviews. While some consumers will leave comments after using your services, it can help to be proactive and ask people to write a review. Don't worry about an occasional negative comment; you provide an excellent service, and most customers will be happy to be positive.
4. Pay Attention to Voice Search
One of the best local SEO tips is to consider the increase in voice searches. Devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Nest make it easy for consumers to ask for help without typing. People also tend to use longer sentences when speaking and shorter terms when using a keyboard. You can prepare for this increasing trend by using long-tail keywords on your site.