Monday, February 20, 2023

Step-by-Step Guide of How to Use Local SEO to Boost Local Visibility and Sales for Small Businesses

 Local SEO is the forgotten hero in digital marketing. When it comes to online visibility, local SEO is never part of the plan. Only a few experts bring it to the attention of business owners.


Never ever jump a bull by the horn. Begin your business with Google my business or the local business available within your locality. When you able to achieve your local SEO goals it’s become easier to rock with the big dawgs. Continue reading to learn how to achieve this feat.

 

What is Local SEO?


Local SEO is the best practice and strategy for pushing local visibility on search engines. All businesses can benefit from this service. As a freelancer, you can make use of this to set yourself apart from others. Don’t worry if you can’t afford websites.

When used together with a platform like Medium, it can put your business right in front of people who need it. Signup for Google My Business if you have not done so.

It is always the little things that make the difference.


The Positive Impact of Local SEO on

Small Businesses


Why is SEO important for businesses? Does SEO work for small businesses? What are the benefits and importance of local SEO? These are questions I am often asked when I am talking about local SEO. This part of the discussion clarifies this, so keep reading.

1. Increase your reach

The major goal of digital marketing is to ensure your business reaches more customers. Local SEO enhances your geographical visibility so that your business appears on the SERP. Local SEO easily places your website in the top 10 SERP results. It cements your local presence to put your website up against the big businesses. Never skip the basics.

2. An exponential increase in traffic

SEO is also about traffic, and the more that happens, the more sales the business will make. The more the merrier, and local SEO gives you that effortlessly.

3. Reaching out to the target audience

Using the keywords people are searching for and the keywords that competitors are ranking for locally will get you specific customers. Spy on your competitors' doing what they’re doing and do it better.

This is what I always do for my clients, and it always gets me the results I want.

4. Increase conversion

The more you get your target audience to come to your website, the more they will patronize your product or service. Understand the trends and always give them what they want.

5. Brand awareness

Local SEO helps you be the local champion you always dream of being. The more your business appears in local searches, the more people will know about it. Local SEO is still virgin territory, so take advantage of it before it is saturated. You don’t need a website for it. Your social media platforms

6. Long-lasting results

One sure advantage of local SEO is that, once you are ranked, you will be there for a very long time. When you can achieve the basic SEO of your website together with your local SEO, you will be ranked nationally and internationally.

7. Continuous growth

Any deliberate actions taken to improve your business online will give you recurring growth. Investing a little time and money will double your business revenue. Get yourself an expert.

8. Measurable results

With SEO of any kind, it is extremely easy to track your success. You don’t have to be tech-savvy to understand the dynamics. It always works, you only have to start and be consistent

Local SEO is the creme de la creme of SEO best practices, creating local awareness and increasing traffic and conversion. Learn how to start with Local SEO, especially with Google Business Profile.

How to Start with Local SEO?


Start with the local SEO available in your geographical area. In this regard, I will focus on Business Profiles by Google. This is mainly because Google finds it easy to share and verify its products generously. Continue reading to learn how to set up your Google business profile.

1. Set Up Using your Computer

Open your google map on your computer

Hover the cursor anywhere on the map and right-click.

Click add your business

On-screen instructions will pop up, follow it directions to finish signing up

Select the verification process and follow the direction

2. Set up your Google Business Profile Using your Phone

Open Google Maps on your phone.

Search for your business and select yours.

Claim your business

Select a verification process and follow the directions.


How to optimize Google’s business profile


Now that you have the Google business profile, what is next? Explore the interface presented by Google and optimize your page. Let’s look at the interface available and how to take advantage of it for your business.

  • The edit profile button enables you to edit your business information, hours, products, and services. This is the about session for your business. Provide information relating to your business and use relevant keywords.
  • Provide detailed information regarding your business when you get to the product and service column. Use keywords regarding your business, naturally.
  • Promote your business with advertisements, asking for reviews, and adding updates as well as your offer. Updates are very important. Make it your daily blog post. Updates your customers as much as you can.
  • Share snippets from your social media or medium post with the link. In the same vein, you can share an update on your business profile. And share the snippet of it on your socials with the links. This transcends authority between your handles on the internet.
  • Customize your email account with your business name. Set up a booking using a Google Business Profile. This comes with several benefits for your local, national, and international service.

3 Common Local SEO Mistakes to Avoid


On-page SEO and other efforts are required to transform your website into a local traffic-generating powerhouse. Even the most knowledgeable SEO practitioners make blunders.

You’ll learn about the 3 most common local SEO mistakes and how to avoid them while optimizing your listings.

1. Unspecific keyword targets

Most often, local businesses make the mistake of targeting broader keywords. While we all want to be number one for the best SEO service, this is a generic keyword. This is not enough to attract the local traffic that we want.

Instead of optimizing for (best SEO service in Ghana), keywords like (SEO Service in Ho or Volta Region) or (SEO Service in Accra) would be a better fit.

2. No Reviews

No review is better than a negative review. However, to achieve your local SEO goals, customer reviews are important. Reviews are an important backlink for local SEO.

Encourage reviews from your customers. Do not engage in any blackhat activities for reviews. Your business profile will be penalized by Google.

3. No Local Listing

Aside from Google My Business, Bing Places, Yelp, and Yellow Pages are other directories businesses can submit their information to. Businesses either neglect or stick to one directory.

Remember to submit your business information to different directories. Always ensure that your name, address, and phone number are consistent across all these platforms.

While there is a lot that may go “wrong” while optimizing your site for local visitors, these errors are simple to avoid if you approach your plan with the appropriate knowledge.

This article will help you avoid many of the most common mistakes while optimizing your business for local visitors.


Take note of the following


Encourage your customers to add their reviews of your business service or product. Respond to them, even the negative ones. These reviews enable Google to verify your business as authentic. This comes with rewards, such as a sidebar in Google local search.

As mentioned earlier, be active on social media and add that to your Google My Business page.

The consistency of your name, address, and phone number across all platforms is very important. It enables Google to pull information from all platforms anytime someone searches for your business. Make sure to have a strategy in place if you are offering B2B SaaS service. Moreover, formulate a customer relationship strategy for an early relationship with your customers.

There you have it, the most important things to know about Google’s business profile. Become an expert to easily beat the competition. Click here for an expert.

Only a few are taking advantage of this goldmine. Be fast to be among the first. It gives an easy ranking for your website

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