If you have a business website, it is likely that you have heard about SEO or search engine optimization because it is always a hot topic. A simple explanation is that it is the practice of structuring and writing web content with an aim of improving rankings on search engine result pages. Have you heard about local SEO though? It is important that you understand local SEO basics: what it is and how to do it for the best results.
In most cases, people are using their mobile devices and computers to search for businesses near them. This is the case even if they are not interested in buying anything online. If you have no plans of optimizing the website for the local search, it is possible that you are locking out a lot of potential customers. The following information will shine some light on this topic.
Search Query Intent
Google has recently become all about the user’s experience. This means that it works extra hard to provide more than just results based on the keywords. Google works by determining the intent of the query by the user based on a number of elements. For instance, if you search the word ‘art’ on your computer, Google will include pictures of art, or art ideas. If you use your mobile device for the same search, the results might include art galleries near them. This is because most people searching for a business on their mobile phones are probably looking for the physical location or address.
In this case, Google will consider the keyword as a first priority, then, it will look at the location of the user and the device they are using to make the search. It is common for local results to appear in most searches which means you should focus on your local SEO for the sake of your business.
Advantages of Local SEO
According to statistics, about 68% of adults have a smart phone. This means that they are always accessing the internet on the go. Website searchers are not just based on online purchases; there are a lot of people using the internet to look for offline businesses that are near them. This simply indicates that even businesses that do not sell online should do their best to invest in local search engine optimization. This is because studies show that 78% of local searchers done on mobile devices end up in offline sales.
More than 50% of the people making local searches do not have an idea of the name of the businesses they are searching for. They simply use general categories to search. This means that with a website optimized for local searches, you can attract a great deal of traffic to your online or offline store. You just need to use relevant keywords and everything will work in your favor.
How To Improve Local Website SEO
The main reason why local SEO is used is to create pages that describe the goods and services offered and an explanation of where they are offered. This explanation should include the state, city and area. The information should be included in the on-page elements like Meta descriptions and page titles. Most importantly, the pages should all contain the address and the phone number of the business. Google bots pay attention to contact details on the pages and this makes it easier to present this important information.
In an example, let us say you have a moving business in New York. A good title for your top article written for SEO purposes should include ‘Moving Company in New York, NY’. To enhance the efforts, you can include other relevant keywords surrounding this industry. A good idea is to focus on the other services that you might offer while providing the moving services in New York. These should be the problems that customers looking for these services will want solved by a moving company. A few titles might be:
Packing services in Hannover, NY
Storage in New York, NY
Special Moving Services in New York, NY
Same-day Moving in New York
Long Distance moving in New York, NY
As you increase your list of relevant keywords, your traffic will increase with them. This is because people will be searching different things related to this industry and they will most probably come across your website if you have optimized it for local search.
It is important to follow the best local SEO practices to push your website up the local search engine result pages. To be on the safe side, working with a professional in SEO will give you the kind of website that your target audience will find easily and this will consequently increase your traffic and sales.
