Local SEO is a system of methods for obtaining online traffic from search engines based on location search by customers. Any business person, store, or supermarket, professionals like lawyers, doctors, dentists, etc having a physical address can benefit from local SEO. Data aggregators are systems for data mining that roll out information about businesses online. They collect and share business data with a host of sources, such as online listing platforms – Google, Yelp, Facebook, bingplaces.com, etc. Use reviews and testimonials to increase the visibility of your business on search engines for attracting more consumers. Citations are the NAP mentions that appear on the internet and need to be continuously managed on the web. Use Moz local for automated management of your listing. moz.com/local provides listing score info on local search for US & Canada. White Spark Local Citation Finder, Bright Local Citation Builder, etc are other citation tools that are worth checking.
Optimize your Google My Business page, target keywords, backlinks, and follow on-page SEO best practices. Local reviews are ways by which consumers engage to express their sentiments with the business either in a positive or negative manner within relationship blocks. Negative reviews should be taken as an opportunity to build an online reputation for providing customer services. Build SEO friendly websites taking into consideration the layout design, architecture, and UX
fig1 is an example of a Google search for SEO Companies in Mumbai. Read more by clicking on SEO Fundamentals.
7-Steps for Running a Local SEO Campaign
They affect local SEO rankings and are-
- Goals
- Google My Business Page
- Data Aggregators
- On-Page SEO
- Links
- Reviews
- Social Networking
Goals
Before you can set up goals and metrics to measure the success of your campaign you will require answers to considerations such as
-How your local customers conduct a search for your business?
-What unique offers you have that local competition cannot offer?
-How do you choose your keywords? Do they correlate to the content you produce for your local target audience? Does it have high relevancy with your local audience in your niche?
-How do you propose to develop your local organic traffic? How fast would you want to achieve your targets? How can conversions be increased on the local scale? Is your website optimized for local conversions?
The conversion rate will have a bearing on the profitability of your local SEO campaign.
Google My Business Page
Google My Business Page is the location listing that will be shown in any localized results for searches conducted online.
This portal is for business owners to add and verify their businesses on Google
To rank higher in Google, set up your Google My Business Page.
- Log in and click the Start Now tab in Google My Business fig3.
- Enter the name of your business fig4.
- Specify the location of your business fig5. If you deliver goods and services to your customer have the box checked.
- Verify the location of your business on the map fig6.
- Choose a category for your business fig7 from the drop-down menu.
- Click on the finish tab fig8 and proceed further.
- Choose a way to verify your business fig9 either by text message or a call to your mobile OR postcard by mail to the physical address you have provided. Whatever method you select the code which Google provides you, must be entered to complete the verification process.
- You will next receive a verification message fig10 authorizing you to manage your business in Google My Business Listing.
Read the documentation for editing your listing by going through the link> https://support.google.com/business/answer/3039617?hl=en/ To rank higher you will have to load a quality, high-resolution image inside and outside for your business. Ensure that your NAP is the same across all online platforms & local directories. Keywords in the page title, links, and content should contain your Service, City, and State. Claim your Google Places page. Encourage reviews and include a website, hours of operation, etc on your listing page.
Citation
A citation is a place online that uses the NAP format -name, address and phone number of the business, which is identical to information published on the local listing and all other online platforms. To simplify a citation is your Facebook listing or a Yelp listing that has your address, phone number, business name, and backlinks by way of your website URL posted on all such sites. The more citations you have which point to your website the better it is for ranking your business in the local arena.
Data Aggregators
Data Aggregators are data mining systems that share and collect business data from a large number of sources such as Google, Yelp, etc, and roll out business information online. They make business listings possible which results in many businesses appearing on directories without themselves listing by generating information to social media, search engines, review sites, and business directories. Hence it is the responsibility of local businesses to provide correct local citations. Common Examples of Data Aggregators are Google+ Local, Apple Maps Ecosystem, Internet Yellow Pages, etc. In India, Local Aggregator services are growing. Four Major Global Aggregators are Infogroup, Localeze, Acxiom, and Factual.
Google+ Local helps potential customers to get connected with local businesses where members in the circle can access and update posts, images, business reviews, and recommend to their respective circles. It provides insights to businesses by way of reviews and helps you to make a decision before you actually plan to visit that business.
The Apple Map Ecosystem
On-Page SEO
On-Page SEO is the top-ranking factor which includes Header and Title Tags, Images, Meta Description, and Content Keywords. Title & Meta Tags should contain geographical keywords city, state, and services. Optimize your header tag h1 and add some ‘local keywords’ by conducting a google search. An Example is-
- The Header Tag
<hl>SEO services company in Mumbai. Guaranteed results. Local SEO packages</h1> - Title Tags
<title>Company Name. Expert SEO Services in Mumbai, Maharashtra</title> - Meta Description
Result Oriented SEO Services in Mumbai. Focused & Assured SEO Results. Satisfied Customers - Images
<img src=”https://sapcanvas.com/wp-content/local-SEO.png” alt=”local-SEO” width=”300″ height=”200″ /> - Content Keywords
Promote your brand online. Search SEO, SEM, AdWords, Social Media, Landing Pages. Get ranked high on Google. Expert Agency Team in Mumbai. Contact us to get a quote.
Maps & NAP References
Google Maps and Google Search results are more closely matched and related.
NAP References -SEO experts are given to understand that Google and the other search engines reference your NAP details across other websites to prove that you are a legal business entity. The NAP should remain consistent on all online platforms inclusive of aggregators and citations.
Schema Markup
Schema.org- There are three types of Schema markup code. They are JSON-LD, Microdata & RDFa. JSON-LD is recommended by Google for structured data. Many tools are available to do Schema Markup without writing code. Schema Markup, known as structured data is the language of search engines. In 2011 schema.org, was created by Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Yandex as a global standard to better understand the content on the web. Read more by clicking on Schema SEO
Copy the generated code as shown in fig4.1 Schema Markup Generator (JSON-LD) in the head section of each page or the header.php file before the ending head tag.
Use Google Inspect services to check if the structured data code is correct. Test your structured data by typing your URL in the Google Structured Data Testing Tool. The Structured data code will show Google that your website is a Local business with the details of your phone number, city, state, website, etc, and will help to rank higher when users search for similar businesses on the web.
DeDuplication
Duplicate Listing contributes to negative ranking for your website. Deduplicate content and be careful to avoid future duplication of content.
Links
Use the google search console for building links. From the ‘Links to Your Site’ section access information such as how your pages are linked?, Most linked page?, and Who links to your pages?. Use this information to get backlinks from similar websites and find which is the top linked page on your website? Local links can be got by organizing or sponsoring events in local communities and citing your NAP on the events page.
Reviews & Testimonials
Quality of Reviews posted on Google My Business page will move your rank higher in search engines. A testimonial is a trust signal. Encourage customers to leave a review for your website or business or services. Link review profile for your websites and walk your customers to leave a review after they have completed a purchase of a product or a service from your business. Follow up after a few days with an email and request the customer for a review.
Social Networking
Increase your presence by sharing on social media ‘how-to-guides’ about your business products and services. Use tweets, hashtags, and follow & like other business profiles to obtain reciprocal likes and follows.
Personalization
Personalization refers to user searches, keywords, and previous visits to your websites. Google can track from desktop to Gmail to Maps to YouTube and from desktop to mobile to tablet to Search and can repeat the process back from Search. User behavior for each product on each device enables us to know about the different products on different devices.