Best 6 Local SEO Tips to Apply and Boost Your Business [Infographic]

The practice of optimizing websites for search engines began in the mid-1990s, around the same time when search engines were introduced. The task of search engines was to make the internet more structured and accessible for the common public and make it easy for them to find what they need. An optimized website results in a higher ranking and makes it easy for searchers to find your website on Google and other search engines.

Local SEO is one of the best digital marketing strategies used especially by brick-and-mortar businesses that are looking to attract local customers. If you are someone planning to optimize your website for search results pertaining to a particular locality then the 6 tips given in the infographic below can be key to defining the success or failure of your SEO strategies.

1. Google My Business Account:

Creating a Google My Business account is the easiest, yet one of the most important tips on this list. All you are required to do to create an account is provide some basic information to Google, and once verified, Google will index this information and place your business in Google Maps and the Search Engine Results Page. In order to improve your ranking using your GMB account, you will be required to do activities such as keeping the account up-to-date, adding high-quality photos, getting reviews, etc.

2. Focus on Local Keywords:

Optimize your website using keywords relevant to local customers. In order to identify keywords popular among local customers, you can use Google’s Keyword Planner and filter keywords and phrases with higher search volume in your local region. Targeting these keywords by placing them in your URLs, content, meta tags, etc. will ensure that your website shows up and ranks better in Search Engine Result Pages.

3. Get High-Quality Backlinks:

Link signals and backlinks pointing to your site provides validation to Google that the contents of your site are well-trusted among other players in the internet community. Putting high-quality content and blogs on your website will make others want to link to your site. Getting local influences to link to your website is also something that would help you earn high-quality backlinks.

4. Optimizing website for Mobile:

Over the past couple of years, multiple reports have been released throwing light on the importance of mobile search in SEO. It has been reported that approximately 75% of mobile searches that reflect local intent get an in-store, offline visit within 24 hours. Hence ensuring that your website has been optimized for mobile search is very essential to become a prominent player in local search. UI/UX points such as website speed, font, images, etc. need to be made responsive to support mobile devices too.

5. Location Specific Pages:

If your business operates in more than one location then it is advisable to have specific landing pages for each of the business locations. This makes it easy for search engines to locate your listing and deliver the appropriate location’s specific search result to the searcher. Presenting your location information in an appropriate format that suits the format of your address given in other business listing websites would help in improving your rankings.

6. Optimize for Voice Search:

It is always important to do something different in order to stay ahead of the competition. Optimizing your website for voice search can truly help you in that aspect. Because voice search is in its early stages, many businesses have yet to optimize their website and content for speech. The popularity of Voice search is expected to continue to grow in the days to come, hence it’s important to start focusing on Voice SEO.