The Core Elements of Any Local SEO Project
In todays marketplace, local businesses need to have a strong online presence to succeed. Local search engine optimisation (SEO) is the key to ensuring that potential customers can find your business when they search for products or services in your area. To effectively boost your local SEO efforts, it’s crucial to understand and implement the core elements of any local SEO project. In this post, we’ll explore these essential components that can make or break your local SEO strategy. 1. Keyword Research and Optimisation: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the most relevant and high-traffic keywords for your business. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to discover these keywords. Once identified, strategically incorporate them into your website’s content, meta titles, meta descriptions, and headers. Additionally, consider using geo-specific keywords to target your local audience effectively. 2. Google My Business (GMB) Optimisation: Your GMB listing, now called Google Business Profile, is often the first thing potential customers see when searching for local businesses. Ensure that all the information provided is accurate and up-to-date. Add high-quality photos, including images of your products or services, interior and exterior shots of your business, and team photos. Regularly post updates and promotions on your GMB profile to keep it active and engaging. 3. On-Page SEO: In addition to optimising for specific keywords, focus on improving the overall user experience of your website. This includes making sure it loads quickly, is mobile-responsive, and has a clean, user-friendly design. Site structure, navigation, and internal linking are crucial for search engines and users to find content easily. 4. Local Citations: Consistency in your business NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) across various online directories and platforms is vital. Ensure that all your citations are up-to-date and accurate. Tools like Mos Local and Yext can help you manage your business listings more effectively. 5. Quality Content Creation: Content is king in the world of SEO. Regularly create informative and valuable content that addresses your audience’s pain points and interests. Localise your content by discussing events, news, and topics relevant to your community. Content marketing not only enhances your SEO but also positions you as an authority in your industry. 6. Link Building: Building high-quality backlinks from local websites can significantly boost your local SEO efforts. Consider guest posting on local blogs, sponsoring local events, or participating in community activities. Be cautious about the quality of backlinks, as low-quality links can harm your SEO. 7. Local Schema Markup: Schema markup helps search engines understand the context of your content. Implement local business schema markup on your website to provide structured data, including your business hours, location, and contact information. This can result in rich snippets in search results, increasing your click-through rate. 8. Online Reviews and Reputation Management: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on your GMB profile and other review sites. Respond to reviews professionally, thanking customers for positive feedback and addressing concerns in a courteous manner. Monitoring your online reputation and addressing negative reviews promptly can demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction. 9. Local Link-Building and PR: Actively seek partnerships with local media outlets, bloggers, and influencers. Engage in local PR efforts to gain media coverage, backlinks, and mentions. A well-crafted local PR strategy can help you establish a strong online presence within your community. 10. Analytics and Monitoring: Regularly analyse the performance of your local SEO efforts using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other SEO software. Track keyword rankings, organic traffic, conversion rates, and user behavior. Use these insights to make data-driven decisions, refine your strategy, and adapt to changes in the search landscape. By embracing these core elements of local SEO, you can improve your chances of success in the digital sphere. Local SEO is an ongoing process, so be prepared to adapt and refine your strategies as you monitor results and stay current with industry trends and algorithm updates.
Supporting Local Business
Supporting Local Business. It’s not uncommon to hear people saying that you should support your local businesses. However, during the current coronavirus public health crisis, it is ever more critical that we understand what a difference we can make by spending our money closer to home. So, what does it mean to support local businesses? Well, many local businesses are small operations, although they are important to the local economy and can offer significant employment opportunities in your local area. But why should you choose to spend your money with local businesses, when you might be able to get similar goods or services from a national or even an international chain that you access online or in a shopping mall? Here’s why you should be supporting local businesses at every opportunity. > You are Putting Your Money into the Local Economy > Local businesses need the custom to grow and thrive > You are Supporting Local Employment When you spend money locally, it is estimated that over 60% of this money will stay in the local economy. This is compared to 40% when spent in larger, national chains. Where many areas and high streets will often have empty shops or offices, local authorities are now encouraging local businesses to open with obvious benefits to the local economy. With this approach in mind, many local events are now planned, prior to the current lockdown, to help encourage increased visits to the shopping areas. It is also thought that in towns and cities where local businesses have been encouraged to flourish, house prices typically rise in value faster than the national average. It Creates a More Diverse Local Area How many towns and cities do you know that are primarily made up of streets full of the same shops and restaurants? You may know precisely what you’re going to expect from a major chain, but it does lead to towns and cities becoming bland, homogeneous, and indistinguishable from each other. Often, this leads to the character of the local area being lost. In towns and cities where independent businesses have been encouraged, you will often end up with much more character. Small local businesses help make shopping become a new and exciting experience, and you may find specialist products that are not available in the major chain stores. Buying Local Supports Local Jobs One of the major benefits of supporting a local business is that you will be enabling them to hire and retain local workers. The more customers a business receives, the more employees they’ll need. During these difficult and uncertain times, the need for more local jobs is without doubt of increased importance. Support Your Local Entrepreneurs If you support local businesses, you’re encouraging local innovation. In many towns and cities, there may not be opportunities to develop business ideas, products, or brands. Local entrepreneurs may be involved in helping others through support, training, or mentorship. They may also have substantial involvement in local charities. This will also help build a stronger local community. Better Quality of Service When you shop at an independently owned business, you’ll often find that you’ll receive a higher standard of service. If the business is run by its owners, the people serving you will have the strongest incentive to deliver a memorable service. Even when the service is not being delivered by the company owner, you’ll find that the employees that you come into contact with will care more about their job and the workplace than they might if they worked for a much larger company. Build Community If you have a locally grown brand, you’ll feel more of a natural affinity with it. This will also be felt by many others in the local community. Many small businesses are community-focused. You may find bookshops that will run book clubs or cafes and pubs that run quizzes or other events. Often, these events are a great place to connect with others from your local area. Supporting Local Business is Better for the Environment Many smaller local businesses will be more environmentally conscious. They may try and source their supplies and produce from other local businesses. This leads to a supply chain with a low carbon footprint. If local businesses are within walking distance of many of their customers, there will also be less need for people to drive to them. Again, this helps reduce the pollution associated with the business. Hopefully, you will see the many potential benefits of going local with your business. Next time you go shopping, why not consider if you can get what you need from a local supplier.
What are Citations for Local SEO?
What are Citations for Local SEO? Citations in local SEO are mentions of your business on other websites. For example, if your business is listed on YellowPages.com, that counts as a citation. The same goes for a blog post or online newspaper article that mentions your business. Citations are important for local businesses since they send out signals that tell search engines they can trust your business. Citation building is imperative for small businesses that want to be found in local searches since search engines like Google and Bing use the information they find in citations to list your business in search results. And we’re sure you want your business to be found To show up in local searches, you need to make sure search engines have the information they need about your business so that they can show that information to all those consumers who perform local searches. It’s important to keep your Citations up to date. The information about your business that is found online should be kept up to date. Keep tabs on the information that is out there and where it is listed. If anything changes, such as the business name, your address, phone number, website URL, or even your opening hours, be sure and update all of the relevant citations as soon as possible. You are in control of your business information, and having incorrect information out there in the public domain will ultimately damage your business. Customers will mistrust your business if the information that you have listed is not correct. Getting your local business noticed and standing out above your competitors means that you need to invest some time and effort into getting your company registered with all of the relevant business listing sites. This is something that you should take responsibility for doing, as overall it will make a long-lasting impact on your business. Call Direct Submit today on 0845 272 2350 and we can get your local citation project moving. We provide a report outlining the citations and the directories submitted to, plus we work to ensure your citation details are kept up to date and accurate.
Business Listings & Directory Submissions
Why Are Local Business Listings & Directory Submissions So Important? Local business listings are the backbone to any successful local SEO strategy. With help from our professional SEO services you can establish a web presence quickly and be found through all major search engines – all without the need of a website! A local business directory is your fast track to increasing your local web presence and reaching potential buyers in your area. Our local listings service is an affordable way to start your local internet marketing campaigns and local advertising. Did you know that 43% of all searches performed on Google have local intent? That’s right 43 percent! And on mobile devices, local searches are up to 50%. Microsoft which operates the Bing search engine stated that 53% of the searches on Bing that are done through mobile phones have local intent. Aside from highlighting the significance of local business listings it also points out that making sure your website is mobile-ready is a big deal! Go ahead and perform a search for your business name and then try searching for your service and location example “local listing service in Durham” try this search both in Google and Bing. Are you showing up for your business name? How about when you do a search for your service or product in your town? Did your business or website show up? NO? That’s the problem we fix with our local business listings service. This includes directory submissions to the most relevant business directories that apply to your industry. Key Benefits of our Local Business Listings Package: • Be found on all major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing) • Important process to help Local SEO • Your business will be listed on dozens of local business directories including Google, Bing, plus many more. All tailored toward your industry • Directory report – Showing which directories your business is now listed in • Cost-effective service By allowing search engines to know that you have a solid local presence in your community, Local Listings create a strong foundation and the groundwork on which to build a complete local business internet marketing strategy and online presence. We are a SEO marketing and digital agency based with offices in Newcastle and Durham who specialise in ROI-focused digital marketing, bespoke web design & development and digital design. With a focus on building long-term relationships with our clients, we deliver services including SEO, PPC, content marketing, social media marketing, web design and e-commerce websites. For more information please visit our website and complete our contact form or call us today on 0845 272 235.
Does Local SEO Bring You New Customers
Does Local SEO Bring You New Customers? This very moment, people in your city could be searching online for a business just like yours. Will those customers find your business website or your competitors? Since most consumers now research local purchase decisions online, the answer to that question can make or break your company. In order to rank well for local searches, it’s most important to understand how today’s consumers search online for businesses. Importance of Mobile Optimisation for Your Business When searchers actively look for a local business, they often use mobile devices. A potential customer could be home, at the office, or sitting inside their car. Today’s local search engine optimisation must function on every kind of device desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, and soon other devices like smart appliances & wearables. Online searchers assume their mobile device knows their location and will pass it on to the search engine or app. For example, they may simply query for “nearby Lebanese restaurants” or “emergency dentists” by using a phone or tablet. Other searchers might still type in “plumber in Durham” or something similar. Other searches may even return results on map apps, so potential customers can see exactly where your business is located or how to contact you. Local SEO increases visibility of your business by driving your website to the top of local listings. If you have a local business, you need geographically relevant traffic to your site through specifically targeted local rankings that will launch your company to reach the target customer demographic in your market. Studies show that 97% of consumers now go online to find local services, with 82% of smartphone users use a search engine when looking for a local business or service. Think about the extra sales and business you would get from being top of those local search results. Call us today on 0845 2722350 for a free conversation about local SEO and how it can help your business attract new business. Our aim is to keep you above your competitors when it comes to local searches online.