A significant portion of local searches result in sales. This percentage varies based on your location and the types of services you offer. Whether you are a clinic, café, restaurant, or hotel or offer services such as interior design, regular maintenance or contract work, you can significantly increase your business sales by improving your online visibility for local searches. In this regard, local SEO can help you effectively. This blog will share critical Local SEO elements you should focus on in 2024 to drive more local customers to your business.
7 critical Local SEO strategies for 2024
Do you serve local customers? Including the following Local SEO strategies in your overall business marketing campaign in 2024 can yield you great benefits.
Optimising Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is a tool that allows businesses to maintain their online presence. Have you already listed your business on Google Business Profile? If yes, ensure it is well-optimised. For those who still need to register themselves on Google Business Profile, it’s time to do so now.
While listing your business on Google Business Profile, ensure it includes the following critical business information.
- Business name, address, and phone number (NAP information)
- Business hours
- Operating days
- Photos of your office/property/establishments
- Photos of your products, services, or menu (if you are a restaurant or café)
- Website links
- Links to your social media profiles
Optimising your Google Business Profile can help you rank high on search results for appropriate search queries.
Google Map Optimisation
If you own a brick-and-mortar store, optimising Google Maps can help boost your search rankings. For instance, if someone makes location-specific searches by using phrases such as ‘near me’ or any specific location, city, or state, it can show results from Google Maps. In certain situations, Google Maps results may even rank above the Top 1 organic result. Optimising Google Maps can help increase footfall at your physical store and drive traffic to your website. You will need to register your business on Google Business Profile to create and manage your profile on Google Maps. Further, it is better to regularly update photos and videos on Google Business Profile, so they appear on Google Maps.
Local Business Listing Optimisation
You should also list your business on other relevant and local online directories for more brand exposure. Usually, most of these business listings are free; hence, it is easier to set your profile on these platforms. Consistently listing your business on these directories can boost your SEO efforts and improve your organic rankings and visibility on search engines. Whether it’s Google Business Profile or other online directories, ensure your NAP information is consistent across all platforms. Further, you must include links to your website and different social media accounts in your profile on all these platforms.
Focus On Local Keywords
Keywords are a critical aspect of SEO, as optimising them can help you rank high on search results for appropriate searches. Hence, if you want to improve your search rankings for local searches, you need to focus on local keywords. In this regard, begin with creating a list of relevant local keywords. These are keywords that include the name of a specific location, city, or state. Including these keywords in your website content, Metadata, etc., can help boost your website’s organic search ranking for relevant local searches.
You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to identify relevant local keywords for your business and location. Additionally, you can also perform competitor analysis to identify their targeted keywords. You may also create location-specific pages for different physical locations for your business.
Generate Customer Reviews
Reviews or feedback are critical in earning your potential customer’s trust and encouraging them to purchase from you. Hence, you must encourage your existing customers to rate your business and submit a review or feedback about your business and the products and services you offer.
The following tips can help you get reviews from your customer
- Maintain your product and service quality
- Respond to every review and feedback and share them on your social media platform
- Offer freebies in exchange for reviews
Create a Responsive Website Design
Another effective way to boost local SEO for your business is to create a responsive website or mobile-friendly website design. People often use their mobile devices for local searches. Hence, optimising your website for various device sizes can encourage your potential customers to explore and navigate your website easily and purchase from you.
If you have already created a responsive design for your website, you are all set. However, if you still need to create a responsive web design, it’s time to hire a web design agency for the same.
Optimising Social Media Profile
People use different social media platforms for various purposes. One of the major reasons why people use social media is searching for various businesses, products, and services. Therefore, if you own a local business, you must be active on social media to help connect to potential customers. Social media can help spread brand awareness, engage with prospects, generate leads, improve sales, and even offer better customer service. Using social media effectively can help in greater brand exposure and drive web traffic and store footfall.
Elevan August Media is an SEO agency in Singapore. We can help run an SEO audit on your website and suggest recommendations concerning how to improve it to boost your online presence. Further, regardless of the nature of your local business, we can help develop effective strategies to boost your organic ranking and visibility for local searches, drive store footfall, and even website visits for increased engagement and sales.
Share your business type with us and let us help you get more local customers.
