This statistic is enough to understand why it is important to consider local SEO in your overall SEO strategy. There is a need of digital marketing service to meet this requirement.
“46% of searches on Google are local.”
Looking back, the latter is the result of technological development. In the early days of Google, searches were carried out on a computer. Then smart phones gradually took over, to the point of becoming the first medium on which research is entered. In the more or less near future, voice search will also have a say.
Thus, the various changes “localized” the queries made on Google. Thanks to location data, terms like “Near me” or “close by” have increased by + 900% on search engines over the last two years.
Faced with these developments, Google is adapting its SERP (1). Snippets (2) have become automatic in local searches, especially with the Maps tool. The first results that the Internet user will be able to see, apart from Ads, will be those located in position 03. The natural results will be positioned below, and in some cases, they will not even cross the waterline!
In other words, local SEO can allow a VSE / SME to reach the top of the page, without having a highly developed content strategy. Conversely, a company that works on its content marketing may be penalized by a weak local presence.
Google My Business, your best ally for good local SEO
56% of businesses don’t have a Google My Business (GMB) account. Yet no need to have a website. According to a study by Databox, it is more important in the definition of a local SEO strategy to have an optimized My Business profile than to have a mobile friendly site. Especially since 50% of searches stop at the SERP level.
Internet users find information using either snippets or the Google My Business page. So they don’t need to click on the link.
Completing your GMB account properly can therefore make a business more visible. It also allows the latter to collect opinions. Google rewards accounts that have many positive reviews, and on the contrary sanctions those that have negative feedback.
It is therefore interesting for a company to collect opinions. For this, it is possible to automate emails that collect customer feedback.
Finally, thanks to Google My Business, you can post news, commercial offers. They will appear directly on the SERP when searching for your business.
How to optimize your local SEO?
SEO Services therefore has a real interest in companies looking to acquire more traffic.
However, how to do it?
The answer is simple: play by the rules dictated by Google.
Start by having the basis of a reference site: HTTPS certificate in place, optimized for mobile browsing, fast etc. Otherwise, you will be non-existent in the eyes of the search engine.
Once this (crucial) step is completed, you can move on to the next. You must find the keywords on which you want to be positioned.
Also think about the specificity of requests for voice search. Users of Google Home, Siri or even Alexa perform searches in the same way they address a human being.
Once you have your selection, you will need to edit your homepage to make them appear. You will also be able to write content related to the chosen keywords. Edit your H1, H2, H3 tags, URL’s and other meta descriptions. In short, make your site readable for search engines.
The optimizations mentioned above do not differ from those that are performed in general. The difference will be made at the level of local citations: the NAP (name, address and phone number). This is even the most important criterion for being well referenced at the local level. Do not forget to correctly fill in this information on your site.
Just add your business name, address, and phone number to each of your pages. Warning! You absolutely must use the same name, the same address and the same phone number as on your Google My Business listing.
