Thanksgiving’s coming, and all everyone is talking about is food, food, food. And while locally sourced is increasingly trending on Turkey Day, it’s not the only “local” trend you should be thinking about this year. Local search optimization, or local SEO, can target your business to where it matters most: your hometown. According to our research, despite global giants like Amazon, 68% of all money is spent locally. Plus, 61% of local searches result in a purchase AND local results appear closer to the top than most organic SEO. That’s a lot of revenue to be had!
But …. Search engines are global. Wouldn’t you be competing with every other business like yours? Not at all! In fact, search engines do most of the work for you. They rank local searches differently, using multiple factors to rank local searches.
That said, these factors are multi-faceted, and can take a lot of planning to organize for SEO. Let us break it down with some tips for optimizing your local search rankings this holiday season.
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Are you on Google My Business?
Even if you are, is your current information up to date, including your holiday hours? When search engines know where you are, and don’t receive complaints about out-of-date information, you do better in search rankings for your local area.
While Google is currently the most popular search engine, there are many more search engines that help local businesses get found on the internet, including Bing, Yahoo! Search, and Yellowpages.com. That’s why ensuring your local listings are accurate across the board is crucial. Listings talk to each other, and if something is different on Bing and Yellowpages.com, Google My Business may revert back to old information.
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Where’s your contact info?
Your contact info, including your local address if you have one, should be easy to find on your website. If your customers or prospects are searching your site and can’t find your business location, they don’t know where are, and will quickly move on to a business they can find.
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Keywords, keywords, keywords
Local search keywords are a lot like regular keywords used in SEO, but they also target specific locations. If you’re a car mechanic, one of the keywords you’ll try to rank for is, obviously, mechanic. However, if you’re in Warren, Michigan, you also try to rank for “car mechanic Warren” or even “car mechanic Sterling Heights” or other nearby towns.
Plus, if someone from local areas you’re ranking for searches for “car mechanic near me”, you’re more likely to appear on the first page.
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When’s the last time you updated your content?
Search engines love good, fresh content. In a world where content is king, updating your content regularly is a must. From blogs to landing pages, changing up the content on your website can help inch you closer to the top of local search pages.
Does that mean you have to write entirely new web content? Not necessarily. However, freshen up some landing pages, especially if it’s been a couple of years since you last updated your pages. And not just written content – also consider layouts, visuals, etc. Remember, website technology changes rapidly. What worked last year could be costing you conversions today.
Plus, here’s another consideration you may not have thought of: you can build different landing pages to target different locations. This is especially helpful if you’re trying to reach customers in multiple locations.
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We know you have social media …
It’s 2021. We know you already have a Facebook and/or LinkedIn page. BUT … how often are you posting? Publishing great content on your social media pages can also boost your local search rankings. Targeting a specific town or city? Creating events for your business, or addressing potential customers in your target locations, can boost your SEO in local searches.
Plus, Google may boost your site and social media pages closer to the top based on “check ins” to your events. If you’re hosting a holiday event, party, or promotion, be sure to let your customers or guests know to “check in” to your event on their social media account as soon as they arrive.
If our tips seem like a lot, or you don’t know where to start, let us help you this holiday season! Give us a call at (248) 684-0500 today or discover what our local SEO services can do for you!
One more thing, if you already have local search with us and you have special holiday hours, be sure to send a support ticket soon to update your holiday hours across ALL search engines on the internet!