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Local businesses of all shapes and sizes constantly need to work on their presence, both online and offline, in order to retain their visibility and to stay appealing to their target audience. In markets like Australia and the US that flourish and are home to a large number of companies that are quickly evolving, there’s even more pressure to invest time and energy in better marketing tactics to serve that purpose. Today we will discuss how to boost your local SEO efforts.
One of the most profoundly effective ways to break through and to succeed locally is to use local SEO strategies that are tried and tested. Why? So that you can tap into the search results that matter the most to your demographic. Take, for instance, the fact that 30% of all mobile searches are local, and that 76% of searchers will actually visit the business they’ve been looking for that same day.
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In a very important sense, local SEO makes it possible for you to find yourself at the very top of the results page for those relevant searches. This will, in turn, allow you to make your own business more prominent in the local market despite the presence of bigger and bolder brands that often have a global reputation to boot. Here are a few tips to get you there.
Relevant Business Listings And NAP
What happens when you search for the nearest cake shop to get delicious cupcakes for an impromptu gathering at home, and you come across inconsistent data that send you to a store that’s closed? You get annoyed, that’s what happens. Google doesn’t like sending people on wild goose chases. Search engines in general like to be useful and they rank websites according to the consistency of data they present, and the data that is linked to them from other sites.
This is where the consistency of NAP in every local business directory will make or break your SEO efforts. Especially in a time of a health crisis such as the pandemic, customers don’t want to do any more research than necessary. Make sure that your business data is up to date, consistent, and relevant across all platforms where you’ve listed your brand.
Make The Most Of Your Branded App
Mobile apps have become so prevalent, that it’s safe to say there’s an app for practically everything. To help your local customers, you also need to make the most of your ASO (App Store Optimization) and elevate the overall visibility of your business. Apps are the perfect medium for providing a deeply personalized, tailor-made experience, but they are also a wonderful vessel for sharing value-driven content.
For local brands, developing an app gives you a direct line to each customer and their digital footprint, and an opportunity to give your content output another place to live and evolve. SEO is no longer just about your website, so make sure that your ASO is part of your local efforts to win over your audience.
Building Local Authority Through Content
In densely populated business ecosystems like Australia, the United States, and their several key metropolises, a local business doesn’t stand a chance to rank high without a powerful content strategy. For example, local keyword optimization and smart link building are some of the most effective SEO tactics for the Sydney market or the St. Louis market that can position a brand higher than its competitors.
It’s essential to recognize the best Sydney SEO methods the same way it is the best St. Louis SEO methods and implement them when you want to find your brand at the top of the local SERPs. What may work for Sydney, however, might not be as effective for Melbourne, and the same goes for St. Louis and Kansas City, which is why location-specific keywords and collaborating with city-specific bloggers can make all the difference. Local and global SEO ranks differently, so if you are a roof repair company, for example, you would want to find an SEO service for roofers and pay them to build your local authority easily.
Customer Reviews In The Spotlight
Although friends and family come first, online reviews come in a close second. So much so that three out of four people will trust reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. Your Sydney customers would definitely appreciate hearing from other Sydneysiders, exactly like your St. Louis customers would like to hear from fellow St. Louisans before they stop by your local store or order from you online. Even more so, local reviews add immense SEO value from that keyword standpoint and simply by adding local relevance.
You can send a post-buy email to ask for a review on Google, to publish it on your website, or you can send them a direct link to a Yelp page, too. Google knows when customers trust you, so when the search engine notices that you have a strong local reputation, your ranking will have the potential to skyrocket.
Dedicated Location Pages
Running a local business doesn’t necessarily mean that you have only one location for your brand. In fact, in cities as large as New York, it’s natural to see restaurants, cafés, and similar businesses operating in multiple locations, some of them with different work hours, menus, and other details. A valuable web design trick you can use is to set up individual location pages on your website as a brilliant chance to add more specific local content for each page.
Adding location-specific testimonials, an “About Us” section, and operational information will help you rank better, as you provide more direct customer value.
Even though SEO trends come and go, and new search engine requirements will change the course of the practice, local ranking for small businesses remains the most effective way to beat the competition. Using these and other smart, local SEO tactics, especially in oversaturated markets, you’ll give your brand a better chance of success in the months and years to come. We hope these tips will help you boost your local SEO efforts over time.
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