5 tips for dominating local SEO

For a small, brick-and-mortar business, there's nothing more important than dominating local SEO. Your traffic is far more targeted than that of online retailers with national customer bases. It cannot be stressed enough how vital it is to focus your SEO strategy on keywords and phrases that concern the cities in which you operate. If you are not yet convinced that local SEO should be a part of your online marketing strategy, read on.

Why should you focus on local SEO dominance?

How about some statistics to give you a bit of perspective:

• 51% der Verbraucher suchen über ihr Smartphone/Tablet nach lokalen Geschäften (unterwegs)
• 40% der Verbraucher kaufen lieber in einem Geschäft als online (wenn sie wüssten, wo sich ein lokales Geschäft befindet)
• 50% der Verbraucher nutzen ihr Smartphone für die Suche nach lokalen Geschäften
• 80% of consumers use search engines to find local information
• Around 3 billion search queries per month consist of local keywords
• 70% der Verbraucher nutzen die lokale Suche, um ein Geschäft in ihrer Nähe zu finden
• 30% of Google searches relate to local information

That says a great deal about local search and should prompt you to secure a piece of this gigantic.

5 ways to boost local traffic

Optimising for local search can massively boost your online and offline traffic if you play your cards right. Here are the steps you need to take:

• Classify your business as a local business

People won't know you're a local business if you don't tell them. In search engines that have indexed your business, you need to ensure you are ranked as a local business. First, you need to sign up for your Google My Business page and then classify your business as local. After that, you should optimise the page by including all the required information for your profile, including a description of your business. Also, include your address and your local phone number. You must select relevant categories that relate to your business. Avoid spamming on your page, as Google frowns upon this and will not hesitate to penalise you.

• Ensure consistency across your online presence

If you have different entries on the Internet, you should make sure that they all contain the same information. This will make your small business appear more reliable and trustworthy. Check all your listings to make sure they contain the same phone number, address and description. If you have recently moved or changed phone numbers, update these details as soon as possible. The appearance of your listings should also be similar so that you can establish yourself as a brand and be recognised for it. Google doesn't like to show profiles of businesses that are closed or have evidence of a change of ownership or inconsistencies in the data. Remember, this is about attracting visitors and building your online image. The more listings you have pointing to your website, the better your rankings will be - and ultimately your traffic and conversion rates.

• Find and claim all your online listings

The company listings you create online won't be the only ones you need to look after. Other databases will pick up your listings, and you'll need to find these to make sure the information on them is up to date. You'll first need to claim the business as yours, and then you can edit the listing. You can start by listing your business on the top five local directories, including Google My Business, Yelp, Yahoo Local Listing, Bing Places for Business, and Manta. Then, list yourselves on industry-specific directories. Take the time to build out your listings regularly and look for the listings you haven't claimed yet. The larger your network of listings, the better your search engine ranking will be for related keywords – allowing you to dominate the local market.

• Use keywords to optimise your social media posts

Your company's search engine and social media listings need to be optimised with relevant keywords. It's not enough to place your listings everywhere - not if you want to dominate local SEO for your market. Choosing the right keywords can be confusing, but with a little research, it's not a problem. If you haven't done so already, you should introduce Google Analytics so you can get a bird's eye view of how your customers are finding your website. You'll see what search terms they're using, which you can then utilise for your offers. You can also think about what people are likely to type into search engines to find what your business offers. A little brainstorming and A/B testing can go a long way. Just make sure that the keywords you choose aren't too competitive. Check the keywords you want to use with the Google Keyword Planner before you make your decisions. The longer your keywords are, the less competitive they are. For this reason, it's not too difficult to dominate local SEO. Just add different city names to keywords that are already specific and you'll have a long-tail keyword.

• Keep your content fresh

If there’s one thing search engines hate, it’s out-of-date content. After taking the steps above, you’ll need to keep your local business relevant to search engines and people by updating your content. You don’t have to do this yourself – if your budget allows, you can invest in a copywriter to do it for you. Your content needs to be high-quality and published regularly. A great way to do this is by using a blog. The content should also be fresh and engaging, so that people will read it and share it on social media. This will not only maintain your search engine ranking, but it will also help to raise the profile of your local business. Here are some more benefits of using content to dominate local SEO:

1. This helps to position you as a thought leader in your local niche.
2. It shows Google that you operate in a specific niche. So keep your topics niche-specific, and you'll rank better for your niche keywords.
3. High-quality content will get you more organic inbound links, further improving your local search ranking.

Your local business has a chance to compete

If you thought your small business couldn't compete with the big players, think again. Local search engine optimisation is one of the surest ways you can attempt to become recognised as the leading provider of your service or product in your region.