Local SEO is about optimizing the organic positioning of a business within the area in which it operates, capitalizing on the local searches that consumers perform when they need to purchase a product or service near them .
This is particularly important if you have a street-facing business, such as a restaurant or travel agency, or if location is an essential aspect of your service ⏤ for example, a hotel, or a coworking space ⏤. It also applies to all companies that, regardless of how they market their products, are looking to improve their presence in the local market.
According to data provided by HubSpot , 88% of people who performed a local search on their mobile visited the business within 24 hours. In Argentina this number might not be as high ⏤there is no data on this matter⏤ but we can safely assume that local searches are growing in line with mobile phones and improvements in terms of connectivity.
Working on local SEO
To improve local organic positioning and attract customers croatia phone number from their area, SMEs need to work on and off their website. This involves:
Create or claim your listing on Google My Business.
Research local keywords and develop content around them.
Optimize the site to improve its performance in search engines (ON PAGE SEO)
Let's look at each of these points separately.
1. Create a business profile on Google
Google My Business (GMB) was launched in June 2014 to help local businesses and companies improve their presence on search engines and Google Maps.
With GMB you can create a business profile that appears when people search for your business or businesses similar to yours on Google or Maps, facilitating brand discovery and user interaction with your products.
With Google My Business you can:
Appear on Google Search and Google Maps with all your business contact information, including address, phone number and website.
Know how many people view and interact with your business profile.
Receive ratings and comments about your service.
Create simple posts that drive users to your website.
Showcase featured products and services.
Show featured images of your offices.
Manage paid ads easily.
Creating a GMB profile is free and relatively easy; you can start the registration process here . If you find that there is already a profile created for your business (Google automatically creates basic profiles to enrich the data on Google Maps), you can claim it to have access to all the features that GMB offers.
Once created, share your profile to receive ratings from your customers. Ratings are a very important ranking factor in local SEO, and can affect your business's visibility in the results list. The more positive ratings there are, the more likely you are to appear before your competition.
2. Research local keywords
Keywords are search terms that people might use to find your business, and are often related to your business or products. Developing keywords is very important for SEO, as they allow Google and other search engines to understand the content of your website .
When looking to improve local positioning, keyword development should consider what in local SEO is called SeU ( service in location ). SeU type keywords are those that are commonly used when performing a local search, for example: “ toy distributor in Banfield ” or “ messenger service in Caballito ”.
Including these search terms on your website is essential for Google to recognize the type of service your business provides and display it when related search queries are made on the search engine. You can include keywords in:
the titles of your important posts and pages;
the meta descriptions of your important posts and pages;
in the headers and content of your blog;
in image titles and alt text;
in URLs.
When working on your keywords, be thorough. Make a complete list, including common variations, synonyms, and complete sentences. Then, check the search volume for each to determine which ones are most relevant and include them naturally on your site.