In case you own a restaurant in your neighborhood or manage a home-delivery business, you must be aware of the significance of promoting your venture online. Since your business has to compete more aggressively with similar undertakings or enterprises located in the immediate vicinity compared to related ventures, it is imperative that you formulate a web-based or online marketing strategy that is more in sync with local SEO. Devising a stratagem or technique for publicizing your product or service that is geo-specific is a completely different ballgame than working out a plan with respect to broadcasting the business for global SEO.
Google which has become synonymous with the term ‘search engine’ (because of its overwhelming popularity) has of late, been focusing exceedingly on local SEO and has updated some of its recent algorithms like Panda or Penguin. So, if your strategy for marketing the e-commerce site is not delivering the results it once did, it’s about time that you modified the approach that is geared more towards local SEO. The idea or ultimate objective behind having a restructured plan would be to move up on the local SERPs ladder. Now, there are some key factors or variables that have an impact on the localized search engine optimization rankings.
Of these variables or determinants, two parameters in particular can and do influence the local SEO ranking of your business-‘on-page signals’ (having a weightage of 21%) and link signals (having a weightage of 18.3%). Domain authority, keyword insertion in title and meta-tag, updating NAP are some of the key aspects that constitute ‘on-page signals’ ranking factor. On the other hand, quantity of linking domain, authority of linking domain, and inbound anchor text are a few of the significant features making up ‘link signals’ yardstick.
So it follows that when you or your webmaster (who designed and developed your site) get down to strategizing a plan that is expected to improve the SERP rank of the enterprise whenever Google conducts a local SEO drive, the emphasis should be more on the aforementioned two ranking variables. To be specific, the sort of links that you’ll need to target will be of a different nature.
Before You Get Started
Before you roll up your sleeves to chase the relevant links, you’ll need to ensure that your site is geared accordingly so that it can claim an enviable rank in listings of local SEO packs. In order to achieve a rank that makes your business visible in the local pack list, you’ll have to put more stress on ‘my business signals’, ‘local reviews’, and ‘local NAP citations’. Firstly, you’ll need to assert and maintain your Google My Business page, in case you haven’t done so. Once you’re through with the Google My Business page setup, you should:-
- Key in an elongated and exclusive description that is formatted precisely and incorporate links
- Opt for the categories relevant to your business
- Create a unique photo collage
- Insert a local landline number
- Ensure that the address of the business is the same across all the web-based platforms
- See that the cover photo and the profile picture that you upload is of a high-resolution
- Ensure that you insert the business hours and working days
- Upload and update candid reviews and feedbacks of customers
NAP Consistency is Crucial
Two factors or aspects are very crucial with respect to the NAP of the business, i.e. its name, address, and phone number. Making sure that the entire NAP is there on every web page of your site is the first requirement. Secondly, you must ensure that the format or the details of the business address is identical throughout the online realm. At the same time, you’ll have to devote precious moments towards claiming local reviews (of your product or service) as the same influence the local SEO.
Local SEO On-Page Variables
On-page optimization for local SEO is in keeping with time-honored SEO approaches. Since On-page content optimization carries sufficient weightage in the context of local search package listing, it is imperative that you include your zone or city in consonance with the germane keyword in landing page’s title tag, H1 tag, URL, content, and image ALT specifics. Other aspects that you should pay attention include link building, creating citations, and SERP CTR.
Image Credit : Local SEO Tampa
