Learning how to improve local SEO can be pretty difficult.
Your ultimate goal should be to appear in the local pack for keywords related to your business. The trouble is, the local pack only shows three results on SERPs.
This means your strategy should include methods that help your business appear in localized search results as well.
Improving local SEO requires keeping your business information consistent across your website and every director you’re a part of, getting positive reviews on a regular basis, responding to reviews, and increasing your business’ presence across the web.
In this article, I cover major and minor strategies you can use to improve local SEO.
How to Improve Local SEO: Where to Start
Before I get into strategies you can use to improve local SEO, I want to discuss everything you should already have set up before you start working on increasing your rankings.
Start by making sure you have the following set up:
- Get verified on Google Business Profile (GBP)
- Fill out every relevant field for your business on GBP
- Choose the right business categories for your business on GBP
- Add a website link to your GBP
- Add a phone number on GBP so customers can ask questions
- Claim your business listings wherever they exist, including Facebook, Yelp and Tripadvisor
I also recommend creating a proper website for your business instead of linking to your Facebook page.
While plenty of businesses do get by with just a Facebook page alone, a website allows you to create localized pages for your business.
Conducting a Local SEO Audit
A local SEO audit gives you the opportunity to see where your business is at in terms of rankings, backlinks and reviews.
More importantly, it helps you identify exactly which areas of local SEO your business needs to improve.
Follow these steps to conduct a local SEO audit for your business:
- Record your rankings for keywords you want to rank for. Use a local SEO tool to discover keywords and track your rankings. Use Google to look up rankings for individual keywords.*
- Record your rankings for localized search results.
- Record your current review score on Google, along with the total number of reviews you have.
- Record how often you receive a review on Google.
- Check your local citations for any inconsistencies.
- Record your backlinks. Make a note of how much linking sites relate to your own as well how authoritative linking sites are.
- Make a note of any brand mentions you find by searching for your brand on the web, especially if they’re not linked.
- Make sure your business has not been hit with Google penalties.
*Note: Google personalizes search results for each individual user, meaning each user sees different search results that are based on their browsing habits. If you want to see if you rank for a particular keyword, search Google from a browser you aren’t logged into.
13 Ways to Improve Local SEO
1. Stay Within Google’s Guidelines for Google Business Profile
Google has a long list of guidelines for Google Business Profile that every business must abide by. Failing to do so could result in your suspension.
You can find these guidelines at the following links:
- All Business Profile policies
- Overview of Google Business Profile policies
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google
2. Add Your Business to Every Relevant Directory
The more directories you add your business to, the higher the likelihood you’ll have of showing up in localized search results.
This is because local search results sometimes display directory results instead of or alongside your website, such as your Yelp or Facebook page.
Add your business to any directory that makes sense for your business type. For example, every local business should also have a Yelp, Tripadvisor and Facebook page alongside Google Business Profile.
3. Develop a Process for Updating Your Business Information
Your business information must be up to date across your website and every directory you’re a part of.
If your website says your hours are “9AM-5PM Monday-Friday,” your Google Business Profile must also say your hours are “9AM-5PM Monday-Friday.”
If you have trouble remembering to update certain directories when your hours or other business information changes, try using a kanban layout.
You can do this with a project management tool like Trello, Asana or ClickUp or with something as simple as columns drawn on a whiteboard and sticky notes.
The idea is to create multiple lists represented as columns where each list represents a different directory you’re a part of as well as your website.
Then, when you have something to change, create a card (or sticky note) for it, and assign it (or stick it) to the first list, which could be your website.
When you’ve updated your business information on your website, move the note to the next list, which could be Google Business Profile. When you’ve updated GBP, move it to the next list, and so on and so forth.
4. Optimize Google Business Profile for Your Business Model
Google Business Profile has different features for different business types.
For example, restaurants can add their menus to their profiles while businesses who accept reservations can add a schedule/book/reservation button.
5. Study Your Competition
Try searching for local keywords related to your business and seeing what comes up. For example, Italian restaurants would search for “italian food near me.”
If other businesses show up, review their strategies for local SEO as closely as possible so you can learn what’s working for them.
Do they have more reviews than you? More photos? Do they have a better website? Are they more active on Facebook?
6. Develop a Process for Collecting Reviews from Customers
According to a study conducted by Localo, businesses who appear in one of the top three positions in local search have around 240 reviews on average.
Develop a process for collecting reviews from each customer by:
- Telling them to rate you on Google in person
- Giving out flyers that let them know you’re on Google
- Asking them in an email or SMS message
7. Use Local SEO Tools to Manage Reviews
A review marketing strategy must include responding to positive reviews, responding to negative reviews and flagging fake reviews.
You can manage Google reviews from Google Business Profile itself. However, local SEO tools, such as Semrush, have better UIs to help you manage reviews more efficiently.
Related:
- How to Respond to Positive Reviews
- How to Respond to Negative Reviews
- How to Remove a Fake Google Review
- How to Turn Negative Reviews into Positive Marketing
8. Create an Attraction for Your Business
Localo’s study also revealed that businesses who rank well in local searches have around 250 images added to their profiles on average.
You can add images yourself, but you’ll need customers to include images with their reviews in order to reach this number.
Trouble is, according to a survey conducted by BrightLocal, the majority of customers choose not to leave reviews because “the experience wasn’t noteworthy enough.”
To get customers more excited about leaving reviews for your business, create an attraction for it. Something that not only gets them in the door but makes them want to snap photos.
9. Create Local Content
Create content that targets your community. Publish it on social media as well as your blog.
Ideas include creating content for trends with your staff, creating content around your neighborhood, publishing local guides on your blog and covering topics your community cares about.
10. Host or Sponsor Community Events
Community events provide opportunities for people in your neighborhood to get together. If you host or sponsor events like these, your name will appear alongside every piece of marketing material event organizers create to promote the event.
Other businesses, influencers, bloggers and even news organizations may link to your business when they cover the event.
Not only is this great for marketing, it helps boost your business’ influence on Google.
11. Get Featured On Local News
Reach out to news organizations in your area, including local TV channels and newspapers.
They may have segments designed to promote local businesses. If not, they may have advertising opportunities at the very least.
12. Collaborate with Other Local Businesses and Influencers
Reach out to other businesses and influencers in your area.
Other businesses may be open to a collaboration, such as an event or a collaboration on menu items that may pair well together.
Influencers may be willing to shop with you and film the content for their social media channels. Just make sure whatever price they charge is within your budget and makes sense for the amount of views the influencer’s other sponsored content generates.
13. Use Structured Data On Your Website
Structured data is data that follows a standardized format that allows it to be read by humans and bots easily and efficiently.
Search engine crawlers, like Googlebot, use structured data to find and display information like review scores, recipes and prices.
Local businesses can use Schema.org’s LocalBusiness schema types to add structured data to their websites for operating hours, payment types accepted, prices, addresses and more.
Your SEO plugin might have options to add this type of structured data to your website already. Otherwise, use a dedicated structured data plugin.
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