Local SEO Tips for Small Businesses

SEO Tips for Local Businesses

When it comes to searching for local businesses on-the-go, customers expect search results catered to their current location. Local SEO does just that, optimising a business’ online presence for a specific location so it shows up in local listings like Google Maps, as well as in organic search results.
Here are some helpful tips when it comes to Local SEO for small businesses.

Make sure your business location is optimised on your site

Include your city and state or other geographic region in relevant places on your website. This includes your About Us, Contact Us or Store Location page, as well as meta-descriptions, headers, footers and body copy. Google references these signals along with your other listings and checks them for consistency.

Verify Your Listing on Google My Business

Google My Business allows you to create and update a profile on Google Search, Maps and Google Plus from one place. Complete your profile with pictures, hours of operation and a description of services. A few additional tips:
• Present your business the same way you would in an offline directory
• Don’t try to stuff keywords or attempt any other manipulative SEO tactics
• Ensure that your name, address and phone number are accurate and current
• If you operate out of multiple bricks-and-mortar locations, be sure to claim all of your locations

Get Reviews

Encourage customers to leave reviews on your Google business listing. The more positive reviews you have, the better your business looks to search engines. Make sure the reviews are legitimate and honest, though. A business that has nothing but glowing reviews looks suspect to both search engines and consumers, which can alter your optimisation results and buyer confidence in your store.

Plan Your Website with Mobile Users in Mind

Examine how your navigation and design can best serve mobile users. Snippets of common information like store location, phone number and business hours need to be clearly visible and allow for fast navigation. Sometimes the needs of mobile users may be completely different than desktop, requiring a separate mobile site rather than a responsive design. Regardless of the approach, you must offer content for all devices and test your shopping cart to make sure the experience is flawless.

Optimise Your Business for Local Search

The rise of mobile search has made local SEO more important than ever. Make sure your website and business citations all communicate where you are located if you don’t want to miss out on local search traffic.
Measure Your Conversions
Compare your mobile conversions to desktop in Google Analytics and gain insights into how users are responding to your mobile design. Watch the data and make adjustments to your content, design and functionality as needed.