46% of all online searches have to do with location. This means, if you are not paying attention to the important local search ranking factors, it is likely that you will miss out on ranking for nearly half of all Google searches. Furthermore, potential customers are not just searching for local businesses, they are also using local search to compare different products and services. Consumers visit nearly 1.5 billion physical stores every month based on Google searches and reviews. So, regardless of the size and type of your business, it is important to have a local SEO campaign in place.
It is also important to learn about all the local search ranking factors that you must focus on. There are many, each having an impact on where your business appears on the search pages. Some are more important than others.
The most important local search ranking factors:
Google business profile
A Google Business Profile lets you manage how your local business shows up across Google Maps, Search, and other Google products. If you run a business that serves customers at a particular location, your Google Business Profile can help potential customers find you. According to Google, “verified businesses on Google are twice as likely to be considered reputable.”
Google Business Profile is the simplest and most effective way to boost your local search rankings. When creating the profile, pay special attention to the business title, categories, and the website URL. The presence or absence of complete or partial search phrases in the business name, selecting the right business categories (you can choose up to 10), and the strength and authority of the website that the profile is linked to can significantly impact the search rankings.
On-page factors
There are several on-page factors that determine your local rankings. The use of relevant and strategically placed keywords throughout your website including your page titles, meta titles, meta descriptions, and other important places can help the Google bots determine where your website belongs. Make sure your keywords include the specific areas that your business serves. Also, it helps to include details such as name, address, and phone number on your web pages to boost your local search rankings. It is also important to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly because a large percentage of local searches are conducted on mobile devices. In addition, ease of use on mobile devices is a ranking factor.
Citations are overlooked local search ranking factors
In local SEO, citations are mentions of a business’s name, address, and phone number on a website that is not their own. Citations can occur on local business directories, various social platforms, and other apps and websites. Citations help people discover local businesses. Having numerous, high-quality citations are known to boost local search engine rankings.
Online reviews, especially Google reviews
Your business’s reputation plays a crucial role in local search engine rankings. Lots of reviews can significantly boost your local search rankings. For any query, Google displays the top three most relevant local businesses. Google uses customer ratings as a factor to decide which businesses will figure in the top three. The presence of specific keywords within the reviews can also impact your local search rankings. It’s important that your business has a good number of text reviews (not just star ratings) on different platforms.
The proximity of the address to the centroid
The physical location where the person is searching from carries a big impact on search results. Based on GPS and IP data, Google knows where someone is searching from. It uses this data to show local businesses that meet the search criteria and are physically close to the searcher.
Are are struggling to get your business figured in the top local search results. If so, get in touch with us now. We will tailor a local SEO campaign that will boost your rankings organically.