It is not impossible for local businesses like yours to compete with large brands and emerge victorious. The key is to have a local SEO strategy that can make your site rank high on local searches.

Ranking high on local search engine results pages (SERPs) allows you to reach a wider audience. Nowadays, most people use the Internet to find local businesses. With increased online visibility, your site’s traffic can go up as well as the number of potential customers.

Landing on the first page of local SERPs is not just about introducing your brand to more people. It’s also about converting the visits into sales to increase your profits. This should not be difficult since reports say that around 80% of mobile local searches end up in a purchase.

Suffice it to say, optimising your website for local searches is akin to doing targeted marketing. It allows you to promote your products and services to customers nearby who are making online queries about and interested in buying them.

Of course, it is not enough that you optimise your website for local SEO. As emphasised above, you need to have a good ranking. This means being on the first page of local searches, preferably number one on the list. Why? Most people do not go past the first page. If your website is on page three, this won’t help improve your traffic. Second, your rank is directly proportional to the number of visits you’ll get. This means that the higher your rank is, the more traffic you’ll generate.

So, how do you end up on the first page of local search results? What are the important things that you should do?

Get Listed on Online Directories

You need to get your business listed on top online business directories like Yelp and Google My Business (GMB). It is also important that you are listed in local citations or directories.

Aside from getting listed, you need to optimise your pages on these listings. Relevance is one of the factors that affects local search results for Google. So, for your listing to appear on relevant queries, you need to provide a complete and an accurate description of your company. Talk about what your business is, the products or services it provides and the business hours, amongst others. Make sure that you provide the correct name, address and phone (NAP), too. Your NAP must be the same on all listings and on your website.

If your GMB is properly optimised, it might even entre the so-called Google three pack. This refers to the block of listings which appears on top of the organic search results and below the map for local queries. Since there are only three spots, it can be difficult to land on this list. However, it is not impossible for as long as you set up your GMB properly and get several good reviews.

Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

Why is it important to make your website mobile-friendly? For one, mobile-friendliness is a ranking signal. Another reason is that most online queries are done using mobile devices these days. If your site is not mobile-friendly, your potential customers may leave. This can lead to very high bounce rates for your website.

How do you make your site mobile-friendly? First, it needs to have a responsive design for it to be able to open properly on devices of varying screen sizes.

You must also carefully research and choose your mobile keywords. The search terms used for mobile queries are usually different from desktop searches. Long-tailed keywords are rarely used in mobile searches. What’s often used are shorter phrases or keywords.

Remember, most people doing mobile searches have local intent. Their queries often contain location-based phrases like “near me”. Furthermore, reports show that almost 70% of local searches are done to obtain a specific store’s contact details and directions going to it.

Carefully Choose Your Keywords

You need to pick keywords which focus on your location and niche. For example, if you own a painting company specialising in commercial establishments, ensure that you rank well on keywords like “commercial painting company”.

Make sure you work on keywords that have location intent, i.e., commercial painting company Dublin. You can also use keywords that include prominent locations or landmarks that are near your business.

When choosing keywords for local SEO, it pays to know what your competitors are using. Find out which ones are ranking on page one and use them as well. There are also tools available online which can help you select the best keywords for your business.

Making your page rank number one on the first page of local SERPs can be a daunting task, but it is doable. Even without the humongous marketing budget that large companies have, your local business can make it big when you have an effective local SEO strategy.

Want your page to rank high on local searches? Let our team of local SEO experts help you. Call us at 089 466 2000 or 01 960 9023 today!