Hello everyone! Digital marketing trends have hit a new high with fast-paced digitalization and technology developments. Our smartphones and devices like laptops, the tablet have become our go-to place for all our queries and searches. And Local SEO tactics 2020 will help your business get the right customers. But, how does it work? 

Guide to Local SEO Marketing and It’s Importance for All Businesses 

Did you know that more than 46% of the Google searches are local?  

While more than 50% of them have yet not claimed their business page?  

If you are ready to take SEO seriously for your business, then it’s a perfect time. Once you have claimed and verified your Google Business page, we can consider it as the first step to online marketing. However, there’s much more to local SEO apart from the Google Business pages. Let’s find out!   

What is Local SEO? 

While people search a keyword, and if you managed to put the right keywords on your website, blog and all other social media – you could rank on the SERP (search engine result page) for the user search.  

This is where the concept of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes.

SEO is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of the website visitors to a target website or web page on a search engine portal. This is an unpaid form of marketing and excludes direct visitors and other paid marketing visitors.  

Now, local SEO is the same thing, but our focus remains limited to a local community or a specific region. It’s an online marketing company process that helps a brand or service gain visitors/customers through local search results.  

So, now comes our main question!  

How to do Local SEO for Business? 

First things first, you need to have the basic idea about how search terms and results work.  

We shall take you through a simple step-by-step guide on how to get started with the local SEO search for your brand/service.  

      1. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile. 

Yes! As per BrightLocal stats, more than 61% of the customers contact a Local business that has a mobile-friendly design. So, make sure your business website or the website you want to rank is highly optimized for mobile devices.  

      2. Optimize your Google Business Listing 

Sign in to your Google Business account, and then enter the NAP – Name, Address and Phone number of your business. Fill in the information that follow in the right, specific way. Once all the details are entered, verify the business listing and your account is ready to go! After this local SEO step, you could click on the Info menu on the left-hand sidebar and edit the business details like service details, working hours, etc.  

      3. Keyword Research 

Do thorough research on the business keywords you want to target. If you are planning to start an electrical shop, for example, a few of the relevant keywords include “electrical shops near me”, *your shop name*, *your shop name* working hours and the ones which are basic to your business.  

      4. On-Page SEO 

This includes the website content and blog writings. You need to make sure that your target keyword is added to the H1 tag, title tag, in the URL and Google loves short URLs.  

There are other factors that matter for on-page SEO like the location of your business. If your business is based on a single location, then you must consider optimizing the homepage of your website, display the NAP information on the home page.   

      5. Local Citations Check!  

Citation means the online mention of your business.  

This includes both structured and unstructured citations. So, what should you do about this?  

For the structured citations, you need to make sure that all your business NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) details are consistent and accurate on all platforms.  

And for the unstructured citations, you need to check the business listing website and see how your business details are shown. (Tip: Check out which business listing your competitors are using, and use the same platform for yours) 

     6. Backlinking 

Last but not least is the backlinking! According to Moz’s study, linking has been the most important ranking factor for the local search results. Create content that would attract your target and local audience, provide some real information, link to trusted websites, or you can also become an industry expert in your niche.  

I hope this guide on Local SEO Tips helped you with getting started on your Google Business journey. There is an infinite amount of information available online which you can go through and learn.  

Got any SEO query or having trouble with starting up your digital marketing plan? We are here to help you out! Give us a call today!

**If you get confused with any of the marketing online tips here, please do get in touch at info@panasiasoft.com