Why Local SEO is important for small businesses
With winter showing no signs of slowing down, customers will be turning to online shopping. In fact digital accounts for 39% of all retail sales in the UK in 2022. So when shoppers are looking online for Christmas gifts, birthday ideas, or products to kick-start a healthy 2023, small businesses should ensure their website will be seen first.
What is local SEO?
In essence, local SEO is the practice of optimising your website, social media platforms and any company information about you on the internet to appear in the search results for people who are searching within close geographical proximity to your business.
For example, if someone was sitting at home looking to buy some brownies, if your shop is down the road, ideally they would see your website ranking above someone whose shop is on the other side of the country. You’re a 5 min walk away, so it would make sense that your website should appear first for this user. However in order for Google to know that your shop is 5 minutes away from the person searching, you need to make this information available and clear.
With local SEO best practices, you can get your website to appear for users searching locally, and make sure that you’re visible to your target audience.
What is local SEO best practice?
Below you will find a checklist of things you should be doing to improve your local SEO and increase your chances of appearing in the search results for users near you:
Create a Google My Business account and fill in all your details
According to Google itself, Google My Business is a ‘tool for businesses to manage their online presence in Google’ and is the only official way to claim their business as their own. The tool allows you to add your address, purpose of business, reviews, images, links to your website and more. It also allows you to keep your profile up to date so you can keep your customers in the loop of any changes in opening times or service offerings.
Not only does Google take into account Google my Business accounts when indexing websites and search results, but it also displays My Business search results quite prominently on the search results page, so you are increasing your visibility.
KangarooSEO knowledge panel showing on the right-hand side of the search results page
As you may already know, reviews are also greatly beneficial for SEO. Users like to get second opinions about what they’re looking to purchase or where they’re planning to go, so reviews help confirm that you’re a trustworthy business. Make sure you enable and encourage Google reviews and these should help improve your online presence.
Check online directories and make sure you’re listed there
There are many websites that act as directories e.g. a yellow pages for websites. If you are in a specific industry, look for the online directories relating to your business and make sure you’re listed on there.
The most important thing when it comes to online directories is making sure that the information about your business is consistent. If you have inconsistent addresses or phone numbers, Google will not be sure which one is correct and may not show any, thus dropping you from the search results pages.
And for this matter, make sure that the address, phone numbers and locations on your website are also identical to that on your Google My Business account and your directory listings.
Optimise your content with local keywords
Although Google has gotten better at understanding context, it is still helpful to include location keywords on your pages and in your on-page optimisation strategy. You no longer have to put ‘Leeds’ at the end of every H1, however mentioning on your web pages that you are a local business in Leeds, or a Leeds-based business can help add context to your content and give even more signals to google about where you are based.
Create local, community-based content
Another way to improve your organic local search results and to boost your web presence is to reach out to local websites, magazines and blogs and write guest posts, linking back to your business. You could also reach out to them and ask them to feature you in a “list of top … businesses” in the area. The more you can get other businesses to feature you and link back to your website, the better for your backlink profile and your SEO strength.
You can also create content that is based on the local area, linking to local events, communities, the local council or even local social groups. All of these links and mentions add context again to your positioning within an area and help google understand your local presence.
Ensure your website is mobile friendly
A lot of users will be looking for your services on the move, so ensure your website is mobile-friendly and responsive. Not only will this help users have a better experience and stay on your web page for longer, but mobile friendliness is now a massive priority for Google when indexing search results. You can audit your website’s mobile friendliness by checking the specific tab in Google Search Console. This will evaluate your pages as poor, fair and good and give you tips on how to improve.
Our final tip is to do an audit of your content and search for your business as if you were a customer in the area. What results are showing in the search results, what are your competitors doing, is your information showing as expected? Checking your content and then tweaking it will help you get it right.
Our team of experts can support you with a range of Local SEO services including helping set up and audit your Google My Business account. If you would like help, get in touch with our team or check out some of our local SEO case studies.
