4 Most Important Ranking Factors for Local SEO in 2020

 

4 Important Local SEO Ranking Factors 

 

Do you happen to own a small, localized business? 

If yes, then a successful local SEO campaign can help bring lots of new customers to your doorstep. 

That’s right, optimizing your site for local SEO means more traffic, but not if you, or your hired SEO company, aren’t taking the most important local SEO ranking factors into consideration. 

So, are ready to boost your site’s performance?

Let’s dive into the sea of local SEO ranking factors!

 

What’s the Local SEO Bout?

As a local business, reaching new potential customers within your locality is crucial to business growth and success. 

Previously, it may have been enough for small businesses to rely merely traditional marketing tactics, such as newspaper ads or radio. But in today’s competitive world of marketing, making your customers ‘see’ you

can be a bit of a challenge. 

The question is, how far can you go with your online marketing efforts?

Well, if you ask an expert digital marketer, he’d most probably recommend you to step up your local SEO game.

Wondering why is Search Engine Optimization your best bait?

Then you might want to have a look at this:

Now that you know how important it is for you, as a local business owner, to get your site optimized for local SEO, you’ve got two options:

So, shall we begin? 

Here’s the most-awaited list:

1.    Get Found Online with Google My Business

If you haven’t realized this already, Google My Business works as a free online business directory. Which means, if you’ve not claimed your Google My Business listing, you’re killing your own sales!

How? 

Well, to answer that let us consider this example:

For instance, if you own a local restaurant in Reading, UK, and want all the foodies in your locality to be attracted to your doorstep, what would you do?

Print an advertisement in the local newspaper?

Of course not, in the digital world of social networking, you’re more likely to upload a catchy video of your scrumptious dishes on widely used platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, to force your prospects into

your restaurant. 

But the fact is, most of your potential diners in Reading would probably search Google for ‘best restaurants near me’, and if your business doesn’t pop-up there, you’d lose your clients. 

And that’s why we recommend you to claim your business listing on Google My Business, because a lot of your ‘new’ customers are likely to find your business for the first time through Google – owing to the rapidly

increasing number of local searches. 

Moreover, by claiming your listing you’d be optimizing for local SEO, which would ultimately lead to improved rankings in Google’s local search results (which is just what you need).

Plus, don’t forget to earn good customer reviews, because when it comes to local SEO, reviews are the magical potion that can truly maximize your potential to grow. Here’s why:


 
2. Leverage the Power of Keywords 

If you’re hiring a provider of SEO services in Reading for your business, make sure they’re experts who know the importance of well-researched keywords and how to use them.

Not sure what kind of keywords would work for local SEO?

For that, you’d need to think like your prospects!

In other words, when searching for your services online, customers type in specific long-tail keywords with 3-4 words in them. 

For example, for your local business in Reading, keywords such as “best restaurant in Reading” would surely work great. 

Moreover, when it comes to local SEO, short-tail keywords don’t work as good as the long-tail ones, because they won’t draw you enough qualified leads. 

How to best select your keywords? Here are some tips:

  • Conduct a thorough keyword research.
  • Select keywords that are most relevant to your products and services. 
  • Incorporate the selected keywords in your content. They could be used in your body copy, headings, title tags, and meta descriptions. 
  • Remember not to use keywords excessively as stuffing can lead to your site getting penalized by Google, which’d ultimately harm your local SEO rankings.

You must’ve heard about the importance of links from numerous SEO services providers. Well, in case you’re doubtful, they don’t lie!

Links are the backbone of your local SEO and can get you ranked higher in Google’s organic search results like nothing else. 

That’s because, when another site links to yours, it signifies the fact that the content on your site is helpful, unique, and of high-quality. In addition to this, backlinks from other sites tend to make your site more

authoritative, hence resulting in improved rankings on Google.   

Wondering how to obtain links from relevant sites?

By creating content that’s worth linking to!

After you’re done with uploading quality content on your site, you can reach out to other authoritative and relevant sites, bloggers, or industry editors and ask them to check out your content. 

Here’s a tip:


 
4. Work on Your Site’s User Experience 

You know what else affects your local SEO rankings?

The way your visitors behave!

In a sense, if your site isn’t easy to navigate, optimized for mobile devices, or loads fast, your users would ultimately be forced to leave even before they’ve read something useful. 

This leads to an increased bounce rate and an equally low rate of conversions. 

Sounds like a nightmare, right?

Well, it isn’t just about the conversions, your user’s behavior also sends signals to search engines like Google, and can cause your site to drop down even before you’ve reached the top. 

So, if you’re aiming to optimize your site for local SEO, do the following:

  • Make your site easy to navigate through. 
  • Create a call-to-action.
  • Improve your site’s page speed.
  • Optimize for mobile devices. 

Can’t do it all on your own? You can always hire an SEO services provider to get the job done! However, be sure you know what qualities to search for when picking an SEO agency in UK

By - 16 Mar 2020

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