Never before has Localised SEO been more vital than it has in 2020 and will be in 2021.
COVID-19 has developed a culture of people becoming Localised due to travel restrictions. The opportunity has arisen for SMEs to tap into their Local markets. Localised businesses have the chance of notoriety within their Local communities, communities that usually rely on the larger companies and brand names that are well marketed online, on TV and in magazines.
If Local SEO is done correctly, it can become a super cost-effective way of marketing. It is much easier to find your target audience than it is when you are marketing across the entire state.
This article is focused on being a checklist for you to use an SEO company who is experienced in optimising Local SEO.
Local SEO comes with benefits over traditional SEO for SMEs such as:
Less competition in comparison
Keywords that are Localised have higher conversion rates
Local SEO services will convert a better ROI than broader traditional SEO Optimisation times are less for Local business web pages using Local keywords
However, bear in mind Local SEO is no different to standard SEO, what works today may not work tomorrow, it’s ever-evolving.
So, as in all SEO, you need to monitor and update it continually.
In this post, we will make a checklist for your Local SEO in 2021. We will also delve into insights to Local SEO services and tips on how to boost your Local SEO efforts and reap the rewards in 2021.
Our Table of Contents:
We start with a Local SEO Checklist – then 7 ways to dominate Local SEO in 2021.
- Local SEO Services
- Keyword Research for Local SEO
- On-page SEO Optimisation for Local SEO
- Create Your Landing Pages
- Creating Local SEO Content
- Achieving Local Citations
- Building Local Links
Plus, some additional information on:
- Google My Business
- Google Map Citations
- Google Local Listings
- Google Search Localisation
- Reputation Management
- Mobile Responsive Design
LOCAL SEO CHECKLIST – WHERE TO START?
A Local SEO checklist is the best place to start your strategy. Then when ready, execute a new Local SEO strategy to achieve your goals.
Let’s start with keywords, the key component to all SEO strategies. Think for a moment how you conduct a search in your area for services and products and translate that into how would someone search for you.
Also, you need to identify the Local areas that you want to target and promote yourself in, or you can actually cover depending on your services.
Once you have decided what keywords work for you, it’s time to conduct Local SEO optimisation for your business.
On-page Local SEO optimisation and off-page Local SEO optimisation are the two types to work on.
Your checklist for on-page Local SEO should include the following:
- Optimise URL’s – Title page – Meta description
- Optimise content – Include all ranking keywords and make the content engaging
- Instigate an SEO audit of your local business website
- Optimise your website’s logo for Local SEO
- Include your business address and all company contact information to your home page
- Ensure your website is mobile-friendly
- Extra considerations for specialized pages, like with online shops that need professional eCommerce SEO work done.
CREATE GEO PAGES
Create a blog to add to your site and keep publishing regular content containing Local SEO regularly
On your Contact Us page add Google maps
Your checklist for on-page Local SEO should include the following:
- Create a Google My Business page and optimise it
- Put your site on Yahoo Small Business local listings
- Put your site on Yelp
Add your site into local business directories (online)
Social Media – Create pages on:
- YouTube
Think about a video marketing strategy that will be effective for the local area.
Attract reviews on Google for your business
Make sure you always reply to reviews
Look to achieve local citations
Look to achieve brand mentions
Start building top quality backlinks
LOCAL SEO SERVICES
If you are starting a business, you will be getting pulled from pillar to post with a long to-do list. My advice is to hire a Local SEO expert or SEO company. They will gather information for you and get on with the labour intensive work involved in top-quality Local SEO optimisation.
Reputable SEO companies will offer Local SEO packages and work with you to devise an effective strategy to get you visible as quickly as possible. Then continue to work on your social media platforms enhancing your backlinks and rankings.
So, what do I look at in Local SEO services?
There are MANY things you need to consider with Local SEO. So here we take a closer look at the structure and processes to get going.
KEYWORD RESEARCH FOR LOCAL SEO
Local SEO keywords are where a Local SEO campaign begins. To start with, you need to work out what local keywords are trending in your area on the search engines for products and services in your arena.
Researching your competitors has become mandatory for all kinds of SEO campaigns, for Local SEO, it is essential! This is the quickest way to see what’s working so you don’t waste time and money going around in circles.
Look to identify search terms that apply to you that have between 10-1000 searches a month; they’re a prime example of an excellent place to start!
ON-PAGE SEO OPTIMISATION FOR LOCAL SEO
Once you have your local keywords set in stone, it’s time to start Local SEO optimisation.
CREATE YOUR LANDING PAGES
It is not possible to optimise every Local search keyword on your business’s homepage. So, the trick is to create other pages on your website.
CREATING LOCAL SEO CONTENT
Content is now a vital cog in the wheel for your Local SEO strategy. Your content needs to be created with vibrant and engaging text, grab your potential customers and keep them on your site.
Remember, your keywords must be inserted throughout, not overload keywords your content need to be natural, but at all times be engaging. Be creative, why not think about tips and tricks, general advice about the industry you’re in, such as ‘monthly industry news’ on a newsfeed for example.
ACHIEVING LOCAL CITATIONS
Citations have become an essential part of optimisation for Local SEO. This has to be part of your overall strategy, and a capable SEO company will be fully aware of this. Gaining Local citations will enhance your rankings.
BUILDING LOCAL LINKS
The incoming link represents natural organic backlinks. The search engines scour websites looking for organic backlinks to help your ranking as a trusted and reliable source for the search that has been conducted.
Local backlinks are the key to success with Local SEO.
Look to attract backlinks for high-quality local sources relevant to your industry. These backlinks are literally the ‘link’ to driving targeted traffic to your website. Once these start to take off and grow, so will your rankings in your local area.
Here’s another checklist to help you gain awareness in your local area.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS
Google My Business has become a powerful tool for Local SEO, especially this year and will be moving forward into 2021. Previously overlooked this now ensures people know everything about you and more importantly WHERE YOU ARE! So, as a local business owner, you cannot afford to ignore creating and optimising your page for local business.
GOOGLE MAP CITATIONS
Map Citations are influential; they act as an assurance that you are where you say you are.
Google has different kinds of map citations, including your full business name and address, your business URL and so on.
GOOGLE LOCAL LISTINGS
The listings section is displayed close to the ads section on Google. So, you must ensure your business is added to Google’s local listings. Once you have done this and are already engaged in Local SEO with your site, your visibility in local listings will significantly increase.
GOOGLE SEARCH LOCALISATION
There has been a lot of talk about the importance of Google search localisation for Local SEO.
Sometimes searchers want localised searches; sometimes they don’t. However, if you use localised Google, it enables the searcher to search for results in different locations.
How many times have you searched the web only to find companies the opposite of what you are truly looking for?
Google search localisation enables you to direct traffic to your business through additional local searches.
In some cases, site pages need to be localised. The process is relatively straightforward; it’s just a local version of your site’s regular pages. It’s creating location specified pages on your website if you need them. So, in effect, it creates multiple versions of specific pages targeting users’ needs in the most precise way.
If you use Google search localisation correctly, your business will appear in multiple localisation search results.
REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
Customer reviews have become a significant ranking force with Google in recent times. So, initiating reputation management for your business at a local level and maintaining it regularly will reap you rewards.
MOBILE RESPONSIVE DESIGN
Not just at a local level but a GLOBAL level of over 50% of all online searches is now conducted through mobile phones. So, you must ensure your website is optimised for mobiles. It ensures your local business works smoothly across all devices.
Your Local SEO strategy must include optimising for mobile devices.
If you approach an SEO company with an existing website that is not optimised for mobile, then as a rule-of-thumb optimising it should be part of a standard package. If not, you should be careful in hiring them, remember you read it here first! Ask them to upgrade your site and optimise it.
A mobile responsive page will automatically resize and adjust to the screen when opened—leaving no stone unturned for people to see your products, services, imagery and content.
Another, and maybe the essential factor is mobile responsive sites offer the user a better user experience (UX). In doing so, results in higher rankings for your localised keywords.
SUMMARY
Be under no illusion Local SEO is here to stay and is becoming more critical to SME’s bottom lines. There is a considerable demand never seen before COVID-19 for local services, and you must tap into it. However, it involves a serious and continuous amount of work.
If you are inexperienced in this field and are starting a business, it is time consuming to learn and a giant mountain to climb in keeping up-to-date.
SEO specialists are called specialists for a reason. I suggest you look for an SEO expert or company that are experienced with Local SEO optimisation. This will get you on the road to local notoriety quickly and take advantage of this new GLOBAL – LOCAL trend. Good luck!