With internet becoming an indispensable part of our lives, today more and more consumers are turning to search engines for discovering local products and services. This undeniable fact underscores the pivotal role local SEO could play in boosting the profitability of small businesses. More and more small business owners are now recognizing the significance of having a robust and efficient local SEO strategy. In this blog post, I will guide you through how you as a small-time business owner can devise a highly efficient local SEO strategy.

• Optimize Google My Business (GMB) Profile:

Considering that Google is the number one search engine and is almost synonymous to SEO, the significant role played by Google My Business or GMB in local SEO strategy cannot be more overstated. In other words, if you want your business to be ranked well in Google then you need register your business on Google My Business profile and always make sure that you keep it updated. Ensure that your business information, such as name, address, phone number, and business hours, is accurate and up-to-date. Additionally, make it sure that your GMB profile is optimized with right keywords, which will help in increasing its visibility in local search research results.    

More importantly, it is very easy and barely takes few minutes to register on GMB.

• Positive reviews on GMB  

It is one thing to register your business on GMB but is quite another thing to fetch positive reviews on it. The latter actually plays a very crucial role in a successful local SEO strategy. Simply because large number of positive reviews on GMB dramatically increases the chances of your business ranking well in the local search results. Hence it is imperative for your business to fetch as many positive reviews as possible. Encourage all your customers including new and old customers to leave positive review on Google. However, make sure that you don’t indulge in positive reviews.         

• NAP Citations and Consistency

NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. These are among the key information that will be invariably mentioned across all the key online platforms including your official website, social media profiles, online directories, key directories and other relevant platforms. While NAP citations are important, what’s equally important is to maintain its accuracy and consistency throughout the digital landscape. You cannot mention two different contact numbers or addresses on different social media platforms. Inconsistency in NAP not only creates confusion among consumers but your business will also lose credibility in front of the search engine..

• Local Link Building:

Backlinks or link building is a cornerstone of a successful SEO including local SEO. What this basically means is that you will have to work hard on behalf of your website in securing high quality backlinks. Here are some suggestions that might be helpful: partnering with local businesses, sponsoring local events, or participating in community activities. Continuous engagement with local organizations can also greatly help in link building activities.   

• Localized Content Creation:

Develop high quality and relevant content that includes location specific keywords as well as keywords that resonate with local target audience.

• Optimize Online Directories:

I have already very briefly touched on online directories in one of the earlier points. Many believe that online directories are outdated SEO strategy. However, each niche or industry boost credible and highly trusted online directories. Getting your business registered on such online directories can yield great dividends for your business. It is important to find out such credible online directories and also make sure that your NAP citations are accurate.        

• Decent social media presence:

A active Facebook and Instagram page can go a long way in creating awareness about your business among your local target audience. Bear in mind I am using the word ‘active’ as non-active or passive social media pages may not give desirable results. Therefore, always be consistent in posting important events, promotion and other important social media activities across the social media.

You can also try paid social media marketing to increase awareness about your business. Don’t forget to adjust the location of your social media marketing to your local locations.   

Conclusion:

An efficient implementation of local SEO can help small businesses in leveraging the power of internet. Due to lack of ignorance, most small businesses are not forthcoming in harnessing the abilities of internet to their advantage. What counts most in local SEO is little bit of consistency and high accuracy. If you take care of these two things then local SEO will most certainly create a positive impact for your business.