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What is local SEO?
Local SEO is all about about increasing the visibility of your business in the local community that you serve. For example, if you are a hairdresser in Wisbech you do not want to be advertising your services in Newcastle! You want your business to be seen by people in Wisbech and the nearby area.
How is this achieved?
Using Google My Business (GMB) is king with local SEO. Have you ever typed into your search bar 'curry takeaway' and been greeted by a list of all the local takeaways serving curry? That is GMB at work, showing you all the local listings for 'curry takeaway' in the area that you searched in. Did you perform the search in Wisbech? Then the the listings should show you businesses in Wisbech and the nearby area, likewise if you performed the search in say Peterborough then you would receive listings for businesses in Peterborough and the surrounding area. This is local SEO.
Google My Business (GMB)
Your GMB profile must have your current business name, physical address, hours of operation and contact details. Google stipulates your business must offer face to face services and be independently operated to qualify for a GMB listing, you can view further guidelines on their help page.
Your landing page
Once a consumer lands on your listing they will be directed to your website. Your website needs to have basic pages such as a Home Page, About Us Page, Services, FAQs and Contact Page as well as clear, unique selling propositions and clear call to actions (CTAs).
Your website should clearly state the area it is based in so search engines can pick this up in their results. A good landing page will include a combination of practical information such as a map, driving instructions, opening hours and why somebody should visit you.
Title tags & meta descriptions
For local SEO you need to ensure your location appears in your page title tags, for eg. Build A Brand | Wisbech
Including geographic terms in your meta description will not help with ranking but it certainly helps users to find what they are looking for as the terms and phrases they search for will appear in bold in your meta description if you have used the very same words.
A creative meta description can really help show off what you have to offer.
NAP must be clear and visible
NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone Number and is an important part to local SEO and must be correct and consistent across all your website pages and social media.
It is key for Google to understand where you are based as it uses your NAP information from your website and external sites as a ranking factor. Having a local landline on your NAP will also help Google with determining if your business is local.
Claim your Google My Business listing
Many businesses are yet to claim their GMB listings. It is free and easy to do! Check out this video.
There is a wealth of information about local SEO online which can be found quite easily.
If you have any questions, or would like to know how Build A Brand can help you with local SEO then please get in touch.
Email: gemma@buildabrand.org.uk