So, you own a brick-and-mortar business owner or are a service provider operating in a specific range in your geographical location. You seek to rank for those specific products/services, “near me” searches on SERPs.
You wish to outsource your local SEO requirements to the right-fit agency to rank for local searches relevant to your business offerings.
As you encounter a plethora of agencies promising slightly “unrealistic” results on local search rankings, you want to be very sure about what to expect and what not to do when it comes to bringing in more footfall to your physical store or getting more relevant service requests in your specified service area.
We at Mavlers have catered to the local SEO needs of 7000+ global clients over the past twelve-plus years. Search engine rules are complicated, and what makes a local business appear high in search results is always changing. But we make it simple: we work on things that we know help your business show up better, like making sure your name, address, and phone number are consistent everywhere online, improving your Google Business Profile, managing your listings in local directories, and creating content that matters to your local customers.
And we don’t just say we’re doing a good job—we’ll prove it to you. We’ll keep track of important numbers, like how many people find your website from local searches, how many calls and bookings you get from your Google Business Profile, and even how many people click to get directions to your business. This way, you’ll see how our work brings in more local customers.
Another myth that needs to be busted right here is that you cannot rank over the whole country using local SEO efforts, as these are location-specific and depend on the user’s (the one searching) IP address and geographical proximity.
As always, we are dedicated to providing the most accurate and transparent information on our approach to helping you optimize your local SEO.
In the blog that follows, you will gain clarity on the following;
- Understanding local SEO fundamentals
- Research and analysis
- On-site optimization strategies
- Leveraging Google Business Profile (GBP)
- Building local citations and backlinks
- Monitoring and measurement
Today in the house, our SEO professionals, Shashikant Mane and Ishan Maniar, will walk us through the fundamentals of local SEO and the approach we at Mavlers follow to help optimize your local SEO business rankings.
Stay tuned, amazing folks!
Understanding local SEO fundamentals
Let’s begin with clearing up the basics of local SEO so that we know what we are working with!
Two key components of local SEO are Google Business Profiles and local citations, which are essential in improving local search visibility and driving traffic to physical locations. Let’s delve deeper into their importance:
1. Importance of Google Business Profiles (GBP)
Google Business Profiles, earlier known as Google My Business (GMB), are free business listings provided by Google. These profiles appear prominently in local search results and Google Maps, making them a critical element of local SEO.
A well-optimized GB profile increases a business’s visibility in local search results, especially for users searching for nearby products or services.
GB profiles provide essential information about a business, including its name, address, phone number (NAP), business hours, website URL, and customer reviews.
Google uses information from GB profiles to determine local search rankings, making it imperative for businesses to claim, verify, and optimize their profiles to ensure accurate and up-to-date information.
Check out some examples of product and service-based GB profiles.
2. Relevance of local citations
Local citations are like online shoutouts for a business, showing its name, address, and phone number on other websites, directories, and platforms. Think of them as votes of confidence from the digital world, helping search engines like Google verify that a business is real and reliable.
Here’s how local citations help your local SEO:
- Better search rankings
When a business’s name, address, and phone number are consistent and correct across many different citations, it tells search engines that the business is trustworthy. This can boost its ranking in local search results.
- More visibility
Citations can also help people find the business directly. They might stumble upon it while browsing industry directories, reading reviews, or exploring other online sources.
Now that we understand the fundamentals of local SEO, let’s familiarize you with the processes we follow at Mavlers to help optimize your business’s local SEO rankings.
Research and analysis
Understanding your target audience is key to successful local SEO. That’s why we delve into in-depth research and analysis to identify the local keywords and phrases that resonate most with the customers.
We leverage powerful tools like Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, and Google Search Console, but our expertise goes beyond the tools. We meticulously analyze search trends, competitor strategies, and local search habits to create a targeted keyword list that drives qualified traffic to the location.
These carefully chosen keywords are then strategically integrated into designated landing pages and Local SEO profile descriptions, ensuring the business appears in the searches that matter most.
You can read more about the tools and tech stack we use at Mavlers to run and analyze SEO campaigns.
On-site optimization strategies
We recommend clients create a location-specific landing page for their business website to rank for relevant keyword searches. While you can always have your own designers and developers create them, you can also rely on us to prepare them for you at an additional cost.
Once the requisite location-specific landing pages are up and about, we can help you optimize meta tags and titles and create local audience-specific content for local keywords.
We also integrate the Schema Markup directly into your website’s HTML code, detailing essential local business information such as name, address, and contact details.
This structured data helps search engines better understand and index the business’s location-specific information, enhancing its visibility in local search results. By implementing Schema Markup, we ensure that your website provides accurate and relevant information to users searching for local businesses.
Leveraging Google Business Profile (GBP)
So when you reach out to us to optimize your business’s local SEO rankings, one of our requirements is access to your GBP. If you don’t have it or someone from your firm made it years ago, and now you don’t have access to it, we help you claim the listing using domain-based credentials.
If your business doesn’t have a preexisting GBP, we can help you create one using your domain credentials and NAP document.
Google uses various methods to verify business locations. We’ll guide you through the process to ensure smooth verification. You may peruse Google’s standard verification methods.
For verification, it is important to follow Google’s guidelines regarding a business’s address requirements.
For instance, “Businesses can’t list an office at a co-working space unless that office maintains clear signage, receives customers at the location during business hours, and is staffed during business hours by your business staff.”
Once your GBP is up and running, we optimize it using your business’s HD images and videos to add more credibility to your store in the eyes of Google and your targeted local audience.
We add your business’s requisite latitude and longitude to the shared images and then upload them to your GBP. This lets Google know the veracity of your physical location.
We also follow GBP post submissions best practices, such as;
- Managing reviews:
Responding to consumer reviews, positive as well as negative ones, which ultimately leads to building trust and demonstrating responsiveness.
- Driving conversions:
We include clear Calls to Action (CTAs), such as a link to the website or adding a phone number (one that works!), service/product list, reservation/menu link, etc., to help convert prospects into paying customers.
All these measures help improve the rankings of your business in the targeted location.
Building local citations and backlinks
Having strong local citations and backlinks is key to making your local SEO work well. Citations are when your business’s name, address, and phone number appear on local websites and review sites. When these mentions are consistent and correct across different sites, it’s like getting digital thumbs-ups for your business. This can help your business show up better in local searches and get noticed more.
We list your business on relevant local directories(e.g., Yellow Pages in India) and review sites depending on your location.
Here are some examples of the local directories we target;
USA:
https://www.yelp.com/
https://www.yellowpages.com/
Australia:
https://www.truelocal.com.au/
https://www.startlocal.com.au/
UK:
https://www.yell.com/
https://www.thomsonlocal.com/
We also maintain NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) consistency across platforms. This means there should be no discrepancy in the brand name or business address across your GBP, Bing Places, Apple Listings, etc.
By combining strategic citation building with a targeted backlink strategy, we help businesses establish a strong backlink profile and local online presence, which ultimately helps attract more qualified leads.
Monitoring and measurement
It is important to note that local SEO doesn’t offer the same range of metrics as traditional SEO. Your GBP gives insights on metrics such as the number of phone calls made, driving requests, website visits, etc. These metrics can vary depending on your business type; we’ll track relevant actions like appointment bookings, reservations, food menus, or online order submissions.
We can share these metrics with you every month to help you gauge the efficacy of our local SEO optimization efforts.
We also add a UTM URL (Urchin Tracking Module) to gain insights into the source of your website traffic through your Google Analytics data. This will help to see how our local SEO efforts contribute to website visits, lead generation, and conversions.
The road ahead
Now that you are familiar with the processes at Mavlers to optimize your local SEO visibility, you might want to know how long SEO takes to work.
Ishan Maniar
Ishan is an Assistant Team Lead at Mavlers, bringing over 11 years of extensive experience in SEO. He is a recognized expert in B2B, B2C, E-commerce, and Local SEO. Ishan is dedicated to driving revenue growth through insightful, data-driven SEO strategies. Recognized as a subject matter expert, he excels in team management, client satisfaction, and transparent communication, ensuring the success of every campaign. He is passionate about exploring new trends and innovations in the digital landscape, striving to deliver exceptional results and exceed client expectations.
Naina Sandhir
A content writer at Mavlers, Naina pens quirky, inimitable, and damn relatable content after an in-depth and critical dissection of the topic in question. When not hiking across the Himalayas, she can be found buried in a book with spectacles dangling off her nose!
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