Why You “Must” Invest in Local SEO in 2017

We cannot forget the days when we use search engine especially Google before going out for dinner. Or, take it even further, and remember the days when we used phone books or pamphlets to locate the nearest shops.

The increase in growth of mobile technology has made it possible for us to search nearby places in the real time when we need them.  If you are shopping in the market and have a hunger for some pizza, you just have to take out your phone and types “pizza near me” and voila! You will be presented by all the local pizza places where you can have your favorite pepperoni pizza.

These local search results are an astounding opportunity for organizations to generate traffic and potential clients in the geographic territory they serve, making them perfect prospects. That is the reason local SEO is such a critical part of any small businesses online promotion strategy.

Moz as of late released their 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors Report that points out that the components that influence local SEO. With the updates to this report and the growing significance local SEO, We figured it would be a smart thought to get our SEO specialists to say something regarding different methods to enhance local SEO ranking. Continue to read on to discover our main 6 tips for boosting your rankings in SERPs.

Google My Business Profile Page – Use it, optimize it

It’s vital to make sure that your Google My Business Profile is set up properly and maintained for precision. Local search results show the most appropriate results for every search. If your business information is complete and precise, then it’s much easier and more likely that Google will match you to the relevant searches.

Make sure that you have listed you business into Google My Business. You should choose the profile classification that most precisely depicts your business and confirm your location(s). Ensure that when somebody takes a looks at your profile they realize what you do, where you are, and when they can visit you. List your office hours, telephone number, and whatever other important contact data in your profile.

Always keep you information on Google my business page up to date. For example, if you’re closed for a holiday, always make sure that it is in your profile so it says you are closed at that time. You should also update your phone number or location changes after changing them.

 “NAP” is very important

If you are looking to improve you keyword that you need your business to rank at the highest point of the nearby maps results, it’s important that you keep your “NAP” constant. Snooze alludes to your business Name, Address, and Phone number.

You should keep your NAP consistent wherever you can, including:

• Company profiles and directory listings – you can use Yext to check for any errors
• Your website – your NAP in the website footer is a “MUST” so it’s shown on every page

And if you ever modify your business names, addresses or phone numbers, then you’ll need to search for outdated NAP info and get it updated.

Get “LOTS” of Citations

“Citations” are marks of your NAP across various listings and websites on the internet. Here are some of the steps we suggest for getting lots of citations.

1. Submit to various vertical search engines and some major data collectors. You can use several tools available online like YEXT or BrightLocal or MozLocal or AdviceLocal. We have always use Brigtlocal for our customers.
2. Publish a lot of press releases. By adding your NAP in the footer of your PR, you can get lots of citations when your PR is republished online.
3. Submit your website in lots of directories. Focus on local, national and industry-specific directories.

Use Service/Geographic Keywords Combination

One approach to enhance the probability of ranking in Local Search Results is to ensure that the pages on your site are optimized. One of the major missteps companies make is having a single “Product” page on their site that lists all of the services provided by you.

Creating separate product/services pages for each of the services your business offers will dramatically increase your ranking on Google. Hence, if people are looking for a particular product of yours, that relevant page will rank in Google. On top that, if you operate in different localities (towns, cities, states, etc), then you may want to put in “service area” pages targeted on each of the primary locations within your service region.

It’s also very vital that the Meta tags i.e. title tags and Meta descriptions on your website are optimized.

Think of the title tags and Meta descriptions on your site as key real estate to promote and describe your business. Title tags can have geographical keywords in them to promote your site to the areas you want to rank in. Meta descriptions can be a little longer and have more descriptive keywords to relay the message your title tags are already saying.

Finally, both the title tags and Meta descriptions can serve as ideal text in SERPs that exemplify your business’ products and improve your overall SEO presence.

Get Reviews On relevant Search Engines

Regardless of whether clients are discovering your business via social media or simply surfing on Google, one of the basic things they see is your business reviews. This can in a split second put good or bad thoughts in their mind, depending upon the review published online.

From eating at another eatery to purchasing new garments or choosing a dentist, individuals always read reviews. Positive surveys on Google My Business and social media can demonstrate to your potential clients that your past customers believe you have their trust in the item and services you bring to the table. By approaching your past clients for reviews, you won’t just be helping your local SEO; however you will also be attracting more individuals to your business.

You can additionally try to response to the reviews you get online. In the event that somebody leaves you a positive review, express gratitude toward them. In the event that for reasons unknown somebody leaves a negative review, try to quickly give a reply that is decent, proficient, and clarifies why you feel that is not right. By interfacing with your clients, it demonstrates that you think about their sentiments.

Avoid Keyword Stuffing

There has been a strong belief (In Black Hat SEOs Realm) that including numerous localities or ZIP code into the footer of your site supports the positioning of a site for various area based search questions. Before “Pigeon” it worked but not now.

Be that as it may, Google is quicker witted than that. They have since released algorithm updates which have punished websites who attempt to control the web crawler with this illegal method. Along these lines, on the off chance that you stuff keywords into your site it can really hurt your rankings as opposed to improve them.