If you have ever searched anything on Google, you should be knowing that you don’t always get the same results for the same keywords you search for. It changes according to your location, IP, browsing history, etc.
Google frequently change their ranking algorithms to bring out the best result for every query. This means that you need to have the right local SEO strategies and website ranking methods.
If you want to learn how to dominate your local search and get better rankings using improved local SEO strategies. Here are the ways:
Knowing how to understand local SEO ranking
You can’t work on dominating your local search if you don’t understand how local search works. When you try to find products or services in a particular local area, Google recommends the businesses that are nearby.
For instance, if you’re hungry and you want to grab a quick lunch near your place, it won’t show the restaurants that are more than 20 miles away. So, if you are targeting the local market then you need to focus on optimizing your website for local search results.
Google determines local rank with three key factors:
- Distance
- Relevance and
- Prominence.
Prominence is determined based on the data Google collects on you such as your review scores by previous customers, and other info. So if you don’t have many customer reviews then you may not get as high of a ranking as a place with lots of reviews.
Distance is vital too, If Google doesn’t know your exact location, it can’t show potential customers how far your business is from your potential clients. And relevance means you must show all the details about your business in your profile so Google can use it to understand your company more and add your business to the local ranked businesses in your niche.
You must improve the information for your business to get a higher rank
So, now that we understand how local SEO ranking works, you need to check your company out and first see where you fall in the local listings. If you can’t find it all, or it’s way below those first three places in the search listing, you are in big trouble and need local SEO experts to help you fix the problem.
A good step is to create a Google My Business account, and a Bing Places for Business account which should get you listed better under Google Maps and Search feature, and better listed on Bing.
Be sure all the data in your account listing is up to date and that it includes phone, actual address, category of business, email, your operating hours, and a photo of your brick and mortar store.
All this has to match and be exactly the same in every place your business is listed because even if there is a tiny flaw as small as one listing saying First Street and one saying First St. it will cause Google to throw it out and your business will be lowered in rank.
Local SEO for Google only works with AdWords
If you want your business to show up on Google’s first page in a search query for your niche, you need to be using AdWords. With their recent algorithm changes, Google looks for strongly chosen AdWords ads and if your business is not using AdWords, you could be losing clients on a daily basis or worse.
Your business needs to be placed in a place online where people will find it right away, and having a higher ranking on Google solves that problem. If you are still having issues, contact SEO service experts to help you develop a marketing plan that also includes the use of AdWords.
Be sure to check your titles and meta descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are HTML elements of your website that describe the content that appears in the search results. It’s like a preview of what your business has to offer its customers.
Recently, Google made a change in the width of its search result pages that was favorable to writing these titles and meta descriptions. It lengthened the page to 600px, so now you have room to write a bit more for these design elements.
If you want to make sure the ones you write for your content aren’t too long, you can download a special emulator that will show you how it will look to people searching online. For instance, if you own a WordPress site, one such emulator is the SEOPresser for WordPress.
Just like anything else you post, make sure your titles and meta descriptions are relevant and up to date for your niche, and that they are unique and as descriptive as possible for best local SEO results.
Make sure to have your mobile app optimized for local search
Google looks fondly on places that have a mobile app and a local business website, so therefore having these will help your local SEO ranking. Don’t lose customers or get ranked lower than your competitors! Optimize your mobile app today or if you don’t have one, get one right now.
The conclusion is that Google and the other search engines rank businesses every day. If you want your business to stay in the top three listings, be sure that your local SEO is as optimized as it can get and call your SEO expert for help.
