Local SEO Solutions: 8 Tips to Boost Local Rankings

Local SEO involves enhancing your business's visibility in local search results to draw in more customers or clients. There are numerous comprehensive guides on executing local SEO from the beginning to the end. However, the complexity of the subject can make these guides overwhelming. Therefore, this guide aims to simplify the process by offering eight straightforward tips to elevate your local search rankings.

Every business is entitled to a free Google Business Profile, which is essentially a local listing containing your business details. After claiming this profile, the information you input can appear in Google's web search results and Google Maps.

To claim your business profile, use Google My Business, a complimentary tool provided by Google for managing your profile.

Here's the procedure:

Note:

If you can't find your business in search, choose to add your business and follow the ensuing steps. Even if your business is listed, you might need to confirm your business details before proceeding to step #6.
Once you've claimed your profile, you can manage it via Google My Business.

There are several enhancements you can apply to your profile. For simplicity, let's focus on the five key optimizations you should consider:

Suggested Reading: How to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing in 30 Minutes

Understanding the search behavior of local customers for your products or services lays the groundwork for effective local SEO. If you're familiar with your industry and customers, you might already have an inkling about their search habits. Nonetheless, conducting keyword research is essential to broaden your understanding.

However, focusing solely on such apparent keywords means potentially overlooking other significant search terms. Diversifying your keyword strategy can capture a wider audience.

It's important to note that the search volumes in Keywords Explorer are national, not local. This means they represent the estimated monthly searches in your selected country. Nonetheless, this shouldn't be a major concern since search patterns tend to be consistent across different cities. Your objective is to discover the variety of terms people use to search for your offerings.
For localized search volume data for these keywords, refer to the guide below to learn more.

Take, for instance, you're a plumber in London. It might seem obvious that potential customers are searching for terms like:

Here's a method to identify various ways people might be searching for your services:

For example, entering services such as “boiler repair,” “boiler installation,” and “drain unblocking” into Keywords Explorer reveals that these terms and similar ones have a significant monthly search volume.

When your research reveals specific products or services people are looking for, it's often necessary to create dedicated landing pages for these offerings.

For instance, instead of just searching for a "plumber," people might be looking for:

Creating separate landing pages for each service is a strategic move. But how do you ensure these pages rank well in search results?

First, let's discuss what not to do: keyword stuffing. This involves repeating your target keywords excessively on your page, resulting in awkward and unnatural text. Despite its prevalence on many local business websites, keyword stuffing is detrimental. It harms SEO and can alienate potential customers.

A more effective approach is to 'optimize' your landing pages with relevant and useful information for your audience. Often, this involves common sense. For example, it's clear that people searching for “boiler repair” would be interested in pricing.

For instance, a search for “boiler repair london” might reveal a service page ranking for 232 keywords. Using Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, we can view these keywords:

Here’s a method to do this:

However, even with good industry knowledge, you might miss crucial details. To avoid this, analyze similar pages that rank well, as they often contain keywords linked to vital information.

Note:
We may find only 173 keywords instead of 232 because we're focusing on U.K. rankings. The remaining keywords might be popular in other regions.

To concentrate on the most pertinent keywords, we also filter for those in the top 10 and exclude sitelink and “people also ask” rankings

Key findings might include keywords like:

These keywords suggest that customers are likely seeking fixed pricing, same-day services, details about the types of boilers serviced (electric, gas, etc.), and emergency callout availability. This information is vital to include on your landing page.

Local citations, which refer to online mentions of your business's name, address, and phone number (NAP), were ranked as the fifth most crucial ranking factor in local queries according to Moz's 2018 study. Although their significance might have slightly decreased, they remain valuable for two primary reasons:

Additionally, consider these significant platforms:

Focusing mainly on industry-specific or location-specific citations is also advisable. This means targeting listings on local or industry-specific directories and search engines. Since most citations include a link back to your website along with your NAP details, the most efficient method to identify relevant citation opportunities is to search for websites that commonly link to other similar local businesses.

These aggregators distribute information to a plethora of websites and directories, so securing citations from them can naturally lead to additional citations elsewhere with little extra effort.

In the U.S., a great starting point for obtaining local citations is with the top three U.S. data aggregators:

To utilize the Link Intersect tool for this purpose:

For instance, performing this action for a plumbing company and its competitors typically reveals numerous local or industry-specific directories.

Generally, securing citations from these directories is straightforward, often requiring just registration and filling in your business details.

Backlinks are a critical factor in Google's ranking algorithm, but they can be challenging to acquire. It's essential to maximize the value of the links you already possess by reclaiming links that point to non-existent pages on your website.

These backlinks are essentially wasted due to the page being inaccessible.

For instance, let's consider a New York plumber's website. We might find a defunct page about drain cleaning that still has backlinks from three different referring domains.

Often, the issue is simple: the page has been moved to a new URL without redirecting the old one. For example, the “drain cleaning services” page could have been relocated, but the original URL wasn't redirected to the new location.

To recuperate these links, the website owner should redirect the old URL to the updated one. Detailed instructions on executing this can be found in our guide on 301 redirects.

Here’s the process:

In situations where there isn’t a direct replacement for the dead URL, redirecting it to the most relevant active page is a suitable alternative."""

There's another potential method to boost review frequency: creating and distributing a direct link for customers to leave reviews. This can be done easily and for free in Google My Business by using the "Share review form" button in the management dashboard. 

Google acknowledges that "high-quality, positive reviews from your customers can enhance your business visibility." Additionally, BrightLocal's 2020 study identifies them as the second most crucial factor for ranking in Google's map pack. So, how can you garner more reviews? The simple answer is to ask for them.

While not directly requesting a review, providing these photos can motivate a customer to leave a detailed review. This tactic seems to be effective, as indicated by the number of photo-inclusive reviews from other customers.

It's important to navigate this tactfully because offering incentives for reviews violates Google's guidelines. However, there are strategies to encourage reviews without breaching these terms.

For instance, consider the experience of having a car cleaned and valeted. The service provider may send "before" and "after" photos of the car via Facebook:

According to Google, this approach aligns with their best practices, ensuring no violation of their terms.

For example, if you operate a boutique hotel in London, searching for “best boutique hotels London” may bring up a mix of directories and blog posts. The SEO Toolbar can help you identify which posts are getting traffic.

"Best of" lists are common for nearly every product or service, no matter how niche. For instance, you might find a list highlighting the best places to eat chicken wings in Manchester. 

There are even more unique lists, such as the top 10 child-friendly wine estates in Cape Town.

Getting your business included in relevant lists is beneficial for two primary reasons:

Upon finding a relevant post where your business isn't featured, the next step is reaching out. You can do this by locating the contact information of the site owner or editor and sending a thoughtful email. For instance:

To identify relevant local lists for your business, follow these steps:

Hi Tom,
I’m Josh, owner of Joshtique, a new boutique hotel in Shoreditch. I noticed our absence from your list of the best boutique hotels in London. We're relatively new, having opened just a few months ago.
I’d be delighted to invite you to spend a night at our hotel, so you can consider us for your list. No strings attached, of course.
Here’s a sneak peek at our rooms: [Link]
Let me know if you're interested in our offer!

A website that is not functioning optimally can cause a multitude of SEO problems, impacting both local and national SEO. It's crucial for Google to be able to effectively discover, crawl, comprehend, and index your content. If this process is hindered, your site's SEO performance will suffer.

To monitor and maintain your site's health, you can use Ahrefs’ Site Audit. This tool allows for regular scans of your site, identifying over 100 potential issues. What's more, you can access this service for free for your own websites by registering for Ahrefs Webmaster Tools.

Additionally, your Ahrefs Dashboard displays your site’s Health score. This score is a convenient way to monitor your site's overall health over time, without needing to constantly engage with the detailed findings of the Site Audit.

The Site Audit checks for various errors, including:

A comprehensive overview of your site's errors and issues is available in the 'All issues' report of Ahrefs’ Site Audit. This report not only lists the current problems but also tracks changes over time, helping you understand whether issues are improving or worsening.

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of local SEO centers around claiming, refining, and garnering reviews for your Google Business Profile. These actions are key to gaining increased visibility in Google's "map pack" results. To achieve higher rankings in Google’s standard organic search results, the focus should shift to more conventional SEO strategies: identifying the right keywords, implementing on-page SEO, and cultivating local backlinks.

Interested in delving deeper into this topic? 

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