If you are a small business owner providing services in a certain geographical area, you have probably heard about Local SEO and its ability to bring you more customers to your brick-and-mortar location.
You haven’t implemented local SEO strategies yet? No problem– just follow our checklist of local SEO Tips and take your business to the next level! Keep on reading to find out what is missing from your online marketing strategy and tick each box as you progress!
Verify your business
Use Google’s business listing tool to find out if your business is already on Google (in this case you may need to claim the listing) or not (you will need to create a new listing by yourself). This is the first, essential step towards building a comprehensive Local SEO strategy. For Bing Places go here to login.
Optimise your business listing
Now that you have a business listing and full access to it, it’s time to make sure the listing is doing a good job. Add important data to your business listing, such as photos, business hours, instructions on how to get there, and contact information. When people reach your business listing, they will be able to reach your physical location fast and without too much fuss.
Get reviews on the business listing – very important
Aside from information on how to get there, potential customers are also expecting to see genuine reviews with your business listing. Asking your friends and family to review your business with 5 stars and often no comments won’t do you any favour; our recommendation is to provide excellent service and to ask your loyal or satisfied customers to provide an honest review of your business on Google.
List your business on Google Maps
Once you have a Google My Business listing, you can add your business to Google Map by following these simple steps:
Open Google Maps and make sure you are signed in
Zoom in and locate the area where you want to add your business
Click on Send Feedback in the bottom right
Click on Add a missing place
Drag the marker where your business is and add information
Click on Submit
Benefits include increased online visibility and making it easier for customers to reach your physical location.
Ensure consistency across online outlets
Make sure that you NAP (Name, Address, Phone) on your website matches NAP on Google My Business to prevent misunderstandings and help with search engine optimisation. Otherwise, the search engine results for your business will be split into two different slices, one for your website NAP, and one for your Google My Business NAP, causing you to drop in search engine rankings.
Location map on website
Add a location map on your website to help customers find your headquarters more easily without needing to look for your business on Google. You can implement this Local SEO tip by using the following method provided by Google.
Meta title and description on website
When your website is included in search results, users see a meta title (not your domain, but your business name), with a small description beneath – people can figure out what your business is about without needing to access the website, thus saving time and effort. You can add the Meta title and description by yourself through your content management system or you can ask for help from your web designer.
The checklist is complete? Let us know how your online marketing results have improved after updating your Local SEO strategy. If you need any assistance please contact Visual Marketing!
With over 39 years’ experience in Print Media, Sales and Marketing, Online Services & Marketing plus Financial Service industries. John brings a wealth of knowledge to Visual Marketing Australia. As a Certified Google Partner, his Digital Marketing knowledge includes: Web Design & Development, SEO, Mobile App. Development, Online Marketing, Online Video Marketing and Email Marketing Solutions. With 12 years experience in using Zoho CRM it is a natural progression to become and Authorised Consulting Partner so we can now add Sales and Marketing Automation to the list.
