Local searches make up half of Google’s 1.4 billion searches per day, which is why local search marketing matters for any business that wants to reach nearby customers. Even service-based businesses operating remotely can take advantage of it. Below is a breakdown of how to optimize your website, profiles, and content so you rank for searches like “plumbing company near me” and appear in snack pack results.
Create a Unique Page for Your Business
Local search marketing can benefit any business that wants to target a local market. If your plumbing company provides residential plumbing services in your city, it is essential that they develop a local search marketing campaign in order to rank higher for searches such as “plumbing company near me”.
Search engines must know who you serve. This requires optimizing page content, following SEO best practices and having quality backlinks from local businesses in your industry.
One key factor of local SEO is having consistent NAP citations, which means the name, address and phone number of your business listed across various online directories. Semrush makes this easier so Google can verify the accuracy of information displayed on your website.
Optimize Your Website
Your website is one of the key assets in local search marketing, so keeping it current is essential for maintaining visibility and ranking highly in local searches and snack pack results.
Optimized on-page content such as blog posts and pages about your business, services or store locations can help move up the local rankings of your website. Adding relevant local keywords into title tags and meta descriptions will increase visibility and reach.
Moz’s recent study revealed that authentic reviews are one of the key components in local search. Review signals are one of the primary determinants for your position in local and snack pack results, so be sure to collect reviews from trusted consumer directories like Yelp, Thumbtack, Foursquare and Angie’s List in order to position yourself competitively and win new customers more easily. Adding click-to-call buttons will make reaching you easier for customers.
Add a Photo Gallery
Internet users today prefer visual content, so incorporating a photo gallery into your business can be extremely useful. A custom cabinet company could add photos from past projects done for previous clients to their photo gallery. Plant services could upload pictures of office plants or landscape designs as gallery pieces. Other businesses could add photos from facilities, staff members or events held within their facilities to their image galleries and include captions with links back to services offered if appropriate.
Optimizing each image in your gallery for search engines is important, but telling a compelling narrative with words is just as essential. Be sure to include relevant keywords both in the alt text of each photo as well as your gallery page description so potential customers can more easily locate you or your business online. Sign up now for SOCi’s Local Search Marketing newsletter for tips and tricks.
Use Call Tracking with a Local Area Code
Implementing local call tracking into your Google Business Profile and website is integral for local search marketing, providing accurate attribution and encouraging quality calls instead of spammy clicks. Call tracking can give you valuable keyword data that can help refine SEO or PPC campaigns.
Add a local area code to your contact phone number on Google Business Profile and website so that people are more apt to recognize and comprehend it, which can increase trust, brand recognition, and conversions.
DNI can also enhance local search marketing through call tracking. DNI works by assigning unique call tracking numbers for every medium, campaign, ad group or keyword, providing more precise data. This will increase accuracy in your attribution models while helping better allocate marketing budgets.
FAQ
What is NAP and why does it matter for local search?
NAP stands for name, address and phone number. Keeping NAP citations consistent across online directories helps Google verify the accuracy of the information on your website, which is a key factor in local SEO.
How do reviews affect local search rankings?
Moz’s recent study found that authentic reviews are one of the key components in local search. Review signals are one of the primary determinants for your position in local and snack pack results, which is why collecting reviews from trusted consumer directories like Yelp, Thumbtack, Foursquare and Angie’s List is recommended.
Why use a local area code with call tracking?
Adding a local area code to your contact phone number on Google Business Profile and your website makes it easier for people to recognize and comprehend the number. Call tracking also provides accurate attribution and keyword data that can help refine SEO or PPC campaigns, and DNI can assign unique tracking numbers for every medium, campaign, ad group or keyword.