LOCAL SEO: All you need to know

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization or SEO means to make the most out of a website to have a rank in an industry at a certain area. For example if a business only has a single location then that certain business will only want to have customers in the area where it is located. There is no point in nationally campaigning for your SEO because the highest possible return of investment would only be ranking high in locational keywords.

Local keywords have a general format which is “industry location” or to search for a local service in your area. An example of this format would be “real estate London”. There are different varieties for these keywords but since search volumes usually tend to be low for the local industries, getting the highest possible rank for this kind of keyword format is a primary target.

You need to be careful when you choose your keywords. In any SEO campaign, keyword research is among the important parts. Why? These keywords have the ability to make a campaign or break it even before it has begun. If you aim too high you might end up losing your money and investment. But if you aim too low, you might get no traffic even if you have managed to rank for all of your keywords since no one is searching for them.

Instead of aiming to rank with easy keywords, go for ones that will be most profitable for your industry and location. This will make a bigger ROI when you increase your rank. SEO has gone beyond being just a knowledge or time game. If you do not have any budget for your SEO campaign, then you will end up working a lot of hours trying to achieve the rankings that you want otherwise, you will not get any rank at all. Wisely calculate your ROI and create a money and time budget before you start campaigning.

Ranking Factors for Local SEO

• Business signals refer to information that is typically in your website like type of business and location.
• External location signals refer to name, address and phone number.
• On-page signal refers to the text and code on the website.
• Link signals are backlinks that point to your website and the relevance and quality of the sites they are from.
• Review signals are important. The review that you get from the Google business page will determine a small part of the rankings.
• Social signals are only a small percentage of the ranking, but it is still important to have accounts on social media sites.
• Mob or Beh signals refer to the click through rate of the website that you have and its mobile optimization. Make sure that you have a site that is optimised for mobile use. It is also good to have titles and a description that can get one’s attention. If you do, people are more likely to choose your site over your competitors even if you are not listed as number one.
• Search results that are personalised.