In the post What is SEO? have you already learned what SEO is and how SEO works. Now it’s time to deal with a sub-area of ​​search engine optimization, namely local SEO .
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is a form of online marketing and includes measures that ensure that local businesses can increase their visibility in local search results in order to be found more easily by consumers in the area .
So if you run a local business (e.g. restaurant, hotel, law firm, car repair shop, etc.), you can use Local SEO to be better found by potential customers from your region in the local search results .
For example, if you run a nail salon in Cologne, then your business should appear as high as possible in the organic search results if a person in Cologne searches for either “ nail salon Cologne â€, “ nail salon near me †or just “ nail salon â€. And this is exactly where Local SEO can help you!
The bottom line is that local SEO leads to more relevant customers from your region and thus to more sales for your company…
Why should you do Local SEO?
To put it in a nutshell: the days of business directories are slowly but surely over! If you used to turn to the Yellow Pages when looking for a local plumber, today you usually use your smartphone to look for a plumber in your area. Reason enough, then, that you should look into local SEO to stay one step ahead of your competition.
If you are a numbers person, the following numbers will certainly convince you:
40,000 (!) Google searches are carried out every second worldwide.
46% (!) of these search queries have a local connection!
You should also know that Google itself rates local SEO – at least for mobile search queries – as overly important! If you are now thinking “ well, that only applies to smartphones… “, then you should know that 64% of all search queries are now carried out via mobile phones. In this respect, as the operator of a local company, you should actively practice Local SEO!
For whom is local SEO worthwhile?
Roughly speaking: Regional companies that can be visited by customers and that do not offer their products or services online, or do not do so predominantly. These include, for example:
- doctors
- lawyers
- tax consultant
- hair salons
- restaurants
- craft workshops
- Etc.
If, on the other hand, you operate a pure online shop, then local SEO is not right for you. In this case, you should concentrate on classic search engine optimization !
How does Local SEO work?
To increase the visibility of your local business in local search results, you should take the following actions:
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business)
First, create a Google Business Profile for your business . The Google Business Profile lets you control how your business appears on Google Maps and Google Search.
With the help of the Google company profile, you can, for example, publish your opening hours, telephone number and your location (address) in order to be easier to find by customers. If you move, you can easily update the data here.
You can also receive and respond to Google ratings (“Reviewsâ€).
As a result, Google receives a signal through the business profile that your business is a local business.
OnPage optimization for a local reference
Your website content should state that this is a local business. Assuming you are a chimney sweep in Munich, then “Chimney sweep Munich” should also appear on your website. Optimize the headings and the title tag as well as the meta tag of your website for this!
If your company has branches in different cities, you should create a separate landing page for each branch in order to create a local reference.
You can also publish blog posts with local content to create a local reference for Google. If, for example, there was an event in your city that you took part in, then use this opportunity to write a blog article about it and thus establish a local reference. At this point the note: SEO-optimized content is also relevant for local SEO!
Local Citations (business directories)
Although I said above that you should do local SEO, since the days of yellow pages are largely over… This is also correct. However, you should use online business directory listings to provide Google with a local link between your business and the city where your business is based.
Relevant local business directories are, for example:
- GelbePages.de
- DasOertliche.de
- MeineStadt.de
- GoYellow.de
- 11880.com
NAP – Name, Address, Phone
Well-intentioned advice at this point: If you make the entries in the above-mentioned business directories, you should create an Excel spreadsheet in which you make a note of what information you have given in which business directory and with which spelling!
When making your entries, make sure that the spelling of your company name, your address, your telephone number, etc. is identical and up-to-date! If you move with your company, you can use the Excel spreadsheet to update your data.
social media
Very few companies today are not represented on social media. In order not to run after your competition, you should also use social media channels to draw attention to yourself and your local business. At the very least, a Facebook page and an Instagram profile are a must these days.
Google is perfectly capable of making a connection between your website and your social media profiles. It is not for nothing that social media is one of many ranking factors.
By the way, make sure to only publish high-quality content on your social media profiles!
Build local backlinks
I already drew attention to the importance of backlinks in the article What is SEO . Backlinks also play a crucial role for local SEO when it comes to top positions in Google rankings.
Backlinks from local sources are always particularly helpful, such as your city ‘s local news website . Backlinks from your suppliers or other business partners can also be helpful for local backlink building.
If you don’t know how to get backlinks, here’s how to build quality backlinks through guest articles .
Mobile First – Optimize your website for smartphones
The majority of users nowadays uses their smartphone for search queries with a local reference. Therefore, your website should be optimized for smartphones.
You can use the mobile-friendly test from technicalseo.com to check whether your website is mobile-friendly.
A note at this point, as there is often a misunderstanding about the mobile-first approach: mobile-first does not mean that your website should be optimized exclusively for smartphones. Websites are still accessed via the desktop PC. Therefore, the user experience of your website should be satisfactory both on the smartphone and on the desktop PC.
This is only an indication, because in the past I have increasingly got the impression that websites are only optimized for smartphones…
Reviews for local businesses
Whether local or national… reviews are always a helpful tool for consumers to make their decisions. It is no different for local companies. Or would you order a pizza from the Italian around the corner if they received mostly negative reviews?
From 6 reviews, Google also shows your ratings in the form of stars, which can increase the number of potential customers, at least with good ratings.
By the way, important evaluation portals for local companies are:
- Google Business Profile (Google My Business)
- golocal
- Do you know a
- yelp
Achieve good Google rankings with local keywords
If you want to get good Google rankings for your local business, you should also optimize your website for the appropriate local keywords.
What are local keywords?
Local keywords follow a very specific scheme or are usually always structured in the same way:
Company type + city
A common local search scheme is to search for a business type + city . Examples of this would be:
- Driving school Cologne
- Ice cream parlor Munich
- Auto repair shop Berlin
The classic approach to search engine optimization would be to optimize your home page for exactly this type of search query. So if you were running a car rental in Düsseldorf, your start page should be optimized for the keyword “car rental Düsseldorfâ€.
Important : This only applies if you do not have branches in other cities. Assuming you would also operate a car rental company in Cologne and one in Bonn, you should create separate subpages for each and optimize them individually. So:
- Subpage 1: optimize to “car rental Dusseldorf”
- Subpage 2: optimize to “Car Rental Cologneâ€
- Subpage 3: optimize to “car rental Bonn”
service + location
Another classic scheme for local search terms is service offered + location . Assuming you were running a local gardening business in Stuttgart, a relevant search term could be “lawn mowing Stuttgartâ€.
Important : Create a separate service page for each service you provide in order to rank locally on Google.
product + place
Searching for a specific product type + location is also very popular . For example, if you were to sell tailor-made suits in Frankfurt am Main, then your website should also be optimized for the local search query “Bespoke suit Frankfurt am Mainâ€.
Conclusion
If you run a local business, you should actively practice local SEO to increase your visibility in local search results. This is especially true given that 46% of all search queries have a local reference.
With Local SEO you enable your target group to find you exactly where they are looking for you: On site!
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