The world wide web is a massive global marketplace, so how do you use it to get the attention of your neighbors and people near you? Local SEO is your 24/7 online spinning street sign, calling out to nearby customers.

Meet Nina Nearby:
A Modern Allegorical Consumer

Nina’s just arrived in town. She doesn’t know a soul, just that her new role at work starts in a couple of weeks in this brand new place, this exciting next chapter of her life is unfolding, and the hotel they put her up in is…. ok. For now.

She needs a realtor. She might need to find a massage therapist, too, because her luggage weighed more than she’d thought. And she needs a restaurant that will deliver dinner, as well, because this place definitely doesn’t offer room service.

For all of this, Ms. Nearby isn’t letting her fingers do the walking through her local yellow pages. She isn’t scanning the horizon for billboards or grabbing a local newspaper. And she isn’t turning on the hotel room tv or clock radio and pensively awaiting a relevant ad. She can’t imagine getting recommendations from the mostly unstaffed front desk, either. No, the obvious choice is much faster and simpler than all of that. She’ll pick up her cellphone and look to the internet.

Over 1 in 5 of consumers surveyed by Statista in 2023 said they used the internet this way every day. About a third said they did so weekly. How many people surveyed never searched for local businesses online? Just 2%.

This is why local SEO matters. It is the main way many people in your area will find you.

What you’ll need most to make your online listings and website easy for these folks to find:

• Optimization for the right engine
• The right keywords
• Relevant content
• Updated directory listings
• And some customer love

Boost Your Local SEO with Your Google Business Profile

Which search engine are all of these searchers like Nina and those daily Statista survey respondents turning to? Mostly, it’s Google. Make sure you stand out in Google’s results with a top-notch Google Business Profile (GBP). To claim your GBP, go to business.google.com/add or search for your business on Google Maps and start your ownership request. After you make your submission, monitor the status through Business Profile or confirmation emails. Once you’ve been approved, you can manage the profile directly to improve your visibility and engagement.

Must-Have Elements for a Standout GBP

At a minimum, your GBP should have:

• Your correct business name, address, phone number, website URL, and hours of operation.
• Accurate primary and secondary category designations that will help Google direct relevant traffic to your business.

To make it really sing, though, you need more. The best GBP will also include high quality images, a brief, compelling business description, and great reviews.

Elevate Your Profile with Engaging Content and Reviews

High-quality photos of your business exterior, interior, products/services, staff, and/or any special events will make your business easier to find. They’re also an excellent opportunity to communicate your services. We talked recently about how to ensure your photos are the best resolution for posting online. If you missed that, you can find it in our series on standing out in a crowded e-commerce market here.

A well-written description lets potential customers know how your products, services, and any other unique selling points set you apart. It also uses relevant local keywords. It does not include URLs, HTML code or exceed 750 characters.

Make a customer happy? Ask them to review your GBP. When they do review you, it’s a great opportunity to respond promptly and courteously, too. Be sure to show off your best customer service skills and showcase your personal brand voice.

Creating a Local SEO Keyword Strategy That Works

Let’s build your lexicon of local relevant keywords for your description. Start off by generating a list of words and phrases that are relevant to your business and what you offer. To add to that list, consider your customers’ pain points. What problems are they dealing with that may lead them to you for a solution? Next, include location terms specific to your area (city, landmarks, neighborhoods), as well as the terms “local”, “nearby” and “near me,” which appear frequently in local business searches.

Once you’ve generated your list of terms, use tools like Google Keyword Planner and AnswerThePublic to search these terms. Find out how many people are using each word and how stiff the competition is to rank them. You can also get a sense of the questions people ask related to them. These research tools can help you to generate more keyword ideas and weigh the pros and cons of your list.

Crafting a Local SEO-Friendly Website

Now that you’ve got your profile with Google set up correctly, let’s direct our attention to another primary source for getting your local SEO right: your webpage. From head-to-toe, your website needs to specify location, location, location. In the titles and headers of your blog posts and in your meta descriptions, you need to optimize for local SEO. Not only do you need to make sure you include your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) information, the content you generate should also reflect the area.

Developing Content That Connects with Your Community

What does great local content look like? Networking and engaging in the community. No one knows home like you do. Take advantage of that knowledge. Local events are usually never further than an online calendar away, and the selfies, live streams, video, and blog posts you create around them all provide great social proof that you are a participant in your local community.

Partner with local businesses and influencers to amplify those benefits. Use your channels to promote local culture by featuring local artists, musicians, chefs, or whoever else best represents a “slice of life” in your area and share stories that celebrate your area’s unique culture. Ask them to return the favor and back link to you to further build your local SEO, and, of course, remember while you do it to use those keywords!

Boosting Your Visibility with Local Citations

And the last place to get in order? Literally, everywhere else online. Local citations are online mentions of your business’s name, address, and phone number on external websites, directories, and social platforms. These citations play a crucial role in your local SEO. They help searchers verify the existence and legitimacy of your business within your area. They impact local SEO authority, NAP consistency, local ranking signals, and increase your visibility and search algorithm ranking. Citations that show consistent, updated information reassure your potential customers that you business is operational and prevents confusion. It also puts you ahead of competition that doesn’t bother with this.

To improve local citations for better local search rankings, check to make sure your business information is accurate and up-to-date across all platforms, starting with the most reputable local directories and industry-specific platforms relevant to your business.

You can do a manual search using search engines like Google and Bing and directories like Yelp and Yellow Pages to find existing citations of your business or you can also use a citation management tool to smooth the process. Once you find any citations, bookmark them, claim them with the site owner, correct them as needed, and monitor them at least bi-annually.

Nina’s Seamless Experience with Optimized Local Businesses

It’s been a minute or two. Let’s check back in on Nina. She’s hungry and hunting for a restaurant to deliver to the hotel now. After a quick search, she’d already found a “realtor near me” whose GBP caught her eye with fun pictures from a recent local festival. The event looked exciting, right up Nina’s alley, and the realtor seemed approachable and like she could help Nina find a good fit for her new home. She’s also already booked a manicure and massage appointment by searching for “the best spa in New Town,” too. In the images section of the GBP for one salon that came up in the results, she’d noticed the owners had included a graphic with a special offer for a manicure and massage and another that showed they had a great score on Yelp. Why not give them a shot?

All of that settled, that just leaves finding a good meal. Nina searches for “restaurants that deliver to So-So Hotel” and finds a highly-rated nearby restaurant that had smartly included the name of her hotel as part their SEO keywords in their description. Their GBP showcases several photos of their delicious-looking dishes and includes some positive reviews about their prompt delivery service. A link leads to their website and menu, where it’s easy to verify she’s ordering from the right location, because the address on the website matches the GBP. Nina quickly places her order and visits the YouTube link on the realtor’s website to consider some recently posted video listings while she waits for dinner from what may just turn out to be her new favorite restaurant.

Each step of the way, these optimized GBPs, engaging content, and accurate information make Nina, a complete stranger in town, feel welcomed and confident in her choices. As she settles into her new community, Nina knows she’s found some great local businesses to rely on, all because they had taken the time to optimize their local SEO.

Turning Searches into Loyal Customers: Your Path to Local SEO Success

Are your new potential customers having this much luck finding you? Reach out and let’s talk about how Journey Momentum can help reward your next potential customers’ leap of faith and get your business on the map.

Make it a great week online, everyone!