A business that has a brick and mortar storefront should be getting online to let local customers know you are there, and ready to solve their problems. But sometimes it can be difficult to reach those local potential customers if your website is not optimized for it.
Optimizing your website for local SEO is fairly simple, once you know what you are needing to research. One of the best marketing tools out there is Word of Mouth, and local SEO is going to increase that exponentially! Let’s look at a few ways we can update local SEO to get more local customers.
Before you sigh about paying for one more thing, this comes free with your Google account. If you are a local business, you need to set up your business page on Google. This includes your address, phone number, website, and any other information people will need to find you. Another thing that can help your local SEO on a GMB is posting to it like any other social media. Post photos, videos, or offerings to attract people to your store.
Almost 45% of smartphone owners rate online shopping as the main activity they do on their phone. That’s why it is imperative that your website is mobile friendly, not only to local customers, but customers coming from anywhere! If you are a DIY website designer, check your web host to check if your mobile website is optimized for a seamless user-experience.
Google will look for NAP (name, address, phone) consistency in order to properly rank your website. Make sure your NAP is the same across all avenues, which are your websites, social media, and any other place your business information is listed. Inconsistencies can hurt your local SEO and cause your website rank to plummet.
You may have heard of social listening. This can take some time but it truly is the best way to find out what the pain point of your local community is. Then, you can offer something that can alleviate that pain point! For example, you may hear some people saying they wished there were more classes on better gardening practices for the local climate. If you are a local gardening store, you can start classes up for a small fee and boost business!
With these 4 tips, you can optimize your local SEO so you are bringing foot traffic to your physical store, drawing in more website visitors, and letting more people know that you are in their community. Let’s help support local businesses with better local SEO!
