3 Easy Steps to Boost Your Local SEO For 2021

Google Show three Google my Business listing page in their “Map Pack”. If you want to rank your business page in “Google’s Map pack”, then you to take some necessary steps. Here are three easy ways to boost your local SEO campaign.

Optimize Your Google My Business Page and other Local Citations

Optimizing your Google listings/Google My Business page is one of the easiest ways to improve your local search results. It’s also one of the most important. The quantity, quality, and NAP consistency of your listings and citations are one of the biggest ranking factors for local search.

Your business should have listings on all major listing sites, including Google My Business, Bing Local, Yelp, and more. In addition to these general sites, look to create listings on sites that are specific to your industry, such as Avvo for lawyers.

Once these listings are set up, it’s time to optimize. Here are a few items to look for:

• Ensure the website is listed properly (use landing pages for individual locations where relevant)
• ‪Add photos, including a profile photo
• ‪Make sure the location marker is accurate
• Check that listed categories are accurate and as many as possible are used
• Complete the listing to 100%
• Write business descriptions with links to interior pages of the website where relevant

In addition to optimizing your listings, it’s important to find and fix NAP inconsistencies. (NAP stands for name/address/phone number.) This includes both structured citations (e.g. Yelp, Facebook, etc.) and unstructured citations (text listings on a blog or website), both with or without a link. Where possible, go through existing listings and update any inconsistencies, or contact the site’s web manager for assistance.

Keep in mind that call-tracking numbers can create a challenge when looking at NAP consistency. Be sure to do your research or consult with an SEO expert before making any changes.

Manage Online Reviews

Positive online reviews can significantly boost your local search rankings. Review rankings show up in the map pack and in review site snippets, and you better believe that consumers are paying attention. Over 90% of consumers say that their purchasing decisions are influenced by online reviews. And yet many business owners fail to recognize their importance. Monitoring your reviews, responding appropriately, and actively seeking positive reviews can go a long way to help you stand out in a crowd of local listings.

Dedicate time to regularly monitoring online review sites, including Yelp, GMB page, Facebook, and other sites specific to your industry. Online communities and forums, such as Quora, are also important to monitor in order to protect your brand and find potential customers. While it may be frustrating to read comments that are negative or even unfair, it’s important to know what’s out there.

Responding to reviews quickly, personally, and appropriately can go a long way in repairing the damage of a negative review. With the right approach, you can resolve the customer’s concern and show review readers that you’re willing to make things right.

Sometimes it’s not enough to simply monitor and manage incoming reviews. Consider reaching out to customers to share positive experiences. Most customers are happy to leave you a review and appreciate the opportunity to give feedback, which in turn boosts your ratings and reputation. Before asking customers to submit a review, screen them first by asking about their experience. If they have any issues, resolve their concerns offline before asking them to write a review online.

I have helped several clients manage online review campaigns and have seen great success in improving overall ratings, thus improving their local search presence.

Create Local Content

Creating locally focused content is a great way to boost your rankings and improve brand awareness in your community. There’s a lot of room for creativity when developing a local content strategy. While blog posts and articles are easy to produce, also consider infographics, videos, contests and promotions, eBooks, and quizzes to boost reader engagement. Your strategy should include a variety of content types, as well as a plan for keeping your content efforts consistent.

When brainstorming content promotion ideas, consider your local audience. Who are your loyal customers? What are their demographics? How does your customer base compare to the local market as a whole? Fine-tune your content ideas to best match the interests of both your existing and target audience.

After establishing your audience, determine how and where the content will be published. Local bloggers, magazines, and news stations can all provide relevant, high-quality links and a location-specific audience. Successful local outreach can also lead to future content opportunities once a relationship is established.

With these three steps, you’ll be well on your way to a killer local SEO campaign. Contact Ashik Jibon SEO Consultant today if you’re interested in analyzing your local search efforts.