Do customers know the areas you operate in? How effectively do you target customers within a 25-mile radius of your business locations? These are just two of the many questions you may need to answer when determining if you have an effective local SEO services plan. The good news is that, even if you don’t, it’s not too late to revise it or create a brand-new one.
What Is Local SEO?
Local search engine optimization refers to the ranking performance of your website at the local level. For instance, let’s say you own a cafe in Kitchener. You specialize in creating mainland-Spanish pastries and strong coffee. If someone does a search for “flan near me” while in Kitchener, your cafe should rank in the search results. This is local SEO.
This is different from when someone in Nashua, New Hampshire, searches for “famous Spanish desserts” and your website shares a listicle that ranks flan at the top of the list. This is a regular SEO. While it does bring traffic to your website, it may not bring you virtual traffic that quickly converts into foot traffic.
How Do You Know If Your Local SEO Is Effective?
The most important deciding factor is whether your local SEO converts viewers into customers. That said, you may not immediately know how the person placing an order on your website or walking through the front door came across your business.
You may ask, but customers have begun to feel overwhelmed by the frequency of marketing surveys.
In most cases, you can create location-specific marketing solutions to this problem. When customers follow these pipelines to your business, it lets you know exactly where they came from.
Branding is another important tell-tale sign of your local SEO. How well-known is your business in the area? When locals recommend businesses in your field, does yours rank near the top of the list? Are you the go-to option?
What Can You Do To Improve Local SEO?
To have an effective local SEO services plan, hiring professionals is the most important step in planning and strategizing. Once hired, professionals can work with you to execute some of the following tactics.
Google Business Profile
When Google ranks businesses in local results, it shows business listings based on a Google Business Profile. Claim yours online and fill out the information. To improve your chances of ranking ahead of your competitors, encourage your customers to post reviews. Forbes believes this is the biggest contribution you can make toward an effective local SEO strategy.
Localized Content
In the past, companies created localized content by managing multiple websites. Today, unless products differ across locations, companies use one website and multiple geo-location web pages. While some companies still use multiple websites when creating localized content, this may hurt your SEO in the long run.
Influencer Marketing
Are there any well-known people who have some sway with your target demographic? This may not always mean a local politician or celebrity. An influencer overseas may easily become popular among the target demographic in your area. Consider partnering with one for marketing.
Location-Specific Coupons
Do you send coupons to your customers by snail mail or email? Whatever option you choose, you can create different ones for each location. That way, you can determine what sales come from each coupon and where those sales come from.
Tracking Links
There are several ways to create special links that trackback to one specific source. You may use these for affiliate marketing or to link for specific pages, such as landing pages for each location you serve.
Our local SEO services can help you determine what strategies may work best for your online business needs in Kitchener. Contact Unwired Web Solutions to get started.