Local SEO is a great way to gain more exposure to your site in local search. There are several different factors that determine the visibility of your website in local search. These factors include your website's digital footprint within the local search ecosystem, Mobile-responsiveness, Schema, and Backlinks. Performing these activities properly can increase your visibility in local search.
Your website's digital footprint in the local oriented search ecosystem
The key to increasing your local visibility is to improve your digital footprint. The more accurate and localized your signals are, the more likely your website will be found by local users. This can be achieved through social media and by creating local links and user reviews. Adding these signals will improve your visibility and help you serve more local customers faster.
Local optimization involves multiple directories, platforms, data aggregators, and search engines. This is why you need to take a comprehensive approach. You must be able to identify and prioritize the best local keywords. In addition, you need to consider the reputation management aspect of your strategy.
Mobile-responsiveness
One of the best ways to improve local SEO is to create a mobile-responsive website. This is essential for both a website's SEO strategy and the overall user experience. A responsive website is also faster to load, especially on mobile devices. Speed is vital, especially for small businesses that depend on local traffic.
A responsive design makes it easier for users to share your content. In addition, it helps algorithms assign indexing properties more accurately. It also helps minimize the number of mistakes that can affect a website's ranking. Moreover, a mobile-friendly design saves resources when the Googlebot crawls a website.
Besides optimizing for mobile, local SEO also involves optimizing the website for local search queries. This will make it easy for customers to find your business in their area. Statistics show that over 93% of internet users search for local businesses. Moreover, 34% of them make such searches daily.
Backlinks
Backlinks are an important part of performing local SEO. They tell search engines that other sites value your content, which increases your site's overall confidence. The more high-quality sites that link to your site, the better. A local business website with strong backlink profiles gains traction much more quickly. In fact, backlinks account for over a quarter of Google's local search ranking factors.
One of the most important backlink strategies involves claiming a Google My Business listing, also known as a Google Business Profile. This will give you a backlink from Google and also increase the likelihood of your listing being placed in Google's three-pack, which is the most valuable local link-building strategy.
Reviews
Having a high number of reviews is one of the most important factors in generating local SEO results. This is because online reviews are highly trusted by local customers. Reviews also appear on your Google Business Profile, which affects your local SERP. Google says that the more reviews you have, the better your SEO ranking will be.
Keeping your reviews positive will not only improve your ranking, but it will also help you stay true to your business image and increase social proof. It may seem obvious, but customers like helping out local businesses, so they are likely to leave a review.
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