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7 Important Takeaways in Local SEO

  • February 8 2016
  • Comments Off on 7 Important Takeaways in Local SEO
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Local SEO is something most business owners have heard of by now. With the rising usage of smartphones, local SEO has become a key player in assuring your business gets noticed. Google is placing more emphasis on this than ever before. This guide will show you the 7 most important takeaways in local SEO.

 

1.  Accuracy and Consistency in Online Listings

Away from your site you have the holy trinity of local SEO, known as NAP. This stands for Name Address Phone Number. These are the basic pieces of information Google needs for local SEO purposes. Yet while businesses know it’s important they don’t update their listings when they change. It’s time-consuming to update online listings, but a failure to do so spells bad news for your local SEO efforts.

“It is important that the information listed on local directories or other websites about your company is accurate and consistent” explains Stuart McHenry of McKremie an Orange County SEO Company.

 

2.  Accuracy of NAP

There are businesses that have their NAP, but an incorrect NAP. You may not know it, but Google uses NAP as the basis of a whole business. An inaccuracy here implies the business either doesn’t really exist or it’s referring to another business. When you think about it, you’re competing with the world. A misplaced letter here or there could create a listing for another business that really does exist.

 

3.  Local SEO Directories – Going the Extra Mile

Putting your business in a local SEO directory is easy. Nevertheless, most businesses aren’t using them to their fullest potential. It’s tedious to fill out your business details time and time again, but it must be done. Go the extra mile and fill in every directory listing to its fullest potential. This includes adding things like logos, trademarks, and the hours of operation. Every piece of information you add is a little spike in your local SEO rank.

 

4.  Local SEO Can Exist Without a Website

Businesses can rank high in Google without having an actual business website.  Google is very smart and social media can be used as the main weight in SEO. If you’re popular on social media and have fully-fledged social media accounts, you can still hit the top of Google. But it requires you to be active on social media and it requires you to fill out your profile.

 

5.  You Should Still Have a Website

It’s much harder to do well in any aspect of SEO without a website. SEO is more than just the local side of things. General SEO is still a hugely important part of the equation. You are missing out on a lot of perfectly good SEO juice without a proper website. Set one up today, even if it’s a simple WordPress site using a free theme. Google doesn’t care how basic the site is as long as you have one.

 

6.  Beg for Reviews

Reviews are everything in local SEO. They are a measure of true popularity. Business platforms like Yelp can become your best friends or your worst enemies. Do your best by your customers and encourage them to write reviews. One way to do this is to give them a QR code they can scan with their smartphones. You could even offer additional discounts in exchange for reviews. Whatever you do, get lots of reviews and keep your rating higher than your competitors’ for a serious boost in SEO.

 

7.  Hyperlocal SEO

Still in the early stages, hyperlocal SEO is essentially neighborhood SEO. Google is still working out how to do this, but there’s no reason why you can’t cater to it now. Add in neighborhood terminology on your business website and add it to your listings. As this becomes more relevant, you are sure to rank higher in the local SEO stakes.

 

Keep in mind that local SEO takes as much time to succeed in as general SEO. Arguably, with the new emphasis on local SEO, it’s easier than ever before to rank because it relies not on quantity but quality. A popular business won’t take long to hit the front page of Google. As long as you maximize your potential, there’s no reason why you can’t start reaping the rewards of local SEO faster than your business competitors.

 

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Jennifer Hamilton

Jennifer Hamilton is the Editorial Manager at Vorongo. She has a passion for social media marketing and creative content. When not traveling, Jennifer loves reading, going to the beach and playing with her pets.

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