5 Major Factors that can Impact Your Local SEO in 2020

 

Local SEO Optimization: Your Gateway to Increased Sales

 

How often does Google change its algorithm?

The answer is, a lot!

This is why, if you want to stay on the top in Google’s search results, one-time SEO isn’t the perfect solution.

For Google to find your site authoritative, and your content useful enough to rank you amongst the ones on top, you’d need to locate the pulse of Google’s ever-changing algorithm.

In other words, ongoing optimization is what you should invest in for higher rankings on Google and an increased number of web visitors. 

But, wait! That isn’t all.

Guess what’s more important for small and localized businesses? 

That’s right! Local SEO is what you really need to focus on in 2020. 

Google’s Local 3-Pack

If you don’t know this already, in the year 2015, Google reduced the number of local search results to three in place of seven.

Wondering why?

Well, one of the major reasons could be Google’s continuous transition to a mobile-centric layout, and it’s struggling to provide its users with the most relevant results. 

Nevertheless, if you own a small localized business, but it doesn’t appear in Google’s 3-pack, then you must be losing a significant number of sales.

It’s high time that you get your site optimized for local SEO, because having a business site that ranks high on Google is the best way of reaching new markets, attracting more online shoppers, or an increased number of customers to your physical store – or both!

Now, let’s move on to the real talk – the 5 major factors that impact your local SEO!

Or, as we like to call them, the pivotal elements of local SEO.

Curiosity kicking in? Here’s the list:

1. On-Page Search Engine Optimization

Getting your site’s on-page SEO done by the best SEO agency isn’t just important, but rather essential in today’s technology-infused world with the ever-increasing competition in marketing. 

It refers to both, the on-page content on your site, as well as your back-end source code. And there’s a good amount of effort that you need to put in to rank higher on Google.

According to what SEO experts say, some of the most important factors of on-page SEO include:  

⦁    Relevant and well-researched keywords: Keywords are the phrases that your potential customers use to search online for the products and services that you provide. 

That’s why, selecting the right keywords is critical to your site’s on-page SEO, as well as your search rankings. 

You can either get your keyword strategy planned by experts or do it yourself while keeping in consideration the questions your prospects would ask while searching for your product online. 

Also, avoid using technical terms or jargon in order to generate content that’s easily understandable for your target audience. 

For localized content, you can use your city’s name as much as two times on your webpages. 

⦁    The content on your site: If your goal is to compete in Google’s local search rankings, try focusing on generating some content about your city or the are in which your business is located. 

For instance, if you provide services in Slough, try creating a link between your business and what’s going on in Slough. Such as, you can talk about some local news, activities, and events happening in Slough and its surroundings. 

In addition to this, localized content could be generated by mentioning promotions that you’re offering in Slough. 

And if you’re providing services in more than one location, we recommend you to create city-specific webpages on your business site, and upload high-quality localized content on each of your pages. 

Lastly, when it comes to content, always remember that quality matters a lot. Which is one of the reasons why you should recruit expert local SEO services to produce search engine-friendly content

⦁    Meta tag or title tag: The meta tag is a title element that displays a summary of the content on your site to users on Google’s SERPs, and it can increasingly influence your site’s click-through rate. 

So, don’t forget using relevant keywords in your site’s meta titles and descriptions. 

Here are a number of other important on-page SEO strategies:

2. Consistency of Your Business Information

Another major factor that impacts your local SEO is the consistency of your business information

In a sense, every detail, specifically the contact info of your company must be the same, not just on all your webpages, but also on other mediums that you use for advertising purposes, such as your social media accounts. 

The accuracy and consistency of your company’s name, address, and phone number allows your consumers to easily find the “rich” content that they typically seek when making purchasing decisions online. 

3. Your Business Listing on Google

If you’re a small business, don’t forget to benefit from the FREE page that Google offers. 

Yes, we’re talking about Google My Business here!

Simply by claiming your business listing on Google, you can increase the likelihood of your business site popping up in front of your prospective customers when they search for your products online.  

And the higher you rank on Google, the better your Click Through Rate!

4. The Reviews Matter

If you own a local business, never ever ignore the importance of reviews!

Online reviews are a critical SEO component that can help you rank higher on search engines like Google. 

Not only this, but positive reviews are also a great way of attracting more customers online. Here are some other reasons why customer reviews are so important:

Also:

One more major factor that local SEO relies on is backlinks. 

Now, this part could surely be difficult, but it’s equally important as well in order to prove your site’s authority to Google. 

However, when trying to obtain backlinks, be careful of the bad ones. In a sense, try to get backlinks from sites that are diverse, reputable, and performing well in search engines.

Or, you could simply go for sites that's already providing your competitors with the link juice. 

All in all, boosted rankings don’t come easily, you need to put in a lot of hard work, or invest in the best local SEO services!

 

By - 27 Mar 2020

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