Published on December 17, 2022
Local SEO is becoming one of the most significant aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) and increasing traffic to local businesses and companies. In fact, SEO can generate a higher ROI than other marketing tactics, which can be as high as 12.2x the marketing spend of businesses. Compared to digital advertising, online marketing and local SEO can cut the cost of customer acquisition by 87.41% on average and raise the business value of a blog site by 429%.
Despite being in its infancy, local SEO is becoming more competitive than ever. Small businesses are realizing the value of a well-crafted local SEO plan since it increases their search visibility and allows them to interact with local clients.
With increased awareness of the benefits of local search comes a complicated search algorithm system that has undergone substantial changes in recent years. Google and other search engines are constantly seeking methods to provide people with the most valuable and helpful results as close to their location as possible, so ranking well in local search results requires a deliberate SEO strategy involving a variety of factors and practices.
To learn more about what affects local SEO, continue reading below.
Google's algorithm for ranking local search results relies on a broad range of distinct signals, making it difficult to identify where to focus your efforts. To guarantee a local business ranks effectively for relevant keyword searches, a variety of factors for local search rankings must be considered.
Google My Business, arguably one of the most important local SEO ranking factors, is a free platform created by Google to connect users with local companies via Google Maps. Setting up GMB listings correctly is critical to have a local business recognized by both Google and potential customers. Given that your store's Google business profile is one of the first things customers see when searching for a company on Google, having your business listed, verified, and monitored is extremely important.
When websites are analyzed for local rankings, various on-page data are taken into account. The first step is the usage of relevant keywords. Search engines will look for highly relevant and strategically placed keywords to determine where a site ranks in web results. Relevancy is critical for local SEO since the appropriate keywords can help your site rank in specific areas relevant to your industry.
On-page SEO rankings also benefit from the presence of contact information such as name, address, and phone number (NAP). This information is used by Google to establish important proximity details for your rankings.
The mobile-friendliness of your website is another factor that can affect search engine rankings. This year, 30% of all Google mobile searches were related to location. It is critical for both local SERPs and user experience to have your website readily accessible and fast on mobile devices.
Positive online reviews help establish a trustworthy, dependable, and legitimate reputation for your company. A positive online review not only greatly impacts a potential client's decision-making processes but will also contribute to local search rankings.
Businesses receiving frequent positive reviews and ratings online will result in increased attention and higher SEO rankings compared to their competitors.
Backlinks are essential for building authority and web traffic for a local business. Local businesses should strive to attract quality links from local, relevant, and authoritative websites to impact their website positively. The number of linking domains, the relevancy of the links, the linking domain authority, and the anchor text used to link to your website are all local SEO ranking factors associated with backlinks.
Citations are a great way to disseminate consistent information about a company on the web and obtain local backlinks from legitimate and authoritative websites. Searchers utilize directories and citations to find items, products, and services, as well as their contact details. Citations are also used by search engines to validate important information about a company.
Google's algorithm analyzes a variety of behavioral signals to decide the order of local search results and search rankings. Behavioral signals are actions that consumers in your target audience perform to demonstrate how they interact and engage with local business listings and websites. The following are the most common user signals that are monitored:
Producing and releasing content relevant to your local community might increase your local search rankings dramatically. Users enjoy engaging with brands on topics that are relevant, relatable, and community-focused.
Local content includes blogs, news stories, articles, videos, graphics, and event announcements relating to a local area.
Local SEO is the most powerful and effective way to substantially boost the amount and quality of leads your business receives through organic search. Identifying what affects local SEO and the elements that influence local SEO rankings, however, is only the beginning of your local search marketing journey.
A successful SEO campaign involves a comprehensive plan that considers all these factors and actualizes them to increase your site's search visibility and SEO rankings.
If you are new to marketing and struggling with generating leads, check out this article by Bliss Drive, discussing the digital marketing strategies that will boost your leads.
