9 Things People Ignore About Local SEO

Local SEO adds more responsibility to your already existing SEO goals. And it can be tricky.

But once you are equipped with a deeper understanding of the local SEO practices, it becomes easier for you to put your business at the forefront.

Local SEO is what gives you an edge. It is so essential that almost half of all Google searches are expected to be locally related in 2022.

Despite knowing its role in helping you build a strong local identity, many of us need to pay more attention to some of the fundamental (yet crucial) details that go into creating an excellent local profile.

Here is a list of 9 things people ignore about local SEO:

Not asking for customer reviews.

To your audience, reviews are like personal recommendations. Positive reviews instil faith in customers about your brand, while negative ones create a terrible impression.

In fact, when users perform a Google search, the local businesses with better ratings and reviews get a priority in the results.

Customer reviews dictate your local success, so you need to ask your users to review your business.

And it is something that your customers would only do on their own. You need to encourage them to do it.

This can be done by offering them discounts.

Also, a very effective way to guide your audience in writing reviews is by creating a dedicated section on your website that gives directions for the same.

Failing to gather local citations

Earning local citations strengthens your local presence because they help people know about your company.

Plus, they influence your rankings.

But gathering local citations isn’t about showing up everywhere. You have to find the right platforms which will actually help you highlight your local business.

Additionally, you need to ensure that your information is accurate. Local citations can only harm your local reputation if your data is not correct.

Look out for the quality and relevancy of the platforms before putting efforts into building these citations. And always ensure accuracy.

Not Customising local landing pages.

You must focus on customising your local landing pages, primarily if your business caters to an audience from different locations.

If you have a presence in more than one location, you should create different landing pages to cater to this audience. It also helps you insert keywords for that particular location (otherwise, you would end up stuffing irrelevant words).

Need to optimise Google My Business page.

Any business information that you add to Google My Business page reflects on Google maps, Google search and even Google+.

This is why it is so important to optimise your GMB account.

Fill out all the possible details. Make sure the location is owner-verified. Also, have all the categories you choose in line with your product.

Having duplicate information in local listings

Online duplication always comes at a price.

If duplicate content issues are problematic, duplication in local listings can be fatal. Such discrepancies can cause inconvenience to people, and you can lose your potential and existing customers because of these duplications that often need to be noticed.

Duplicate information can misdirect your audience and can create hassles for them. It occurs when you have more than one listing on a given platform.

Such instances of duplication can occur due to various reasons. Sometimes they can happen accidentally, while in other cases, they can occur during acquisitions or automation of citations/listings.

Take a look at the information fields your audience is usually looking out for:

Poor quality images

Bad images on your GMB listing can negatively impact your click-through rates. While, on the one hand, poor images are an indicator of halfhearted efforts made on your end, they also send a wrong visual message to your potential audience.

In this era, where the world has turned visual, images take an even more significant role in deciding how your audience responds to your content.

So invest some time and add a layer of visual appeal to your business.

If you own a restaurant, you can do this through food photography. In case you have a pet store, you can use the animals as a subject in your pictures. For those who run a house painting business, showcase your past projects to visually attract your customers.

Absence of a map on the website

When you think of local SEO, the first and foremost thing to consider is “local”. How do you make your website user-friendly for local search results?

One good way of doing it is by embedding a map on your website. This is one of the key strategies for winning local SEO using Google maps.

Having a map containing the directions to your address will also help avoid navigation issues and make it easier for your audience to reach out to you.

Additionally, maps add an interactive layer for users.

Tip: Don’t forget to mention your opening and closing hours on the website.

Lack of call to action

It is the call to action that ultimately drives the marketing results. A call to action button is essential to guide your audience to the following (necessary) steps.

If you are targeting your audience through social profiles but are doing it without a CTA, your efforts could be better.

Additionally, with a carefully designed call to action button, you can reduce the number of steps your user takes to avail of your services or buy your product. Users are more likely to look for a business that helps them navigate their buying journey easily.

Many marketers tend to think that these CTAs only impact their global presence, while the truth is that this one feature helps you distinguish yourself locally as well. So make use of it!

Ignoring social presence

For any brand that caters to a diverse audience, it is essential to have a good social presence.

Local SEO isn’t solely dependent on having a website. In the words of Neil Patel: “A local business can thrive on local SEO without even having a website”.

So you need to pay attention to your social media profiles to avoid becoming a setback for your SEO goals.

Many customers will try to look you up on Facebook or TripAdvisor.

And if you forget to be on social media, they might stop looking for you.

Treat your social media accounts like your website because people constantly search for brand pages.

Not setting a radius for your business.

Google lets you set a radius around your business address for service-based businesses.

Filling up this essential detail can save you from negative customer feedback.

Don’t skip this vital information on your GMB page. Your audience should be aware if you don’t offer your services at any particular physical location.

Think of someone who arrives at your physical location only to find out that you provide phone-only consultation. You will lose this potential customer, and negative feedback from them can negatively affect your online image.

Quick Recap

• Customers are essential to your business, and so are their reviews.
• Your local landing pages should address geographic queries. That’s why it’s so important to have specific pages for a different audiences.
• A website alone cannot boost your local presence. Having a good social company can do the trick.
• Embedding a map on a website shows that you care about your local identity. They will give your users direction and help you direct your SEO goals to achieve better results.
• It is essential to prevent any incorrect or duplicate data issues. Eliminate the duplication errors in local fields like Address, Telephone numbers etc.
• Let your customers know the radius in which you render your services by setting a radius in your GMB account.

Conclusion

Local SEO isn’t easy. Some blame is on the myths that surround it.

You need to invest in reviews and build a strong local presence through citations to make your business more visible in the local results. Additionally, you need to ensure that the information in these listings is correct and that you avoid duplication.

Google is giving more and more importance to GMB listing, so optimise your GMB accounts immediately.

And be socially active. Your appearance in local results isn’t entirely governed by owning a website. It very much depends on your social image.

May the local SEO be with you!