Local search is a perfect way for search engines to provide the most relevant results to users that are calculated according to your particular location. In fact, you might be surprised that 7 billion monthly unique local searches take place on Google in the US alone; that‘s a pretty decent conversion rate no matter how you slice the data.
Local listing marketing is also a great tool that works well for small businesses, as the competition is much smaller in local areas. This means, the better visibility you have on a Search Engine Result Page (SERP), the more likely someone will click and convert on your site.
Usually, local search results are displayed in one of two ways on Google – the new Google carousel or in a listing format. The carousel format comprises of organic and paid listings and also includes a map plotted with a local destination. In addition to an indented list makes it easy for you and your clients to know the important details of a particular product or service right away – like physical address, contact number, and customer reviews.
If you are thinking about listing your business locally, here are a few ways how local listings works very well for small businesses:
Claim Your Business –
Just like browsing a dedicated site on Google and signing in, creating a local page is quite easy. You only need to type in the name of your business. Rest assured that, claiming your business in the local market will help you reach your prospective audience.
Categorize Your Business –
Through locally listing your small business, you will need to categorize your type of business. While creating your business page, you will need to choose a primary category.
Search engines have been known to not display a particular business if it‘s not categorized. If your business is categorized, you will need to choose your primary category and choose up to nine additional categories for your business.
Consistency –
Always make sure that your business is listed consistently across the web. This implies the name, address and photo number – always known as NAP data should be the same when it comes to your local accounts directory listings or any other listings of your business.
Quality and Quantity –
It‘s highly suggested that you need to make sure that your business has a local listing in some of the highest quality directories on the web. To improve your quantity, you should do the search for both categories and geographic terms to see if there is somewhere you should be listed.
Reviews –
Reviews are often showcased at the right side on a SERP. However, you can‘t do much to your reviews, but by working to get more reviews, in general, should give you a healthy ratio of accurate appraisals. Google will look at reviews as a ranking factor when it comes to local listings.
Inbound Links –
Apart from local citations, you will earn a good number of quality inbound links from authoritative sources. These links can come from any sources – like newspapers, local business indexes, bloggers, etc. Through social sharing, content development, and local listings, you can increase the number of inbound links.
On-page Optimization –
Once the local listings of your small business are done, make sure you‘re using every chance to make it look attractive. However, you can post appealing photos and make sure the description is keyword-rich – which tells your clients what you‘re all about. Finally, make sure everything is filled out – operational hours, address, contact information etc.
Conclusion –
It‘s highly suggested that local listings can work well for small businesses. Hence, start the process of local listings today and enjoy the benefits of staying atop SERP today.
