Local search engine optimisation (LSEO) should be integral to every business’s online marketing strategy. It helps them reach highly motivated customers in their area while increasing traffic and leads to their website.
Strategies for local search engine optimisation (LSEO) include creating localised content, optimising for keywords, claiming and optimising Google My Business profiles, and promoting local events, teams and organisations.
Keyword research
Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the practice of optimising your website to rank higher in searches conducted by potential customers in a certain geographic location. It can effectively drive organic traffic for your business, particularly if it has physical locations nearby. Furthermore, local SEO allows your products and services to reach those searching for them in that immediate area.
As part of local SEO Adelaide, proximity, Google Business Profile and reviews all play an integral part. Search engines prioritise results close to where people search. In optimising proximity, you should ensure your name, address, and phone number are consistent online and create location pages on your website with unique store descriptions, parking/transit information and promotions that help searchers locate you quickly and conveniently.
Keyword research is another key part of local SEO. By conducting keyword research, you can learn which terms are most popular in your region and have the highest search volume; with this data, you can select the ideal keywords to include in your local SEO campaign. Furthermore, creating high-quality content that addresses questions people are searching for can help get more prospective customers through your doors and drive increased revenue streams.
On-page optimisation
Relevance, proximity and prominence are key elements influencing local search results. Relevance refers to how closely your products or services align with search queries; proximity refers to how close your business is to searchers, while prominence measures both online review activity and reviews by current or past customers.
To optimise your content, include your location in each page’s title, meta description, URL, header and footer – this will help your website rank higher in local search results. Creating individual service pages to maximise local searches can also be very effective; for businesses offering various services like plumbing or auto repair shops with multiple offerings that require separate pages per service; optimising each one will ensure it ranks highly when searched separately in local search results. Likewise, if your business operates multiple locations creating separate store descriptions with parking/transit info promotions/special offers/testimonials for each store will help optimise local search results even further.
Local business listings
Local business listings are essential for local search engine optimisation, helping your business gain ranking and attract more customers. They also drive more traffic to your website – the top three local listings receive 60% of all website traffic! However, poorly optimised directory listings won’t have much of an effect.
Local search results are determined using multiple factors, including relevance, prominence and citation signals. Relevance refers to your products or services and their relationship to your location – hence using relevant keywords in content creation and title tags can make a big difference.
The second factor, prominence, refers to how many customer reviews your business has and whether they are positive or negative – hence it’s crucial that customers leave feedback for you on Google and other local business directories.
Local business listings also appear as Local Pack and Local Finder results in search engine result pages (SERPs) for local search terms. The Local Pack displays three local search results, while Local Finder shows more listings; however, following 2014’s Pigeon update, which reduced from seven businesses displayed to three while still permitting them to appear if near enough for searchers’ locations.
Structured data
Google’s local SEO Adelaide algorithm considers searcher proximity when conducting searches. It can be especially important for businesses operating within specific geographical regions, such as restaurants or delivery services.
To increase your site’s chances of ranking higher in local searches, it must have accurate and consistent NAP (name, address and phone number) information and structured data incorporated into its content. Structured data is a standardised format that helps Google understand and classify pages accurately; an example would include providing ingredients, cooking time/temperature details, and calories in recipe pages.