Local SEO Tips for Business during COVID-19 By forcing most of us to stay at home, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our online and offline behavior in unprecedented ways. New trends during COVID-19 have led to a surge in online traffic on social media platforms, health, news, and gaming sites.
Studies made by a team of Scanteam show there’s been a decline in traffic to nonessential business websites, many of which are small businesses.
Since COVID-19 appeared, many physical retail outlets have closed, while many others have suffered an enormous loss in revenue. These challenging times have driven large and small companies alike to re-invent themselves. To survive, physical stores have had to convert much of their business to the online marketplace.
Small businesses have been especially hard hit, as so much of their revenue is generated from foot-traffic. By providing innovative and functional solutions to customers, many small businesses have been able to stay alive during this crisis. Some have even grown stronger. How Do You Improve Local Business? Business owners often wonder how to improve local business. Because of new trends during COVID-19, this question is more pressing than ever. Search engines like Google or Yahoo are the most common way people find local business information. A crucial way to improve local business is by using local Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Our expert author Alex Lysak has been working for over ten years in online marketing and specializes in SEO website promotion. If you’re asking, "Local search what?" Read on to learn what he has to say about local SEO. What is Local SEO? Local SEO is a group of essential online marketing tools that small businesses can use to gain new customers. You may wonder how a local search can improve web marketing.
Local SEO tools can improve a business’s visibility in local search engine results. Nearly half of all Google searches look for local information, and almost 80% of all local searches on Google result in a sale. Which Local SEO Techniques Should You Use? A small business can use many local SEO techniques to boost its online presence and gain new customers through conversions and leads. The results of local searches usually answer a question that implies 'near me.' Specific local SEO techniques are essential to ensure your company makes it on those search results.
Here are 6 of the most crucial local SEO techniques that can positively affect your sales:
Create your Google My Business profile. Optimize your website for mobile platforms. Regularly ask satisfied customers for reviews. List your site with local directories. Write high-quality content based on local events using local keywords. Secure quality backlinks.
Below, we'll look at some of the best strategies to optimize these local SEO techniques. How Do You Optimize Local SEO? Combining local SEO techniques with a smart strategy for local SEO can boost a business's online presence. Read below for some great tips on how to improve local SEO for businesses. Google My Business Offered as a free tool from Google, Google My Business (GMB) is essentially your business profile. This tool lets you manage how your contact information is listed in online searches and directories. The data you include here will be used in your business’s Google Maps listing, your Local Results listing, and your Knowledge Panel.
Optimizing this information will boost your rankings on Google Maps and help you show up in local Google searches. Almost three-quarters of consumers say their 1st step to finding a company’s information* is through a search. If you want to show up on that search, you’ll want to be sure to optimize your search engine data.
Here are some steps you can take to optimize this data:
Fill out your business profile fully and accurately so customers can find answers easily. Choose a relevant and descriptive business category. Include your company logo, hours of operation, and acceptable payment methods. Post lots of high-resolution images of your products and services. Make it easy for customers to review your business and reply regularly. Post regular launches and deals to your GMB dashboard. Optimize for Mobile Data shows that the majority of website visits in the past few years are made from mobile devices. A business's website needs to load quickly and be easily viewed on all devices. From a desktop to a mobile phone, your website will be user friendly if it uses responsive technology. Maximize Locally Relevant Content and Keywords To help customers find your business, you'll want to pepper your copy, URL, and site content with locally relevant keywords. These will be words that resonate with your customer base, terms they might use in their searches for businesses like yours.
Google's Keyword Planner allows you to filter your keyword searches by location. This planner will give you an idea of some popular local search terms so you can add them to your site. Secure Quality Backlinks Backlinks are links between websites. You have a backlink from someone if someone links their site to yours. To be SEO optimized, a business will want to have lots of backlinks as search engines like Google see them as votes of confidence. But, the best backlinks for local SEO are from high-quality websites.
You can increase your chances of receiving high-quality backlinks by taking these steps:
entice others to want to link to your site by creating high-quality content on your site post guest blog articles on respected sites that score a high domain authority use social media to engage with local influencers to get them to link back to you
Google introduces new local search features often, so it's a good idea to stay up-to-date. By implementing the six actionable items listed above, you can help your business take advantage of revenue-generating local searches. When SEO changes do come, you'll have a solid foundation to build on. If you feel you may need help to set up these tools, you could consider hiring an SEO marketing service.
This is a guest post by Alex Lysak. About the author:
Alex Lysak is the CEO of ScanTeam. I have been working in online marketing since 2011, my main areas of expertise are marketing research, social media marketing, and SEO. During 9 years of experience, I have helped many products and startups to develop marketing strategies and to implement them further. https://twitter.com/lysak_aleksandr