Local SEO Listings – 5 Tips for Better Search Result
Local SEO Listings Search Result
Businesses are competing with all their might today to appear on top of the Local SEO search results in the search engine listings so that customers can easily choose their services over the competitors. The Local SEO dives deeper in the search engine optimization techniques and many factors are to be kept in consideration such as being listed with the right local directories, and optimization for the Geo-specific neighborhood of the business.
The Local SEO listings are important in terms of the potential customers and stakeholders finding easily the location and the contact information, along with the additional information about the business on the search engine and land on the company’s website.
1. Focus on the Local Listing in Directories
Needless to say, the visual graphics of a website are important but Local Listing in prime directories steal the show. This is the aspect which catches the attention of the search engine crawlers and enables the website to attract more and more traffic. When it comes to local search results, it gets complicated for many business sites to appear in the top rankings. Thus, it is highly important for the online marketing experts to have the right tools for keyword analysis in their pockets, so as to achieve the desired results. Listing in Local directories like: Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, Foursquare etc can be highly beneficial.
2. The Importance of Keyword research
Prior to effective use of keywords, it is important to get the right list of keywords with the help of keyword research. This helps the search engine to know about the nature of your business and its location so that it could rank your business in the search results. There are certain online tools available, known to have the ability to provide efficient result in terms of keyword research, such as Google Adwords, Word Tracker and Keyword Tool.
The keywords need to be incorporated in the meta title and description of the web pages, and the primary keyword/ phrase needs to be a part of the main heading or opening sentence in the most appropriate manner.
3. The Accuracy of the Name, Address & Phone Number (NAP) of the Business
The NAP (name, address and phone number) of the business needs to be so accurate that the listings may never go wrong with it. A slight spelling error or that of a number could go a long way in the local listing of your business to be inaccurate. The consistency of the NAP is equally important for better Local SEO search result. One web page containing a piece of information and others having a different one will only result in a questionable credibility and lower rankings.
4. Social Media Accounts are More Important than You May Think
The local SEO works well even without the business website, while listing the business venue and contact information in the search results. However, there is a high chance that customers today would miss out on checking your site but they would surely look you up on Facebook or other social media channels; make sure you have an active presence there. Setup your Social Media accounts at: Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, YouTube.
5. Customer Reviews are essential for Top Local Listings
The Local SEO search could be in your control as a business owner but not the reviews which customers write about your product/service offering. Make sure there are ample reviews and for that you could encourage the customers, with the help of social media accounts and by optimizing at Foursquare, Yelp and also My Business page on Google. You could also encourage the customers for reviews by offering incentives such as discount coupons and free value added services.