How to Build a Local SEO Strategy from Scratch?
Building effective local SEO strategy from zero requires putting all your efforts into creating strong and trustable digital footprint that will send positive trust signals to search enginges. An effective local SEO strategy builds foundation on optimized Google Business Profile and consistent NAP citations across the internet, with the help of local SEO techniques and positive customer reviews.
Steps to Take to Build a Local SEO Strategy
01. Set Up and Optimize Google Business Profile
The first step in creating a successful local SEO strategy is setting up and optimizing your Google Business Profile. Having a Google Business Profile is a must if you want to rank on a local level, since it represents the most important local SEO asset. GBP allows your business to be shown in Google Maps and the Local Pack.
To set up your GBP, you must claim your business on Google and provide proof of ownership in order to verify it. A good GBP should have business hours filled in, services, categories, and detailed descriptions. Another thing you need to prepare beforehand is high-quality pictures of your storefront, team, and interior – this way you’re signaling trustworthiness.
A good Google Business Profile is not static – it is constantly updated with new offers, weekly events, and relevant news, to showcase that your business is active and available. If it’s possible, make your business available 24/7. This is a good tactic to draw customers off regular working hours, where most of your competitors are closed.
02. Ensure NAP Consistency
NAP (name, address, phone number) needs to be consistent online. This element is vital in establishing a good local visibility, since lack of information or inconsistencies can confuse search engines, and affect the way they crawl and rank your business. Take time to research your business online, find all available listings, and ensure the NAP is consistent and accurate.
The data shared via NAP should also be standardized – choose one format for the address and use it everywhere. Even small details like “Street” or “St.” matter. To increase your business visibility, you should utilize major platforms like Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Facebook, and even local Chamber of Commerce websites to place your business listings.
03. Do Local Keyword Research
Good Google Business Profile and consistent NAP citations won’t do any good if you don’t know what your customers are actually searching for. Finding what the weak spots your customers need help fixing is crucial for creating the right targeting campaign. Planning keywords is a process that requires you to think like your customer – what would be things they’d type to find your business. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs can be helpful in the process.
Another thing to have in mind is the long-tail keywords – specific, long phrases customers may type when they want to search for something. Very often, these long-tail keywords help you target very specific customers and are underutilized, so ranking for them is easier.
04. Optimize Your Website
The website of your business must completely support your local SEO strategy in terms of supporting your Google Business Profile and location-specific signals. When you’re doing business in multiple locations or serving multiple areas, creating a unique landing page tied to each location can be beneficial to better rankings. On-page SEO also needs to be in place, with city or neighborhood names included in Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, and H1 tags. Optimizing for voice searches is also good way to get ahead of your competition.
Another thing you can do to ease up the job for Google, is to implement local schema markup. This will help Google to understand better your address, working hours, and the exact service area you’re targeting. One more thing many businesses often forget – make sure to optimize your website for mobile searches as well, since many local findings happen via mobile devices.
05. Collect Customer Reviews
Positive customer reviews and testimonials are something every business must have, regardless of whether they are trying to position on a local level or not. Creating fake reviews is not the way to go, since it can result in “punishment” and low rankings. Building review base starts by asking your happy customers to write an honest review in the first 24 hours after the service.
Another major part is not to forget to respond to all reviews you get. Sometimes there would be negative comments as well, and you must make sure to respond to them with full professionalism, to keep showing engagement even when something didn’t go as planned. Make sure to encourage your customers to mention the specific service or location you’re targeting, to boost local relevance.
06. Build Local Authority
The best way to showcase your local relevance is to have reputable local websites, businesses, and platforms linking back to your business’s website. There are several ways on how you can do this, starting with creating local partnership for cross-promotional activities that build quality backlinks.
Sending local signals can also be done throught your website’s blog section, by writing about local events, news, or any guides that are related to your niche or industry. This way, you’re building authority and trust, and also sending local signals to search engines and your customers.
Conclusion
Building successful local SEO strategy doesn’t have to give you a headache, all you need is a good plan and execution. When you set the basis straight – your GBP and NAP consistency – adding on other layers is simple and goes very smooth. Establishing local authority is important if you’re doing business in industries where local approach and in-person contact with the customer is important. However, local SEO is an on-going process, and once you set the foundations, you constantly need to keep working on maintaining good position.
