How to Improve Your Local SEO

December 11, 2022

Improving your local SEO starts with a solid online presence: a responsive website, accessible social media accounts, and the tactics below to win visibility in local search results and convert nearby customers.

Local SEO depends on four core levers: customer reviews that build trust and lift rankings, structured data markup that helps Google understand your pages, accurate NAP citations across the web, and alignment with how Google’s local algorithm weighs relevance, prominence, and proximity.

How do online reviews affect local search rankings?

Getting reviews from customers is a smart way to set your company apart from the competition. Positive online reviews make your business more attractive to new and existing customers and can help your business improve its search engine ranking.

Online reviews can also be a powerful tool to improve customer service and sales. A good review can encourage consumers to spend more and push your business to the top of local search results. A negative review can drive potential customers away and damage your business reputation.

A one-star increase in a restaurant review can boost revenue by up to 5 to 9 percent. For a $1 million per year business, that translates into up to $50,000 to $90,000 in additional revenues.

Getting a positive online review can be as simple as creating a third-party review site and encouraging customers to leave reviews. Some of the most effective review platforms include Facebook and Yelp.

Why does structured data mark-up matter for local SEO?

Including structured data mark-up on your website is beneficial to local SEO because it gives Google the information it needs to understand your page. That information can be used to create rich snippets and enhance search results.

A video structured data snippet can provide valuable real estate in the SERPs. You can use a video snippet to highlight upcoming events, answer complex questions, or feature a product.

You can also use a snippet to add important company information to your social media profiles.

When creating structured data markup, follow the guidelines set by Google to increase your chances of appearing in the knowledge graph panel and to improve how Google’s bots read your keywords.

How do you keep NAP citations up to date?

Keeping your NAP citations up to date is a crucial part of local SEO. Incorrect information can negatively affect your search visibility and rank, frustrate customers, and create a bad customer experience.

Unlike informal citations, official directory listings are vetted by Google. Sites that do not meet their criteria are not considered legitimate. A solid citation is one of the best ways to establish trust.

A citation is a mention of your business’s name, address, and phone number on another website or social media. These mentions help local consumers find you and appear on “near me” searches.

If you own a business, it is critical to maintain accurate NAP data. Search engines use these listings to determine which sites to display in localized results. If you have multiple locations, you may need to use different phone numbers for each.

Your company’s website contact information should be easy to read for humans and easy to crawl for search engines. The data should be consistent across your website and other sites, including spelling and formatting.

How does the Google algorithm affect local search results?

Several years ago, Google rolled out an algorithm change that affected local search results. This update, known as the Possum update, appeared to affect 64% of Google’s local pack. Its impact was largely unreported, though many local SEO experts believed the update was intended to diversify Google’s local search results.

Google’s local search algorithm considers relevance, prominence, and proximity to determine a business’ ranking. It also takes into account how well a website is structured and whether the site has duplicate links and external domains.

Social signals, generated by users on social media sites, help Google figure out the quality of a website’s links.

Google’s algorithms also take into consideration the number of searches in the area. For example, if Susan searches for “deep dish pizza downtown Chicago,” she will see a list of results in Chicago rather than a restaurant in Los Angeles.

FAQ

How much can a one-star review increase revenue?

A one-star increase in a restaurant review can boost revenue by up to 5 to 9 percent. For a $1 million per year business, that translates into up to $50,000 to $90,000 in additional revenues.

What is a NAP citation and why does it matter?

A NAP citation is a mention of your business’s name, address, and phone number on another website or social media. These mentions help local consumers find you and appear on “near me” searches. Keeping them accurate and consistent across your website and other sites is critical to local search visibility.

What was the Possum update?

The Possum update was a Google algorithm change that appeared to affect 64% of Google’s local pack. Many local SEO experts believed it was intended to diversify Google’s local search results.