If you run a small business, local search marketing is a great way to make your brand more discoverable.
With local search marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO), you're increasing the chances of your business appearing in that coveted number one spot on Google . This means prospective customers are more likely to visit your website, request more information, and buy your products or services.
Want to know more about local search marketing strategy?
We've put together some of our favourite local search marketing tactics that you can implement straight away.
And don't forget, if you need a little extra support with your local search marketing strategy, Bubblegum Search is here to help.
1. Claim your Google Business Profile
One of the easiest ways to boost your local search marketing strategy is to claim your free Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business).
With Google Business Profile, you're providing Google with extra information about your business. This gives Google additional context about the products and services you offer, increasing your visibility in the search engine results, as well as on Google Maps.
You can also create individual profiles for different stores, making Google Business Profile a great local SEO strategy for multiple locations.
2. Think about what your customer is looking for
Effective keyword research is at the heart of a local search marketing strategy. Therefore, it's important to focus on the right keywords and implement them into the web content you create.
The best way to conduct keyword research?
Think like your customers. If they were looking for your business, what keywords and phrases would they use?
A good starting point is to focus on the areas you cover. As an example, let's say you provide plumbing services across East London. Rather than just focus on 'emergency plumber in East London,' drill down to the specific neighbourhoods like 'emergency plumber in Shoreditch' or 'emergency plumber in Hackney'.
3. Make your website easy to use
One of the ranking factors that Google uses to order local search results is relevance. The more beneficial your website is to users, the more likely it is to suggest your site.
This means the user experience on your website is important. The easier it is for customers to find what they need, the better for your local SEO strategy.
Not sure if your website is providing a good user experience?
If you have Google Analytics or another web analytics package installed, look at your bounce rate on individual pages.
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors that access your website and leave without moving onto other pages. If it's higher than 70% for your core landing pages (not blogs), it's a sign that prospective customers aren't able to find what they want or are not impressed enough to explore further into the website.
Some easy ways to improve the user experience and lower the bounce rate on your website include:
- Adding internal links to make navigation easier
- Using white space to break up your pages and make them flow
- Optimising or removing hi-res photos to improve your page speed
· Using bullet points and headings to make your content easier to read
- Regularly checking for broken links
- Mentioning USPs and benefits in copy & headings
4. Encourage positive reviews
Another benefit of claiming your Google Business Profile is that you can manage any reviews your business receives.
Positive reviews not only make your business more appealing to prospective customers but increase the chances of improving your local search marketing strategy too. This is because Google factors the number of reviews and the score you receive into its search engine rankings.
If your customers receive exceptional service, encourage them to give you a positive review. They can do this through Google's review system as well as other review aggregators like Feefo, TripAdvisor, Trustpilot and Yell.
Get a bad review?
Don't panic. While you can't take a negative review down, you can respond to it and explain your side of the story. According to customers, businesses that respond to reviews are seen as twice as trustworthy than businesses that don't.
5. Get backlinks from other businesses
A backlink is a link from somebody else's website to yours. Backlinks from other high-quality websites show Google that your business is extremely trustworthy and will help increase your search engine rankings.
The key to obtaining backlinks as part of a local digital marketing strategy is to focus on quality rather than quantity. Getting your website linked on hundreds of suspicious-looking directories will not help your local search marketing strategy in the long term.
It's always worth reaching out to your local council or government to see if they have any online directories your business can be included on. Links from .gov and gov.uk domains are always highly-trusted by Google, so if you can get your website on them… it's a bonus!
Alternatively, contact other local businesses and suppliers that work in similar, but not competing, industries and see how you can work together. For example, let's say you run a cheese shop. Contact local wine stores and ask if you can write a blog for their website about which cheeses go best with which wines. They get some free content for their website, and you get a well-deserved backlink in return.
We hope this article has given you some suggestions as to how you can give your local digital marketing strategy a boost.
In summary:
- Optimise your Google Business Profile
- Carry out relevant keyword research
- Consider the user journey on your website
- Ask your customers to write you a review
- Focus on getting high-quality backlinks
Copyright 2022. Featured post made possible by Marketing Donut expert Matt Cayless, director at Bubblegum Search. Matt is a digital marketing expert having worked on campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands. He has a passion for helping small and medium-sized businesses grow online. Follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn .
contributor
Matt Cayless
Matt Cayless is the Director of SEO at Bubblegum Search. He is an SEO expert having worked on campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands and has a passion for helping businesses grow online. When he’s not chasing the Google algorithm he can be found training for his next marathon.