Maria Jones — July 23, 2018 — July 23, 2018
The introduction and development of mobile search have led to many changes to SEO, but the biggest effect is the rise of local SEO. As of now, regardless of the size of a business, everyone is driving their efforts in improving their local SEO and implementing steps that can help them in achieving greater visibility on the local area based search results.
Almost every marketer is familiar with the recent update in Google’s search algorithm known as Pigeon, which allows better exposure for local directories. This has led to the local search engine optimization to establish itself in the world of online marketing. Mobile search usage is outperforming its desktop counterpart, and Google is outlining more than half of mobile searches local area related; it is not surprising to see local SEO turning to be a vital aspect of an overall SEO campaign.
Content Optimization for Local SEO
Local SEO is a window of opportunity for businesses around the world, especially the smaller ones. Small-scale entrepreneurs and service providers promote and develop their business in a targeted geographic area. By emphasizing on local keywords and search intent, you can build your content easily by narrowing down the competition and improving your audience reach. The two key tactics for optimizing your site based on the local intent are localizing your schema markup and creating a mobile-friendly website. This can be done by:
- Adding Structured Data: Incorporating the structured data to your website compliments the relevance of your content and the local area of your business to the major search engines. While this solely cannot be the deciding factor in improving your rankings, it makes your website highly relevant to your targeted local phrases or keywords.
- Optimize Local Keywords: When developing content for local search, it is imperative to insert local keywords into the Meta description and title tags for local ranking. You can sometimes craft your content focusing on long-tail keywords to differentiate your site both geographically and content-wise. For a better understanding of local content marketing strategies, you can hire the services of professional SEO companies.
- Strategic Placement of Local Keywords: It is also suggested to place geographic keywords as proximal to the starting of the tag as possible for ensuring it does not get lost in search results. This becomes of paramount importance for businesses that operate in multiple locations. Apart from updating NAP details, consider including relevant data such as nearby local landmarks and testimonials from local businesses you have worked with.
- Localizing Content: Localizing the content is an effective way to engage an entire industry. Besides collaborating with influencers and local news stations, most websites fail to recognize the importance of local content and as a result, they struggle in the local search engine rankings. Prior to crafting localized content for your specific geography, run an analysis to target your particular audience.
Conclusion
Hopefully, from now on when you will think of local SEO, it will not be limited to the simple basics, but creating relevant local content based on the popular local keywords. With the continuing rise in mobile search, it is has become more important than ever to focus on your local SEO.
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