Boost Your Rankings with Local SEO

More and more, internet users are searching for that direct route to what they need – so why not let your site be the one that takes them there.

People want local solutions and Google’s responded with Local Search.

In digital marketing, we all know that a Google algorithm update (Hummingbird) doesn’t mean a fad; it means a seismic shift in the nature of search.

People will always want convenience and if Google’s responded, so should you.

If you want to improve your rankings and get more traffic to your site, local SEO is for you. At WMG, we’ve had a think about how our local search strategy can work for you and have summarised some of the basics in the nice, friendly guide below:

Step 1: Let’s Begin

Get hooked up – link your local landing pages’ data to your analytics account, making sure you’re fully exploiting features that measure things such as location, device, bounce rate and new vs. returning traffic.

What you’ll see – these features will identify where visitors to each area of your site are coming from – and if you’re not getting visits from your main offline areas, then there’s a problem. A sophisticated use of analytics can really help identify where your site can improve.

Step 2: Location, location, location

Location – Make sure all your locations are listed on your site and include regional numbers, maps and area specific content.

Location – Separate profiles can be a great way to offer visitors a personable user journey that will improve your site stats (bounce rate etc.) and encourage Google to boost you up the rankings.

Location – Not only this, but a better site journey will really improve your conversion rate, meaning a more profitable website.

Step 3: Socialise

Be the talk of the town – Build a social following based on local interactions that link back to your site: increased referrals visits to your site, and a popular brand can only be good for your rankings.

Be the best: Encourage your customers to give you feedback. Build up local reviews on the big directories, and if your products are good, you’ll see this reflected in your rankings.

Step 5: View Your Winnings

See the results: Use analytics to see your traffic rise and to identify where there’s still more room to improve. If one landing page’s traffic is still low, look again at your online presence in that area, compared with others, and work to bridge the gaps.

Please give us a call to find out more on 0845 555 5040, or if you’re still looking to see the value of local SEO, try a few searches for yourself. When we were having a go, a search for “pizza”, brought up the Pizza Hut across the way and a search for “sell my car” brought up a popular dealer 10 minutes down the road.

Local Search isn’t the future – local search is now.