Often, online businesses ignore local audiences, considering them as offline buyers. But as a matter of fact, in today’s digital world, most buyers prefer online purchases, especially after the pandemic.
That means there are many potential online buyers among your local audience too, which makes local online marketing even more essential for your website.
What Is Local SEO Marketing?
Local SEO marketing is a marketing technique to optimize your website to attract local audiences to purchase from your online or offline store or subscribe to your product.
For example, if you own a continental restaurant or, say, an online shoe store, then you must try to rank for search queries like ‘continental restaurants near me’ or ‘best jogging shoes’.
Why Local Marketing Is Important For Your Business?
You can avail of the following benefits by implementing local marketing successfully,
- You can reach a bigger target audience.
- You can create brand awareness among the local community.
- You can acquire new local customers.
- You can drive more traffic both online and offline.
- You can create a better relationship with your audience, ensuring more brand loyalty and customer retention.
How To Improve Local SEO Marketing For Your Business?
Now that you know the importance of local search marketing for your business, you will be eager to know how to improve your local online marketing strategies.
Here you go!
Add Your Business In Online Listings
Adding your business to prime online directories ensures your business details are consistent across the web.
That creates trust within the search engines, which ensures better ranking and easy visibility.
Google being the most popular search engine, enlisting your business in Google Business Profile should be an essential part of your local business marketing strategy.
Following is a step-by-step guide to creating a Google Business Profile for your business,
- Visit the homepage of Google Business Profile and click the ‘Manage now’ button.
- Then, you need to enter the name of your business and click the ‘Continue’ button. That will allow you to enter your business’s type, category, and address on the following pages.
- You need to enter contact details in the next step.
- The next step will allow you to add your business on Google Maps.
- Finally, you must verify your business using any of the five options: text, phone, video call, email, or postcard.
After completing the verification process, it usually takes a few weeks to appear across Google.
Once you appear, you can update your business information whenever you wish and interact with your audience using your Google Business Profile.
However, if you want to extract the full benefits of enlisting your business in online directories, consider adding your business to Facebook, Apple Maps, Yelp, etc.
Ensure Mobile-Friendliness Of Your Website
The number of mobile users is increasing day by day. Most searchers nowadays prefer to search their queries on the go using mobile devices.
Hence, you must ensure that your website offers easy readability and navigation on all mobile devices, just like its desktop version.
Moreover, Google bots prioritize the mobile version of a website over its desktop version during the indexing and ranking process.
That means making your website mobile-friendly for local marketing is even more essential.
You can check the mobile-friendliness of your website using RankWatch’s mobile-friendly checker tool for free.
You need to enter the domain name and email address, confirm the captcha, and click the ‘Run Test’ button.
The tool will provide you with information about your website’s loading speed and appearance on mobile devices.
Target Local Keywords
Targeting local keywords is one of the most critical aspects of local business marketing. If your landing page content includes local phrases, it will likely rank for local searches.
You can find these local keywords by following any of the following two methods,
Use Google’s Autocomplete Feature
When you start typing a query in the Google search engine, its autocomplete feature predicts your query and offers several suggestions before you complete your typing.
For example, I searched for ‘best interior decorators’ using the Google search engine, and the following is the outcome.
Those suggestions are based on the most popular search queries for specific locations, so they become the most valuable local keywords you can target.
Moreover, those suggestions can also provide you with further local marketing ideas.
Use a Reliable Keyword Research Tool
The next most convenient way to target local keywords is to choose an authentic keyword research tool like the one offered by RankWatch.
You must choose RankWatch’s keyword research tool for the following reasons,
- The tool offers the most relevant local keywords that help your local store marketing.
- The tool ensures that the local keywords provided have low competition and high search volume.
- It offers tons of organic local keywords that make your local business online marketing a cakewalk.
- The tool also suggests the most relevant long-tail keywords.
- The tool offers the best question keywords based on the latest semantic search algorithms. Using those keywords significantly increases your chances of ranking for Google featured snippets.
Create Community Relations Using Email Newsletters
Most users prefer getting business news and offers via email rather than text or call.
Hence, email newsletters can be beneficial in creating a deep relationship with your local audience.
However, remember to ask for their permission before sending them any email except the completed transaction details like the purchase receipt.
Remember that your audience should not feel your email newsletters are junk. You must remember the following things while creating your email newsletter,
- You must build a relationship with your local audience through your email newsletters.
- You should provide the latest information related to your industry.
- Educate your readers about your product or service.
- Your newsletter must try to create a positive brand image and company reputation.
- You must offer discounts and vouchers on occasions like festivals and customer’s birthdays or anniversaries to make them feel special.
Create a Buzz Using Social Media
It is hard to find people who are not engaged with social media nowadays. You must use your social media channels to utilize that engagement.
You can create social media buzz using terms like special weekend sales, limited period offers, offers valid till the stocks last, only a few left, etc.
Be A Part Of Local Events
Being a part of local events can be a very effective way of local store marketing.
It helps to know your local customers and create a bond with them. They also better understand your product or service by visiting those local events.
You can try the following to enhance your local marketing strategy using local events.
- Set up a stall at the local event and demonstrate your product.
- Offer voluntary services in local club events.
- Create your own in-house events.
Conclusion
Local marketing is essential in every business, whether online or offline.
There are many online buyers in your local community, which is why optimizing your website for local SEO plays a vital role.
You should enlist your business in prime online listings, make sure your website is mobile-friendly, target primary and long-tail local keywords, use email marketing, explore social media handles, and participate in local events to enhance your local marketing strategy.
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