Local SEO strategy is extremely important.
The reality is that customers across all industries are looking for the best products and services near them - and it is not just about hotels and restaurants.
Every day, a lot of people conduct online searches for local businesses, and Google accounts for almost half of all searches for local data.
According to such statistics, if you don't have a solid local SEO strategy in 2023, you'll be losing out on customers who are looking for local businesses like yours.
Your overall aim with local SEO is to appear higher for location-specific search terms like "Best Restaurants in Kolkata" or "Veg Restaurants Near Me".
To help, we've shaped this helpful 10-step local SEO checklist with the top areas you can optimize to be found by local customers in your area.
Local SEO Checklist For 2023
Here's the 10 steps checklist packed with some Local SEO strategies to help you optimize your Local SEO :
1. Website Optimization
Without a strong optimized website, local SEO cannot be done well.
The most crucial element is, of course, your website; no optimization will help you achieve your SEO goals if your site isn't excellent and follows SEO fundamentals.
The most important website optimization strategies include -
- Ensure you have a mobile-friendly responsive website
- Site should be loading fast, within 3 seconds
- Easy-to-navigate site with clear concise URL structure
- On page SEO optimized
- Technical SEO optimized
- Proper internal linking
- Mention NAP in “Contact Us” page
- Add Google Maps in “Contact Us” page
- Businesses with fewer than 5 locations, mention all of them in the footer
An SEO audit can easily help you find out all the technical or on-page SEO errors that might be impeding your website's foundation. These errors should be addressed before you think about creating new SEO content, backlinks, etc.
2. GMB Optimization
The next thing on your local SEO checklist is to create a Google My Business Profile or GMB profile.
A Google Business Profile increases your visibility on Google search and Google Maps, where potential customers can find your business.
Google My Business (GMB) is the backbone that nourishes the search engine results that your target audience seeks. You'll create your own profile that allows you to add information about your business, photos, and display reviews right in the search engine result pages.
One very important point is to choose the most relevant category for your business.
In SEO prospective, choosing a business category should be like choosing your main seed keyword that better describes your business. You should select a category that relates to your business as well as a popular search term.
3. Rich Snippets or Structured Data
In simple terms, Structured Data is a code that is designed for search engines.
Structured data is a code that you add to the backend of your website to provide information that can aid Google and other search engines in deciphering your content and the topic of your page. This is commonly known as Schema Markup or Rich Results.
When dealing with local SEO, you can use a specific type of Schema called “geographic markup”, which tells search engines (and users) more about your business's location.
4. Citation Consistency
Your business NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) must be consistent with each citation. Conflicting information about a business can badly hurt your SEO.
Submitting your business info to high-quality local directories can help you rank higher in search results.
This means that even if you are struggling to get a high ranking for a specific URL on your site, your business may still be visible through search results from other sites.
Most local businesses will seek to be listed on the most popular local business directories, so you should aim to build citations on additional platforms that are relevant to your business.
It's super important to be consistent when submitting your business NAP to any online directories — always enter it the same way.
If search engines come across clashing contact information, it can raise a 'red flag' about the legitimacy of your business.
5. Localized Keywords
It's very important to understand the types of local searches for which you want your business to appear in search results.
By targeting some location-specific keywords as part of your local SEO strategy, you can increase your chances of appearing for those search queries.
For example, if you run a Hotel in Kolkata, you can optimize for keywords like “Best Hotel in Kolkata” or “Supreme Hotel in Kolkata”.
You should also use long-tail keywords, which are longer and more specific phrases that customers use to find businesses like yours.
6. Localized Link Building
Links are among the main things that search engine algorithms determine the relevance of a page. A large number of links to a website indicates that the content is valuable.
Local link building can really help your business's SEO by sensing to search engines that other local websites find your website credible and trustable.
As a part of your Local link building strategy, you can spy your competitors link profile or create locally relevant contents or you build backlinks on local business directories like JustDail, GMB, Yelp etc.
Also, you must or sometimes encourage webmasters to give you a backlink to include your business's location in the backlink. This reinforces your business location to search engines.
7. Social Media Marketing
Social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram allow you to include your business address, which sends signals to search engines that your business location is publicly exposed.
Furthermore, social media sites appear in local search results pages, so by planning profiles across social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you can give your business a better chance of ranking on search results pages when someone looks for your business on Google.
8. Get More Reviews
Especially in Google My Business profile.
According to Google, “High-quality, positive reviews from your customers will improve your business’s visibility and increase the likelihood that a potential customer will visit your location.”
So, it is super important to encourage your customers who are pleased with your product or service to leave a review.
Nobody likes negative reviews, but they are an unavoidable part of life in the digital world. Be wary of some negative or even unreasonable reviews. Respond as politely as possible, listen to feedback, and do everything possible to increase the number of positive reviews.
9. Leverage Local Sites
It's worthwhile to contact local news outlets and request coverage for your business.
Because many other sites link to news sites, even local ones, they tend to have a lot of authority — so a backlink from a local news site can massively improve your ranking in search results.
10. Start Your Blog
Creating high-quality content in the form of a blog can significantly help you in terms of SEO.
A blog allows your business to showcase its expertise and authority by keeping your website updated with fresh, keyword-rich content.
Blogging improves SEO performance by putting your website as a relevant answer to your customers' questions. Blog posts that use proper on-page SEO strategies can increase your chances of ranking in search engines and make your site more alluring to visitors.
Final Thoughts
Local SEO is an essential part of your marketing strategy because it is one of the most effective ways to increase traffic to your website and get in front of local searchers to hot buyer leads.
When it comes to local SEO, you don't have to compete against the entire world. Instead, you simply need to be a consistent and reliable resource in your local area and have a fast loading SEO optimized website.
If you follow the points outlined above in this local SEO checklist, you'll be well on your way to achieve your goals and supercharge your local marketing strategy.
Don't forget to check out our other SEO checklists :
Comments below if you have any other thoughts!
