According to HubSpot, four in five consumers use a search engine to find local information, which means your business needs to prioritise optimising your website and content for local search in order to rank and standout from the competition.
Location-focused SEO means that your content is optimised for local searches. For example, when someone needs to find a doctor or hairdresser, they want to find these services in their vicinity, not on the other side of town.
You and your business can reap a number of benefits through successful localised SEO content, contributing to higher website traffic, increased customer engagement and sales growth.
It helps bring in more local customers to your physical store
SEO Tribunal show that 78 per cent of location-based searches from mobile devices result in an offline purchase. This highlights the impact local SEO can have in moving a customer from their device, to your store.
To help construct this journey, you can include product reviews and then show your in-store inventory levels. If a customer knows that your product has good reviews, and is in-stock at a local store, they’re more likely to walk through your door, as opposed to your competitors.
Another way to improve your local SEO and customer experience is by utilising Google My Business Listings. This free service allows you to build a Google business listing so your business can be found in Google Maps searches, and adds star ratings – all of which helps build credibility and trust in your company.
It effectively targets mobile users
Reports from Forrester show that by 2021, mobile devices will have an influence of over $1.4 trillion in local sales in the United States. This influence is also being reflected in the Australian market, where targeting mobile consumers is essential.
If someone is searching on their phone for a doctor’s surgery, looking for a coffee or wanting to buy a pair of headphones, they’re usually interested in doing so a location that’s close to them.
To optimise your content for mobile devices, you need to construct an easy-to-read mobile-friendly website. Google employs mobile-first indexing, which prioritises mobile sites over desktop equivalents. With strong mobile-optimised local SEO content, you can effectively target smartphone users.
It increases your likelihood of featuring in voice searches
Prioritising your content’s optimisation for voice search is of growing importance, it’s also where location-specific SEO comes to fore. ComScore has predicted that by 2020, 50 per cent of all searches will be via voice; a platform that answers a customer question with the most local results available.
To optimise your content for these voice devices, you need to focus on longtail keywords and natural language. Voice searches will be asking real questions like “Alexa, where is the nearest barber shop?”, not a Google search like “Barber shop Melbourne”. This means your content needs to have longer, more conversational keywords and phrases.
Redline’s 5 key tips for improving local SEO visibility
Having localised content should be a high priority for businesses wanting to boost their website engagement and generate more sales. To do so, we recommend utilising these five tips to conquer local SEO content:
- Use Google’s My Business to build a business listing for better search rankings
- Optimise your content for mobile devices to target consumers who need to know what’s around them
- Connect your online store to your brick-and-mortar experience with stock information and product reviews
- Use longtail keywords and natural language to take advantage of voice searches
- Utilise a team of digital experts to help you build localised content.
The team at Redline Digital pride themselves on staying ahead of the curve when it comes to best practice SEO content, and how they can apply it to your unique business needs.
If you’re interested in targeting your local market and working with a trusted digital agency, contact our team today.