What are the essential points to do a good SEO optimization job locally? Here are a series of essential points to have good results when you decide to get a good position in the SERP.

Optimization SEO Search Engine Optimization. Especially those that have a territorial office and have to position themselves on Google when people need a geolocated result. Both as a snippet of SERP: acronym for Search Engine Results from Pages, literally “search engine results page”. SERPs are web pages served to users when … then as a map.

In the past this was not the case, they reasoned differently. But the difference is given by a substantial point: how people use the web.

The spread of mobile communication, as demonstrated by the research of We Are Social, together with that concerning the 4g network (perhaps 5g) allows you to use the web anywhere and not just from your computer.

People are using mobile more and more.

This step increases the need for a search engine designed to give more and more specific results. And this also means thinking about local SEO optimization. Do you want to deepen this point?

How to position yourself on Google and maps when thinking about the geolocation of the results? Here’s what you need to know.

The Topic Of This Post

  • 1 Understanding of local SEO
  • 2 Do good keyword research
  • 3 Create a Google My Business listing
  • 4 On-page local SEO optimization
  • 5 Don’t forget the voice search
  • 6 Try to get good links
  • 7 Speed ​​and mobile in the foreground
  • 8 A special focus on contacts
  • 9 Your local SEO optimization

Understanding of local SEO

Before starting a good job of local SEO optimization, you need to understand what is the logic that allows Google to show results. In the SERP, we have two fundamental solutions in addition to the simple snippet.

The local pack box with map and other functions that may vary according to the type of query Whenever we look for something on an engine …(for example with restaurants and hotels you can book directly from the SERP) and the section linked to Google My Business that appears when you do a search dedicated to a brand.

All this is based on a Google algorithm designed to give the best geo-localized result to the user based on three fundamental principles. 

Local SEO optimization: an example.

The first is that of proximity, that is, the proximity of the user to a specific activity. This means that Google favors, all other things being equal, the places closest to the source of the query.

Then there is the degree of importance, which in English is presented as the factor of prominence. How useful and structured are we according to Google? Do we have reviews to confirm the value against that query?

Finally, there is the relevance, or the ability of our business to be useful to a specific search expressed by the user. If you search for a Chinese restaurant, the search engine tries to return results that can join.

Do good keyword research

Once you understand the importance of geolocation and the basic functioning of this path when performing local SEO optimization, you need to work on research.

Like any SEO activity, keyword research is essential to understand what and how to optimize. But also what content to create, if you need to have 

The goal is to carry out keyword research capable of expressing the public’s need for geolocated results. That is to say linked to a specific physical reality, in a very specific place.

They can be commercial queries, in which information is sought to decide whether to buy or not. Then there may be transactional ones aimed at buying and other informational queries. But in any case, the search is what makes the difference: you have to find localized searches.

This does not always happen. There may also be cases where the sector lacks such queries. But it all turns out thanks to good research.

Create Google My Business listing

It is impossible to talk about local SEO optimization without mentioning Google My Business, which is the reference point for companies to have a presence in geolocated results. This garrison was born from the merger of different services, takes root from Google Plus, and then breaks down to become:

a free tool that allows you to promote your business profile and website on Google Search and Google Maps

In short, with this free tool, you can allow Google to insert you in the maps and results of the SERP for geo-localized searches. Then, of course, the positioning and the ranking in SEO, Ranking refers to the position in the ranking of search engines such as Google. Get a good ranking for relevant keywords for … depend on the factors already mentioned in the first paragraph:

  • Prominence.
  • Proximity.
  • Relevance).

First, there were Google Places for businesses, Google listings, and Google+ Business pages. Now you can only count on My Business. Which allows you to centralize everything you need for local SEO on maps.

What you need to know is that on the Google My Business listing it is very important to respect a series of basic principles of local SEO. For example, it is essential to complete the profile with all the information:

  • Business name.
  • Address.
  • Photo.
  • Opening time.
  • Weekly closing.
  • Website.
  • Telephone number.
  • Category.

Reviews are decisive for good SEO positioning: Google loves businesses that receive lots of customer reviews with a good rating.

Google also gives you the possibility to publish updates that are positioned at the end of the Google My Business tab that you can always update with images of the interiors, exteriors, and staff.

Never let this entity remain abandoned: always update. And remember that Google My Business is a free service, you don’t need to pay to sign up. But if you want you can contact a web agency to have a local SEO optimization of the service.

Local on-page SEO optimization

In the context of local SEO optimization, this is still a decisive step. If you want to rank well for certain searches you need to make sure that Google understands on the fly that you are dedicated to that topic.

This means taking care of all the typical elements of a good on-page SEO optimization that starts from a clear idea: to give the user the best possible result. Combining copy, visual, and good user experience.

Examples of sites optimized for local searches.

We leave aside all the exaggerations and distortions: there is no need to do an extreme SEO copywriting job, you just need to take care of the classic title and meta description tags, without forgetting URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. Colloquially called a web address, it is a reference to a web resource such as a site, page, or file …SEO friendly and all the elements of the structure of a web page.

The starting point is keyword research even if activity + city, activity + region are the typical combinations of a good on-page local SEO optimization. Which is always based on preliminary analysis.

Don’t forget the voice search

In the work of local SEO optimization, keyword research should also take long tail as a reference to intercept any searches carried out through voice search on Google.

A trend that is growing and can make a difference when your website has a large amount of mobile traffic.

In these cases, it may be useful to create pages dedicated to long-tail keywords, perhaps blog articles that respond to specific requests. Or you can consider creating an FAQ page.

Try to get good links

For the ‘ SEO optimization local it is important to get incoming links. You must always operate according to the rules of good link building.

But you also have another aspect to consider: in some cases, you can point to local directories. That is to say, websites that collect specific information of activities related to yours. Don’t use poor-quality services, always focus on what Google can use to collect useful data.

Speed ​​and mobile in the foreground

It would be an entry to be included in the local SEO optimization dedicated to on-page signals. But it is right to remember one point more clearly: today you cannot ignore a robust revision of the signals that combine speed, layout stability, ease of use, accessibility.

Google emphasizes the importance of mobile-friendly sites, today it returns to the topic and gives value to other aspects that form a single framework.

That is to say, the optimization of web pages that find a maximum expression in the mobile. It is no coincidence that more and more work is being done on Core Web Vitals, signals that go beyond the idea of ​​having a fast web page.

And that instead also focuses on the need to speed up the response after user action and improve the stability of text, video, and images.

All this without forgetting that from the end of March 2021 the Mobile-First Index comes into play: Google will only use the version of the website intended for smartphones as a reference.

An eye for contacts

One of those activities that often go unnoticed but that can give you a real hand for the local SEO optimization work: contacts. Make sure that the page you intended for this job has a Google map embedded and that the NAPs are there. That means

  • Name.
  • Address.
  • Phone.

These elements should also be present in the footer and consistent with those expressed on the Google My Business page. Not forgetting that you 

Your local SEO optimization

You can understand that having a good local SEO optimization business is not a secondary goal. You must carefully evaluate this step because it is thanks to the management of the web marketing strategy that you can achieve good results. And local SEO has an edge.

That is to say the ability to overcome the big players in the sector that position themselves on generic queries to focus on specific sectors. And get concrete results, really useful for your business.

The beauty of local SEO optimization is just that: it allows you to put aside the vainglory of traffic as an end in itself to focus on a key step: conversions and monetization. Do you agree?