4 Ways To Improve Your Local Search Rankings

Local SEO is becoming an increasingly important factor, as 46% of all searches in Google have a “local intent”. According to Google, “Near me” searches have grown at an even faster rate, 150% more than normal, local-based searches. With 74% of all consumers who search for a local product or service going on to visit a store that day, you'll want to get in on the action.

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Here are the major factors Google considers when ranking a business for local search.  Make sure you optimize these, so you can get found by relevant customers easier and faster.

Top Google Local Search Ranking Factors:

• Location the person is searching from
• Number of NAP citations - this is relevant to MAP rankings. NAP citations stand for Name, Address, Phone number, and the more they are mentioned, the more they help Google affirm that you are a local business.  
• Whether or not the brand has a Google My Business listing
• Keywords used in Google My Business profile
• Amount of positive or negative online reviews
• Keywords used in online reviews
• Number of “check-ins” logged at the brand location
• Number of Shares on social media
• Google Maps star rating for the brand

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1. Make sure you monitor your MAP ranking...

Google's MAP pack is a set of 3 local business results with a map of their locations pulled from Google Maps, that's given to users who search for a business near them.

It's also displayed when Google thinks it's relevant, even when users haven't used a local search location, so it is an important factor you need to consider.

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2. Don't forget local organic search results...

Even though the MAP Pack is becoming increasingly more relevant, and the results are displayed above organic search, you don't want to neglect traditional local search.

To score highly in local organic rankings, you need to do proper keyword research using a tool such as Yelp Suggest or Google Suggest, and use the Google Keyword Planner to take a deep dive into data for specific geo-locations. Include your main keyword in your title tag, and your URL, and make sure you've optimized your website SEO with relevant local search keywords. Include quality authoritative back links too, in order to drive maximum traffic to your page.

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3. Most importantly… Set up and take care of your Google my business profile

To do this enter Google my business in Google search and click through to set up your Google my business profile. Add your information, including opening hours, photos, and videos. It’s smart to keep your Google my business listing updated, so try and add news every single week. In this course you’ll find tutorials that will help you understand why you should never underestimate this extremely powerful marketing tool.  If you’re in a hurry, you can follow our fast track guide, but for complete beginners we recommend our 2-hour step by step walk through tutorial. On many of the blueprints shown in this course you’ll see why Google my business is crucial for your brand.

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4. WhatsApp to boost your local business

WhatsApp is a fantastic tool to implement in your local business marketing as it has so many uses. You can use it to reduce call centre costs or do away with the need for actual call staff entirely, by using AI- bots to answer your customers queries and direct them to further help resources.  Because WhatsApp is such a popular application, it’s familiar to a vast number of people, which makes it much easier to set up customer support using this platform.

You can use WhatsApp to push important service announcements and updates to your customers phones, and you can also use it send out notifications on order status, including dispatches and deliveries.  It can be used to set up appointments and to remind customers of upcoming appointments, without the need to use text messaging services. If you’re the owner of a local service-based business you can even take and book orders using the app, then use it to send out helpful reminders.

WhatsApp’s handy labelling function helps you to separate the different types of messaging you send out, while the quick replies feature lets you save and reuse frequently sent messages. This saves you a lot of time when it comes to answering the most common queries.

WhatsApp business profiles allow you to share important information with your customers, like your address, business description, email address, phone number, and website.  You can use automated Messages to set an away response when you can’t answer your customers, allowing you to tell them directly when they can expect a human response.  You can also use the greeting message feature to share your current promotions and introduce customers to your brand.

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Conclusion

When it comes to your promotions, you can use WhatsApp to share videos, audio clips, pdfs, and doc.x files, without any of the size or file limitations email or text messaging typically comes with.  If you have a local business, WhatsApp is a fantastic promotional tool that you should seriously consider incorporating into your digital marketing approach.

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