The Importance of Local SEO for Brick-and-Mortar Businesses

Local SEO is an essential marketing tactic for brick-and-mortar businesses. It can help them optimize their online visibility, tap into a new shopping boom, and increase the number of customers in their stores.

It is a practice that combines website content optimization with location-based factors like Google My Business, citations, and review signals.

1. Google My Business

Local SEO is a subset of search engine optimization that focuses on results relevant to a user based on their current location. It is an essential tool for brick-and-mortar businesses as it helps to bring in qualified customers. This is because local searches tend to focus on buying products and services that are available in the local area. In addition, it can also help to improve a business’s website ranking.

The most important thing for any local business to do is set up and optimize their Google Business Profile. This is because it will allow them to show up in Google Maps and the Local 3-pack, which are both prime real estate that can drive a lot of traffic to a business’s website.

A Business Profile is free to set up and allows a business to manage their online presence with ease. It can be easily accessed on any device and has many features, including the ability to respond to reviews, create posts and view insights. It can also be used to share photos, videos and events with the public.

It is important for a brick-and-mortar business to have their Google Business Profile set up properly as it can help them to rank higher in the Local Pack, which is made up of local search results that are displayed above organic listings. This pack is shown whenever Google believes a search has a local intent, such as “best vegan burger corte madera”, “onion rings downtown” or “where can I buy flowers in corte madera”.

Although there are several different strategies to get listed in the Local 3-pack, the best way to do this is by setting up and optimizing their GMB profile. This is because Google will prioritize listings on GMB that have been verified by a human, which makes them more trustworthy and credible.

2. On-page optimization

Local SEO involves optimizing a website’s content and structure to help search engines recognize it as a local business. This includes using keywords in the title tags, headers, meta description, and content itself. It also requires optimizing images and videos for search engine visibility. This makes it easier for customers to find your business online, and it increases the chances of those searches converting into in-store sales.

Local search signals are changing constantly, so it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest developments. In addition, it’s vital to know what factors matter most for your specific business type and location. This will help you focus your efforts on the most important areas for improving your local SEO.

The most important local search ranking signals include relevance, prominence, and proximity. Relevance refers to how well a local Business Profile matches a user’s search query. Prominence is determined by how well-known Google considers a business to be. And proximity is determined by how close a business is to the searcher’s physical address.

While local SEO does not guarantee higher rankings on Google, it can improve your likelihood of appearing in the ‘Map Pack’ results and organic ‘blue link’ results. Moreover, local SEO can help you target more relevant traffic than paid advertising, so it’s a cost-effective way to grow your business.

A comprehensive local SEO strategy will help your brick-and-mortar business reach new customers, increase in-store sales, and improve overall profitability. To get started, make sure that your business is listed in Google My Business and that all information on your site is consistent with your local listing information. Then, use a tool like Position Tracking to monitor your local keyword rankings on a ZIP code level and in the Local Pack.

3. Yext

For businesses that want to take their local SEO efforts up a notch from GMB, or for those with multiple locations that have no time or desire to individually verify their NAP citations across the web, Yext is an excellent option. Yext is a directory aggregator that allows you to manage your business listings on 47 different directories. This helps search engines understand the consistency of your NAP (name, address, phone number) across the web and will ultimately help you rank better for local search terms.

Yext also offers a service called PowerListings, which will automatically push your information out to around 80 websites and directories across the internet. This includes the typical NAP citations, but also things like images, logos, hours of operation, categories, and more. This will all be done one-time and pushed out to these directories for free.

Unfortunately, for most small businesses, this will not be enough. The other issue is that Yext only sends your information to one actual data aggregator, Factual, and does not submit to other reputable sources of NAP citations like Acxiom and Localeze. The other directories that Yext pushes your information to are GPS providers and offer very little, if any, SEO value.

In the end, if you have multiple locations and do not mind dropping half a thousand dollars on Yext PowerListings per year for your entire company, then this is an excellent service that will make your NAP consistency much better than it would be on your own. For most businesses, however, this is just ludicrously overpriced and there are other hands-off local SEO services that will work (without holding your listing hostage) for a lot less than what you would spend on Yext for the lifetime of your business.

4. Local keywords

Shopping online is more popular than ever, but brick-and-mortar stores still have an important role to play. By targeting local keywords, retailers can attract customers who are most likely to visit their store.

A well-planned local SEO strategy will maximize the number of customers that find a business website, which ultimately leads to more in-store traffic and sales. Many traditional search engine optimization strategies, such as acquiring high-quality backlinks, can also be used to improve local SEO performance.

The key to local SEO is ensuring that a business’s digital footprint aligns with Google’s local search algorithm. This includes claiming and verifying a business on Google My Business, creating citations in local directories, and optimizing website content for relevant local keywords. Google also offers a free tool called Google Search Console that can help businesses monitor their search visibility and performance.

To identify the most relevant keywords, use a tool such as Google Keyword Planner to analyze search volume and competition. Then, select the keywords that have a high search volume and are most relevant to your business. Finally, make sure your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) is consistent across all listings, including directories.

Local SEO also involves establishing a positive online reputation by actively monitoring and responding to customer feedback. Proactively managing reviews can increase a business’s visibility and help entice more customers to shop in-store. It is also a good idea to have a variety of reviews across different platforms, as this can signal to search engines that a business meets a wide range of customer needs. By implementing these local SEO tactics, a business can boost its visibility and stand out from the competition.

5. Citation building

A vital component of local SEO, citation building involves online mentions of your company’s name, address (ideally including zip code), and phone number. These citations can be found on business directories, review websites, social media platforms, and other relevant online listings. Getting these citations right is an essential part of maximizing your local search visibility and securing a place in the Google snack pack results. Whitespark is a leader in this realm, offering local listing management, recommending where to list, examining your competition, and robustly boosting and monitoring your citation growth.

Keyword research is also a critical component of local SEO, and optimizing your website content for these keywords will improve your chances of landing on the search engine results page (SERP). This includes incorporating relevant keywords in title tags, headers, and body text. It’s also important to optimize your web pages for mobile users, as a large portion of local searches are performed on mobile devices.

Reviews are another key aspect of local SEO, and it’s important to have a strategy in place to encourage customer reviews as well as monitor and manage negative ones. A diverse range of reviews across multiple platforms signals to search engines that your business is popular with a broad spectrum of customers.

Local search is a powerful marketing tool for brick-and-mortar businesses, and local SEO is a great way to help your company stand out from its competitors. By implementing the tips and tools above, you can boost your company’s visibility in local search results and get more customers through your door. To learn more about the importance of local SEO for your brick-and-mortar business, contact our team today.