Many businesses in this day and age are embracing digitization, thanks to ever-changing consumer needs. For instance, many consumers today prefer online shopping rather than going to the store physically.
This change in behavior has skyrocketed the growth of e-commerce businesses.
However, meeting these needs isn’t the only way to be successful in this digital world. As a business, the first thing you’re expected to do is to attract prospective customers to your online store.
You can do so by hiring a digital marketing professional like Digital Marketing Service Pro who will take upon themselves to grow your online visibility.
If your business is still heavily reliant on regional operations, then you should focus on increasing your local search traffic. This way, you’ll grow your brand and attract as many local customers as possible.
Do you want to learn about improving your local search traffic? Keep reading this article for more information.
Optimize Your Google Listing
What is a Google listing? This is a list of information that appears when customers make a quick Google search.
Also known as a Google Business Profile, a Google listing is more of a hub that allows internet users to find all the necessary contact info about your business in one place.
This platform is open for visitors to leave their reviews once they’ve visited your store physically or have enjoyed your services. They can also ask questions, give answers where possible, or share photos of your business.
When creating your business profile on Google, you’ll be asked to provide your business information. This includes the location, contact information, and your hours of operation.
You need to provide the right information for you to benefit from this online presence, especially when your profile appears among relevant search results.
To increase your local search traffic, you’ll also need to use the right keywords in your profile. This will enhance your chances of appearing in the top page of the search results.
Publishing offers directly to Google Maps and Search will also help you enjoy the same fate. Such posts encourage customer engagement, which is the best way to generate online traffic.
Create Location-Specific Pages
Potential customers are more attracted to location-specific businesses than general listings. Therefore, to capture the attention of potential local clients, you must add pages on your website for every city you serve.
For instance, if you’re a plumbing company, you can create specific pages where clients from given cities can read about your work, see your samples, and book the services.
Be sure to mention the city names, neighborhoods, districts, and counties to strengthen your keyword relevance. This will increase the chances of finding your website among the top results in every related local search. (2)
Optimize URLs
This might not be the first thing you think about when it comes to driving local traffic. However, it’s one of the most crucial factors considered by search engines to rank your website. As you create location-specific pages, make sure you optimize the URLs as well.
So how will you go about it? For one, be sure to add keywords, which in this case are the location names, in the URLs. You should also include a descriptive phrase in the URL to tell the internet user what they should expect.
Optimize the Website Speed
Still on optimization, your website’s speed is another factor you should consider. Whether local, national, or global, every SEO strategy will always be affected by how fast your web pages load.
You can do everything right, but with a slow, unresponsive website, you’ll lose many customers.
First, make sure the web design is compatible with mobile devices because this is what most internet users use these days.
You can employ an experienced web designer to check for any issues with your web pages, server, or internet service provider (ISP) and recommend the best solution based on the results. (1)
Take Advantage of Social Media
How can you use social media to generate or improve your local search traffic? First, you need to be consistent with your posts.
Make sure you regularly interact with your followers on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform. Although this will not directly increase your SEO ranking, it’ll boost engagement, which is a crucial factor in improving local search traffic.
Be sure to tag your website or business profile in your posts to further increase your chances of success.
Conclusion
Increasing your local search traffic is one step toward online and offline business success. To achieve this fate, you can start by creating and optimizing your Google listing.
On your website, you can also create location-based pages and optimize their URLs. Leveraging social media tools is another great way to build your online presence and generate local traffic.
References
- “17 Strategies To Optimizing Your Website Speed”, Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/website/how-to-optimize-website-speed
- “How To Get On The First Page Of Google”, Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Get-On-the-First-Page-of-Google