Higher search-engine rankings start with AIS Media.

Local SEO services can work wonders for a local business that depends on foot traffic and customers who live nearby. Proximity to a business is one of the largest factors in Google’s algorithm for determining which pages and results to serve up. Having your site optimized for relevant keywords is the difference between potential customers nearby coming to you with their business, and being totally invisible on search engines. 89% of people searching on Google click on results on the first page, preferring results in the top 3 positions. In other words, if you’re not in the top 10 positions, most people won’t even see your page.

Unlike SEO focused on a national scale, local SEO tries to reach customers who are near you and can physically come to your business. It’s less focused on eCommerce and online sales, but it’s great for restaurants, shops, and trade services. If you work with customers close by, then local SEO is the right approach.

Local SEO Services Content

It’s very difficult to rank highly in organic search without having great content on your pages. Google gets more discerning every year as to what exactly constitutes good content, and what you can get away with. What you’re ultimately trying to do is to demonstrate to the Google crawlers that your page is relevant to the search term.

To do that, we recommend writing long, in-depth content that provides a lot of useful information to your potential customers. The more detailed you can be, the better. Content should be focused around a keyword that has high search intent, and high search volume. If there’s a keyword with 1000 searches a month in your local area, then you should optimize for that term versus one that only has 100 searches. Simple math: it puts your page in front of more people. A high intent search term is something people type into Google when they’re ready to buy, as opposed to just looking for information. Someone searching for “emergency plumbing services” in your local area has a higher intent than someone just searching for “plumbing.”

Google looks for certain elements on a page to determine what it’s about, including the title tag, the H1 header, meta description, and what keywords are used in the copy itself.

Local Ranking Factors

Google has a list of priorities when determining what page to show in response to a search.  Improving on these ranking factors can move your site up the organic rankings:

• Link Signals – how many related sites link to yours, and the quality of those links.
• On-Page Signals – consistency in your business’ name, address, and phone number, as well as keyword implementation and domain authority.
• Behavioral signals – do users regularly spend more time on your site? Does your page get a lot of clicks? The more people interact with your site, the more Google can tell people have a good experience there.
• Personalization – people don’t see exactly the same search results. The specific results are dependent on location, and personal history. Google tries to serve pages it thinks people will like.
• Business signals -your business’ proximity to the person searching, as well as your business category make a big difference.
• Review signals – the number of reviews you have, your overall review rating, as well as how often you get reviews can give you a boost.
• Social signals – social media can play a role in giving your page a ranking boost as well.

Maps Positions

Google “near me” searches have doubled since 2016 (Source: Entrepreneur.com). In order to serve users with their nearest local solution, Google offers businesses a position marked on the map. Ranking in Google’s Maps positions, or the local 3-pack as it’s often called, is a little different than a normal organic ranking. These positions are often very competitive, as there are only 3 of them that are visible without clicking the map to see the full list of possibilities. They’re awarded to businesses that meet the criteria, and are often those that are highly relevant and close to the person searching. Several factors go into determining maps positions:

• Your address being in the city of the search – maps show results that are close to the person searching. If your business isn’t nearby, there’s less of a possibility that it’ll show.
• Consistency of your listings – this refers to how your business name, phone number, address, category, etc. are listed online. You should be as consistent as possible, and update all your listings if your business name (or anything else) changes. The most important to pay attention to is your Google My Business listing. Google prioritizes its own listings first.
• Your Google category – this is related to your Google My Business page. Make sure that your category is the most appropriate for your business.
• Domain authority – the most authoritative your site, the higher Google will prioritize your business.

Optimize Your Site For Your Local Customers with Local SEO Services

When done properly, local SEO can pull in a lot of customers from nearby: whether they’re searching from home for a product, or actively walking around the city looking for a store or a place to eat. Good rankings are competitive, and it’s hard to get there on your own if you don’t have the expertise. Fortunately, our team at AIS Media has the expertise to get you where you want to go.