There are literally over 200 SEO ranking factors and signals that determine your positioning in search results.
We won’t be diving in to all of them here. But we will be explaining some of the simple ones that people often overlook. You can do most of these yourself without a professional SEO expert
Generating great localized content would definitely drive traffic to your website. However, you should know how to establish your game plan. Remember, Google ranks local searches based on 3 main factors. Relevance, Distance, and Prominence.
Local search results in Google, for example, will give online users the top 3 results based on GMB listings. (Or the so-called Local Pack followed by the organic search results.)
Build your Google My Business profile with complete and relevant information about your business. Make sure your business profile description is direct and brief; your NAP, business hours, and pinned location map are updated; and your website link is functional. Generating active reviews and replies will improve your rankings.
For more on GMB, watch this video from Toronto SEO Expert Roberto Pacinelli.
Establish an active and strong link building. Increase your inbound link authority through relevant sites especially locally relevant domains. Produce more high-quality content in your blogs, articles, guest posts, and etc. to gain more quality backlinks. Link diversity is also accounted for as you gain backlinks from diverse resources.
Create on-page content on your GMB page and the website must have the right keywords and high relevance. Consider your GMB page, your website’s page title, header tags, meta-description, local content, and NAP footer. Account the appropriate content length for each too.
This refers to how frequent your NAP is mentioned in various reviews, social media platforms, and other websites. To rank higher, always monitor citation’s consistency, authority, and local relevance across platforms.
Bright Local mentioned that 82% of local consumers read online reviews. This greatly affects your ranking in the local search. So, to improve, make it a habit to ask your customers to “Write A Review”. Consider reviews as your ticket to becoming the people’s choice!
Monitor how people interact with your website through Google Search Console. This tool will help you observe the click-through-rate, bounce rate, time on page, mobile clicks-to-call, and directions to business clicks. Evaluating how your web page or campaign through behavioral signals will give you some ideas on what to improve or continue in your content and approach.
Aside from “Near Me” searches you need to consider other evolving strategies. The overwhelming number of mobile users demand mobile-apps or mobile-friendly websites. According to Google, 20% of mobile queries are voice searches. Voice-activated search has been growing and is becoming more preferred than text searches in local settings.
With social media sites, it is easy to reach your local community through paid ads. Consider tracking the following:
1. the number of your followers
2. brand mentions
3. shares or retweets
4. the number of customer or partner reviews on your social media sites
5. your business profile
6. NAP information
All of these local ranking factors boil down to FUNCTIONALITY. This includes your landing pages, social media pages, and content throughout.
Do you need professional help in ranking your website in Google? You can get a FREE Consultation today!
