There is a common misconception that to rank locally in search engine results, all you need to do is add your location to your keywords within your content. However, this is very far from the truth and a great deal of background work and research needs to be undertaken if your business is to rank highly in local searches.

In this blog, I explore the steps you need to take to ensure improved local rankings. And, while each of these steps is possible on your own, it is most time and cost-efficient, and more likely to be productive, if you work with local SEO to achieve your goals. 

The first thing to understand when it comes to local SEO is that it is different to other SEO campaigns and your approach needs to reflect this difference.

Because of this, it is important not only to get it right the first time, but also to stay on top of the changes so that your hard work does not become obsolete. This is where working with local SEO services is invaluable. One of the first steps you need to take to improve your local search results is to claim your ‘Google My Business Page’.

This is relatively easy to do, but it is important to add all the relevant information to your listing. You must include a unique, long, correctly formatted description that includes links. You must also choose the categories that are correct for your business and upload photos; as many as possible. Contact information is crucially important and should include a local phone number and your business address. It is vital that this address is consistent with the one shown on your other platforms and printed materials and the same applies to your opening times where these are relevant.

While you have all this information to hand, a SEO company can focus on using the right information, creating the correct formatting and ensuring that profile images are high-resolution and paint your business in the right positive light. 

All this needs to be achieved before you even begin to look at keywords. The next step is to ensure that the correct contact information is also displayed on every page of your website and that it is displayed in the same format across each page.

This is vital for PPC too, which a PPC agency can assist you with. Once you have dealt with this, you are ready to move onto the next important aspect for improving your local rankings. This step involves local reviews. Any SEO company you approach should understand the importance of customer reviews, but only the best really understand the importance of local reviews and the impact they have on local search engine rankings. These reviews need to go beyond Google and include reviews on pages such as Yelp – which is used by Apple maps.

Other local directories are just as important to your overall local ranking. You can begin by getting in touch with existing customers and asking them to post reviews of their experiences. Don’t forget you can also add instructions on your website on how to leave a review, but remember you cannot ask for good reviews, all reviews must be genuine. This stage can be extremely time-consuming and is certainly best left to your SEO experts. Only once you reach this stage are you ready to start looking at your on-page local SEO features. 

At this stage, you are ready to look at keywords and more specific keywords that include your location. Fitting these naturally into your content is one of the skills that local SEO services should have. If they make your content awkward to read, then they are of limited use in improving your local SEO rankings. This is just one of the reasons why it is important to choose your SEO specialist with care.