A Local SEO Guide for Small Businesses

Visibility in local search results is incredibly important for small businesses. It can be the difference between a quiet week and a fully booked or busy schedule all around. Whether you run a coffee shop, a florist, a dental practice or even a plumbing company, local SEO (search engine optimisation) is imperative when it comes to helping nearby customers to discover your business when they search online. This local SEO guide for small businesses will explain a number of things, including why it matters, what it is and how small businesses can improve rankings in local search results, all without needing a massive marketing budget. So, let’s dive right in, shall we?

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is all about improving your level of online presence. This is what enables your business to be seen online in a local vicinity. Essentially, it helps your business to appear in local-based searches. This is important because search engines, such as Google, prioritise businesses that are trustworthy, relevant and geographically close to the user. This is what makes sure that your business is appearing in things like: Google Search results, Google Maps, local map packs, voice search results, mobile searches and more. Some examples of local-based searches include:

• “Coffee shops near me”
• “Best electrician in Derby”
• “Emergency plumber open now”
• “Hair salon in Nottingham”

Why does local SEO matter?

Many consumers will search online before visiting a business or a company in person, or even before making a purchase or commitment to a service offered. This is where local SEO comes in. It helps small businesses to compete with larger brands by targeting nearby customers who are already willing to take action, either by way of an enquiry or a purchase. Unlike traditional advertising, local SEO targets users with strong purchase intent. The benefits, for instance, include the following things:

• More website traffic
• Increased phone calls
• More foot traffic
• Better online visibility
• Higher trust through reviews
• Improved conversion rates

How to execute local SEO for small businesses

There are many ways in which local SEO can be executed by small businesses, from creating and optimising a Google Business Profile to keeping your business information consistent, and everything in between. Here are a few ways in which a small business can execute local SEO: 

Create & optimise a Google Business Profile

It might not seem like a big thing, but your Google Business Profile is one of the most important and valuable SEO tools available to small businesses. When it comes to developing your Google Business Profile, there are several things that you have to do and polish up first. 

This includes completing every section, keeping all information accurate and consistent, choosing the right categories, using up-to-date photos and using Google posts to share promotions, events, news and seasonal offers. You want to make sure that your Google Business Profile includes the following things, for good measure:

• Business name
• Address
• Phone number
• Website
• Business hours
• Services
• Products
• Photos
• Business description

Keep your business information consistent

Your business details should match everywhere online, this includes details like websites, social media profiles, local directories and review platforms. This level of consistency, when it comes to local SEO for small businesses, is referred to as NAP (name, address and phone number). If the information is inconsistent, then it may end up confusing both the search engine and your customers. It also reduces trust, which is something you definitely do not want as a small or start-up business.

Optimise your website for local keywords

When it comes to a website for small businesses that benefit by way of local SEO, it should clearly communicate what you offer, where you operate and use local keywords for good measure. 

Those local keywords should be incorporated naturally into website aspects like page titles, headings, URLs, meta descriptions, body content and within local website pages as a whole. This will only help to push your local SEO forward.

If you serve several different locations, then create different website pages for each location you’re proud to serve. Every page should contain unique content as opposed to copy-and-pasted text with differing keywords.

Improve the mobile experience

Most local searches will occur on mobile devices. With this in mind, your website should load quickly, be mobile-friendly, have clickable phone numbers, display clear contact information and be easy to navigate. A slow or difficult mobile experience can increase bounce rates and reduce conversions.

Collect customer reviews

Online reviews about small business especially can strongly influence local rankings and customer trust. With this in mind, you should look to encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on things like Google Maps and Google Business Profiles, Facebook and industry-specific platforms. Just remember that there are some best practices when it comes to reviews. They include things like:

• Asking politely after a successful transaction
• Making the process simple
• Responding to all reviews professionally
• Thanking customers for positive feedback
• Addressing negative reviews calmly, if there are any

Build local citations

Local citations are mentions of your business across the web. Examples of this include things like business directories, chamber of commerce websites, industry directories and even local blogs. There are some popular directories that people will use in this case, including: Yelp, Bing Places and Apple Maps. The more credible and consistent your citations are, the more authority your business can build in the long-term, which is great for local SEO. Either way, it’s a win-win for your small business.

Create local content

Content marketing is, and always has been, supportive of local SEO for small businesses. Such ideas include: local event coverage, area guides, community involvement stories, customer case studies and seasonal local tips. Local content can attract nearby audiences and improve search relevance, both of which are important when it comes to local SEO for small businesses.

Earn local backlinks

Backlinks are links coming from other websites that point to yours. The same principle still applies to local SEO and local backlinks. These specific types of backlinks come from things like: local news sites, bloggers, community organisations, sponsorships, partnerships and local events. Something you’ll find when executing local SEO is that quality matters more than quantity. A few trusted local links are often more valuable than dozens of low-quality ones. Just keep that in mind.

Use Schema Markup

Schema Markup helps search engines to better understand your business and the information associated with it. Local business schema can include informational snippets like Business type, address, opening hours, reviews and contact details. Schema can improve visibility in search results and enhance rich snippets. Google’s structured data documentation is available through Google Search Central, for the reference of small businesses wanting to improve their local SEO.

Track your local SEO performance

Tracking your local SEO performance involves using tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google Business Profile Insights. You can use these tools to measure key metrics like: website traffic, keyword rankings, phone calls, direction requests, click-through rates and conversion rates. Tracking such things will help you to identify what’s working and where improvements are needed.

Employ a digital marketing agency in Nottingham

One thing you need to do, if you’re in any doubt about how to execute local SEO effectively, giving you more time to focus on your business, is to employ a professional to do it all for you. Here at Kumo, we have a team of SEO specialists on hand to develop a local SEO campaign and execute it seamlessly and with unrivalled results. If you want local SEO to pull off for your small business, then leave it in the hands of us our professional marketing team here at Kumo. 

Common local SEO mistakes to avoid

Believe it or not, local SEO can come with some complications, even if you’ve followed our guide to the letter. Local SEO is an ongoing process and not a one-time setup. Avoid these problems if you want to make sure that your local SEO campaign goes off without a hitch for your small business:

• Displaying inconsistent business information
• Ignoring reviews
• Keyword stuffing
• Duplicating the main body of content on all of your location pages
• Allowing slow mobile websites
• Missing contact information
• Neglecting Google Business Profile updates

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Kumo is a results-driven digital marketing agency dedicated to helping businesses grow online. Our team of SEO professionals, PPC specialists, content creators, and expert web designers works collaboratively to boost your brand visibility and give you a competitive edge. To find out more about our marketing services, contact our friendly and experienced team today – we’re always here to help.