A Guide To Local SEO For Large Enterprises & Franchises

Intro

Local SEO is a form of search engine optimization that takes into consideration a user's location when determining relevance. It's the process of optimizing your website for search engines so that when people search for keywords within your specific geographic area, your website comes up in the top results. The more highly ranked your page is on Google, the more likely people are to click on it and visit your website.

Large enterprises and franchises often think that their traditional or enterprise SEO will succeed locally as well. However, people don’t want to see sites that aren't relevant to them. They want information that's relevant to their geographical area and interests.

If you want your website to be found by local users in your area, you should use these eight local SEO tactics:

1. Include keywords specific to the local area

SEO localization aims to improve your website’s visibility organically, so local keywords should be specific to the area you are targeting. For example, if you are running a dermatology clinic in London, England, then "dermatologist" isn't going to help you because it's too broad. Instead, you should focus on terms like "dermatitis treatment in London" or "London dermatologist reviews."

You can also target keywords by using geographic modifiers like "near me," "nearby," etc. These modifiers will make it easier for people in your area who are searching for services near them (or in neighboring towns). Don’t forget to add your address and phone number to all pages of your website. Make sure you are using keywords like "New York City" or "Washington D.C." instead of "city" or "state". Tagging photos with their geographic location can also help increase local visibility.

2. Optimize your Google Business Profile

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If your business has a physical location, make sure you are using Google’s free business listing tool known as Google Business Profile or Google my Business. This is an important step toward increasing local visibility since Google business profiles are often displayed first when users search for businesses in the same area as yours.

A Google Business Profile listing acts as an online storefront for your company, where you can post photos of your products or services, including information about what makes your business unique, and even add reviews from customers who have used your products or services in the past. Increasing your visibility locally also improves your chances of getting new prospects as well as reeling in existing customers, boosting your SEO lead generation strategy.

3. Build a mobile-friendly website

Mobile-friendly websites are the most important element of your local SEO strategy. Consumers are increasingly turning to their mobile phones to find local businesses, so you should make your website design work for your SEO marketing. That means that your mobile website should load quickly, and all content should be easy to read on smaller screens. Your business needs to be easy to find and easy to contact. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile and that it has all the information customers need about your company, including hours of operation, directions from local landmarks like schools or parks, and an easy way to contact you directly by phone or email address.

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4. Make sure your NAP is consistent

To get the most out of your local SEO efforts, you need to be consistent with your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number). Your business name should be the same everywhere—the website, social media accounts, email signatures, and so on. Your address should also be consistent. This can be a little trickier because some businesses have multiple locations or even multiple websites. You want to make sure that the address listed on each of these venues is correct and up-to-date.

The phone number is also very important in local searches because many people will call before they visit a business in person. Make sure that this number rings straight through to your location so that customers can talk to someone directly when they call instead of being transferred elsewhere first.

5. Translate content to local languages

Although English is widely used, with an increasing percentage of the global population being able to speak it, you should always translate content to reach local clientele. Many people don’t speak English and if they are looking for businesses near them, then they are more likely to research in their local languages. If people come across your website and they don’t understand what you are offering, they will feel like second-class citizens and leave without taking any action. This leads us to our next point which is:

6. Create content in local languages

Visitors who bounced from your website will probably turn to smaller local businesses because these companies are more likely to know their customers' needs better than larger companies located elsewhere. To avoid this, you should create content in the local languages of your target area or even conduct a content refresh to improve your targeting. Localizing is not synonymous with word-by-word translation. Localization takes into account the social, cultural, and political characteristics of a local market to be able to directly address the needs of your target audiences. This means creating new messages and researching new keywords that might be only relevant for a specific area.

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7. Get high-authority backlinks from local websites

If you want to improve your local Google ranking, you need to get high authority backlinks. A high authority backlink is an inbound link from a reputable website. The best way to get these links is by building relationships with local businesses and getting them to link back to your site. This will help you rank higher in local search results, which means more people will see your site when they search for something related to your business.

If the site that links to you has a similar theme or target audience as yours, then it will help increase the relevancy of your website for related search queries by strengthening its semantic relevance through association with another quality site that already ranks well in Google search results for those queries.

8. Utilize video

When it comes to increasing your brand awareness locally, video SEO can help you optimize your rankings. Videos are convenient and interactive, making it easier for people to digest content. As a result, they get shared more frequently than text-based content resulting in higher engagement rates. When performing local searches, people are more likely to click on a search result with a video thumbnail next to it, which is why Google’s algorithms prioritize websites that offer video content.

Creating videos, however, requires a lot more time, effort, and expertise than producing text-based content or images. Moreover, for videos to perform well in local markets, they have to resonate with the local netizens. One way to ensure your videos are spreading the right messages and attracting your target demographic is by employing a video production company that has experience in targeting local markets.

Conclusion

Local SEO is an important part of your digital marketing strategy because it can help you reach customers who are looking for services like yours in their vicinity. The best way to reach local customers is by optimizing your website for the local search engines. Local searches are one of the most important factors when it comes to driving traffic and leads, so make sure you have a solid strategy in place that will help you get found when people search for businesses nearby.