Technology

Guide to Local SEO in 2020

Global brands can afford to focus on the big picture all the time when it comes to marketing efforts. However, small businesses have a different scope — one more steered towards local consumers. That’s why search engine optimization is both particularly important and different when it comes to mom and pop shops with a local focus. If you intend on remaining relevant for local searches in 2020 — we’ve got an extensive guide on where to start!

Google My Business

Quite expectedly, Google remains the reigning king when it comes to the search engine market. This tech giant dominated more than 90% of the entire market, with Bing the closest competitor and a worlds-away distant second. That’s why Google should be the biggest focus for anyone looking to improve their local SEO in 2020. The right SEO experts can help your online visibility and conversion rates solely by optimizing for Google.

But that’s something you know already if you’ve spent a day in your life worrying about SEO — so what’s different for local businesses compared to the big brand names? For local searches, there’s nothing more important than Google My Business.

This has become the pinnacle of local SEO in 2020, particularly for small businesses. Understandably, Google is quite picky about the content it shares as verified on its platform. If you provide it with enough valid information regarding your business, you will be recognized as authentic. And that means one thing — getting room in the sidebar for local keywords.

With that in mind, what do you need to do in order to perform the right GMB optimizations? In order to become a verified business, you need to do more than simply create an account on Google My Business. Once you do that, you need to constantly share content via Google Posts — these posts will appear in valuable high ranking spots for the right keywords. Also, you want to encourage the target audience who become customers to post Google reviews.

Then, you need to respond to these reviews systematically, both good and bad. Over time, Google will reward this positive behavior with better rankings within their algorithm; so the effort certainly pays off.

Internal Linking

Having enough backlinks that lead consumers towards your website from other sites is crucial to lead generation. However, in terms of search engine rankings on Google, you also need to have a proper structure for internal linking.

A sprawling network of internal links is useful for different reasons, and this is why all search engine algorithms value it. For one, having an abundance of internal links in the right places does wonders for easy website navigation; search engines like Google take UX design into account because they want to promote quality sites.

Content Optimization

Having quality content is important, as we’ll go into more detail below. However, it’s also crucial for any new content to be optimized for search engine rankings. For instance — if you create a new page or blog, you are making a new opportunity for local keyword targeting, and a new chance to land a top SERP spot.

Keywords with low competition and high volume need to be found in every piece of your content, including the meta title and description, as well as the body of the text. Of course, local SEO in 2020 requires something more specific than just niche content — you need something that ties into your locale. Try finding local case studies and stories about customer satisfaction.

Location Pages

Customers need to be certain about how and where they can get in touch with your local business — as well as your location. If your business operates across multiple retail spots, make sure your website has location pages with maps that clearly outline where your franchise is located. Provide detailed information, including working hours, addresses, testimonials and promotions.

Make Your Content Local

It’s not all about optimizing for keywords when it comes to local SEO in 2020 — far from it. Google is constantly working on refining their algorithm, giving headaches to plenty of SEO experts worldwide. It’s not always certain what this company plans to do in terms of SEO support, but there’s one thing that’s sure — content is continuously becoming more and more important.

Just a few years ago, SEO content writers were more focused on writing optimized content than quality content. With Google’s focus on user experience, this is understandably frowned upon by their ranking algorithm. Thus, Google continues to shift the focus towards organic content that is important to niche readers.

With that in mind, making your content location-specific will improve your rankings for geographically specific keywords. Forgo generic topics for something more closely tied to your area and your business. While it may seem like generic content attracts more website visitors, the number of conversions into paying customers will be far lower.

Responsive Design

It’s important to note that the previous decade was one that saw the rise of smartphone usage to previously unimaginable levels. To be more specific — today, more than half of all Internet users access the World Wide Web from portable devices. You don’t even need a desktop computer to make online purchases — all of this is done via mobile as well.

With that in mind, responsive website design has become one of the basic building blocks of every quality online experience. In other words, the design of your website shouldn’t change in aesthetic or functionality across different devices. People should be able to use any phone to easily navigate your website. Mobile friendliness is something that search engines value greatly, and reward with higher rankings.

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