How to Optimize for Near Me Searches with Local SEO Strategy
Voice-enabled devices such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa have become a common thing in the modern society. In keeping with this trend, mobile searches for local services are also on the rise and the industry expects that by 2021 mobile devices will have a direct influence on $1.4tn of sales in the local environment.
This is to say that people who run online searches for local services are more prevalent today than ever before. So, if you have not yet adopted a near me SEO strategy it is high time that you do so. In this post we will look at some of the reasons that make near me searches for local business so important and why you should adopt the same as well.
How does Near Me Search work?
You may or may not be familiar with the concept of a near me search. They work in the following manner: while entering something in the search engine, people type in a specific business and add near me in title tag.
For example, people looking for dentists in their area will possibly visit Google and search for “dentist near me”. The response will be a list of dentists near the person running the search. Google Trends charts support the fact that there has been a remarkable rise in the “near me” searches for this year.
How to optimize for Near Me Searches?
Here is a look at some of the tips that you can consider while choosing to adopt a local SEO strategy.
- Keep your business address updated on Google map
- Optimize the website for mobile near me searches for local business
- Get customer reviews for boosting local SEO
- Create appropriate content for your business
- Have a generous sprinkling of keywords in your website content
- Use the proper kind of schema markup
- Acquire backlinks that have geographic anchor text
Keep your business address updated on Google map
Update your Google map listings regularly with accurate information that includes your detailed business address, services offered, working hours, and other similar parameters that would typically pop for a search with the near me title tag. Remember to authorize the Google map listing and keep the details consistent across all local business directories.
Optimize the website for mobile near me searches for local business
Approximately, 4 out of 5 consumers have been found to perform local searches on their search engine with 88% of the traffic coming from smartphone users. Thus, it goes without saying that you need to have a mobile-ready website. You need to optimize Google my business page to offer a great user experience across every kind of device. This is the most important step to ensure you get good results on your near me optimization strategy.
Get customer reviews for boosting local SEO
Including Google reviews for local business ranks as one of the best ways in which you can increase your business credibility. Customers are keen to get the best of it when they spend a good deal of money and user reviews play a critical role in coming to this decision. Encourage your existing and satisfied customers to give your business positive reviews for better results on the near me SEO optimization.
Create appropriate content for your business
If you want effective near me search optimization, you need to create relevant local content. Rather than focusing on the broad locations, narrow down your focus to specific locations where you have service.
- Push generic blog content based on your personal experience such as tips and tricks and how-to posts. Every month six such publications will be of great help.
- Take part in local trade shows and local events. You could also try organizing small local workshops with the entire event being published on your website blog. Share it on twitter and use Facebook Live while going on local events
- Create videos that address the needs of the end user. Address them in keeping with the service that you offer
- Form a collaboration with local bloggers and other influencers
Have a generous sprinkling of keywords in your website content
Several articles dealing with the topic of near me searches for local business stress on the importance of including near me in title tag. However, this is largely effective only if your business is directory-based but won’t produce desired results if you have a locally owned business. In the latter case, you need to sprinkle the business name as an important keyword in the content.
Use the proper kind of schema markup
A schema markup serves as a great means by which you can make your business stand out from your competitors while running up local search results. Schema data prompts the search engines to acquire more information related to your specific business while presenting them as rich snippets that are of great help to the users. Add schema markups for every location served by your business. Important points to include in your schema data include the business contact information, hours of operation, and address.
Acquire backlinks that have geographic anchor text
Backlinks are a good option when it comes to improving your Google business rankings. In order to get better ranks on your “near me” business searches, it is critical that you get hold of relevant/high authority backlinks that contain geo-rich anchor text.
Let us take the example of a “near me” search for “Los Angeles” location and the “bakery” category. For such a case, location rich variants of anchor texts such as “fresh cakes LA”, “LA bakery 3rd street”, “bakery in Los Angeles”, “best bakery in Los Angeles”, etc. need to be used.
Conclusion
Business owners who are early movers in the game of website optimization with regards the “near me” searches will be able to overcome competition in the near future. Voice search is another area where optimization needs to be carried out so that business owners can have their businesses recommended by the emerging range of smart devices.
If you are still lagging in the “near me” search optimization strategy, then this is the right time for you to get going. Make use of the strategies detailed here to stay ahead of the game and beat the competition in an intensely competitive and tough business environment.
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