New customers are essential to your business. Entrepreneurs often start by attracting regional customers. In this article, we turn the tables. What if regional customers start finding your business by themselves? How awesome is that!

Local SEO ensures regional visibility. A website with an optimal local SEO strategy can greatly help you generate customers in your area.

In this article:

Optimise the visibility of your business with Local SEO

Imagine coming home after a long day and notice an unpleasant smell in your house. A nasty smell coming from the sewer. You're expecting guest soon, so the smell has to be eliminated. Panic!

The smelly problem needs to be solved as quickly as possible. Preferably by someone nearby, as that's faster. But who? Chances you'll turn to our common friend Google at this point.

As in the example above (one of our valued customers) local SEO is extremely valuable.

What is Lokal SEO?

SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimalisation’. In other words: optimising the visibility of your website in search engines. This is an important part of generating customers online.

Lokale SEO is SEO focused on a specific region. Local SEO ensures that your website is easier to find locally. With Local SEO, we optimise your website to generate more leads and visitors in your area.

The image above is a good example of Local SEO

Who can benefit from Local SEO?

Local SEO is important for anyone who wants to increase brand awareness in their own region. For example:

• Local service providers such as handyman companies, hairdressers, dry cleaners and car repair shops
• Local stores such as clothing stores, specialty shops and pet shops
• Hospitality businesses such as cafés, restaurants, bakeries and butchers

Start-up entrepreneurs also benefit from Local SEO, as there is often less competition in the area than there is nation-wide. This increases the chances of a high search result locally. This, of course, does not apply to busy cities. However, Local SEO can still provide great value by targeting on the surrounding smaller villages.

Long story short: Local SEO is interesting for anyone who wants to offer services and/or products locally.

The importance of Local SEO

Suppose you are in the market for a new smartphone. When you search for "smartphone", the big players such as MediaMarkt and Amazon will pop-up.

But what if you add your place name? In my case: "smartphone Veghel":

As you can see, local stores are mentioned.

Local SEO gives local businesses the tools they need to be more visible compared to the big players in the market.

Do you use Google on your smartphone? Google will de prioritise regional results. Google can determine your location based on GPS signals and IP address. It then prioritises results in your area.

Try Googling for a restaurant or supermarket in an unfamiliar location...

Factors for Local SEO search results

Search results are determined based on the following criteria.

Relevance

Is the information on your website relevant to the search query?

Location and distance

The shorter the distance between the user and the local search result, the greater the chance that this company will be displayed in the search results.

Online presence

The following will be considered: online listings, reviews and backlinks.

On-Page SEO

Is the page filled with relevant (local) content?

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is an essential part of Local SEO. Read our article about Google Business Profile for more information and tips on how to optimise it.

How do I optimise my website for Local SEO?

Time to roll up those sleeves! We're going to give you some tips on how to optimise Local SEO on your website.

We assume that your Google Business Profile has been optimised. If this is not the case, please do so first. After that, you can get started with the steps below to make your website more visible locally.

1. Local keyword research

SEO starts with keyword research. Put yourself in the shoes of your potential customer. What are they looking for? Make a selection based on this. Then make it local by adding the place name. So search term + place name.

2. Local landing pages

Make a local landing page. A page focused on your service/product + place name, filled with keywords from your keyword research.

If you want to be found in multiple regions, create multiple landing pages for eacht location. Fill every landing page with original en relevant content for the relevant area.

Make sure every local landing page is equipped with a relevant URL. This allows you to immediately inform Google about the focus on your page. For example:

• /giftshop-london/
• /giftshop-paris/
• /giftshop-madrid/

Read this article for tips on optimising your landing page.

3. Relevant content

Nothing beats good content. Good content is informative for both your visitors and Google. Google can determine the subject of your page based on its content. It can also determine whether it is relevant based on the behaviour of your visitors. Create high-quality, relevant content to your target audience and region.

Think about creating the following content:

• Blogs
• News aritcles
• Portfolio

When creating content, always consider the relevant search terms. Include them clearly in the titles, subtitles and meta texts.

4. Optimise your website for Local SEO

This includes:

• Make local landing pages visible. For example, by placing them under a heading such as 'Our area of operation' or 'Branches'.
• Link relevant content to the local pages
• Obtain regional backlinks. Consider relevant industry or businesses associations in your region. You can write a guest blog, or collaborate with a local company. A link to your website is seen as a positive reference, which contributes to the relaibility of your website.

5. Optimise your website for all devices

Ensure a fast and mobile-friendly website. How often do you pick up your smartphone to do a quick Google search? Who doesn't!

6. Keep your Google Business Profile up-to-date

Google Business Profile is and remains an important part of Local SEO. The better you keep it up to date, the more Google sees that you are relevant. Keep updating:

• Ensure that all company data is always up to date
• Collect as many reviews as possible. Important are the number of reviews and the quality (stars) of the review. Als, dont underestimate the negative reviews. Respond to every review. This ensures visible commitment and reliability
• Regularly add new photo's toe
• Link (active) social media accounts to your profile so that Google can see that you are active.

Start with Local SEO today!

We hope this blog has provided you with insights and helped you set up your local SEO strategy with the aim of getting found locally faster!

Do you have any questions or would you prefer to outsource your Local SEO?
Please contact us. I'm happy to help you.