Want your business to be at the top of local searches? Learn how

Competition for local customers is fiercer than ever. If you have a physical business or provide services in a specific location, optimizing your online presence is key to standing out from the competition. Local SEO is a fundamental strategy for appearing at the top of search results when people are looking for products or services near them. If you don’t know how to do it, don’t worry, here are some effective (and easy to apply) strategies to improve your visibility and attract more potential customers.

1. Optimize your profile on Google Business Profile

The first strategy is one of the most important, if you have a local business, Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is your best friend. It is a Google tool for businesses to manage their online presence, giving them visibility in search and on Google Maps.

To get the most out of your business profile in this tool, follow these recommendations:

• Complete all your business information (name, address, phone and hours). This will help customers have a better first impression of your business, and also clarify doubts such as service hours and contact forms.
• Add attractive photos, visual content is essential to stand out from the competition, luckily your Google Business Profile allows you to upload photos and videos, so update publications frequently, to have a fresher and more striking profile.
• Ask your customers to leave reviews, recommendations from real people can be one of your best strategies, many consumers read reviews before purchasing a product or service, so invite your customers to leave theirs directly on Google Maps. Also, try to respond to them to build trust.
• Add attributes: complete the attributes of your business. These attributes describe specific characteristics of your business, such as if it offers home delivery, if it has Wi-Fi, if it accepts credit cards, among other features.
• Verify your profile: By verifying your account, you ensure that no one else can change your business information without your permission. Thus, data such as your address, hours and phone number will always be correct. In addition, a verified profile looks more legitimate to customers. You can respond to reviews, questions and messages, which helps strengthen your reputation and relationship with customers.

2. Use local SEO keywords

The way Google, and other search engines, deliver results is through keywords. Choosing the right words in your site and publications is an art, but if your goal is to appear locally, you should choose the most specific words possible. Also, considering the use of a .MX domain can reinforce your local identity and improve your positioning in searches from Mexico (Find out more in: “The power of .MX domains: 10 reasons to use them”).

Keywords with location will help people find you more easily. For example, instead of “artisan coffee shop”, try “artisan coffee shop in Mexico City”, you can also use the name of the town where your business is located as a keyword.

Use these keywords in:

• Titles and descriptions of your website.
• Content of your blog.
• Meta tags and URL’s

3. Keep your information always the same (NAP)

It’s time to talk about a basic element in local SEO strategies, we are talking about NAP or Name, Address and Phone. It is the basic information for a user to identify your business and how to contact you, so it is common for it to be present in several places such as your website or social networking profiles.

It is important that this data is accurate and consistent in all the places where you appear – this helps to avoid confusion and search engines reward homogeneity. So, make sure you have the same information on:

• Your website.
• Google Business Profile.
• Social Networking Profiles
• Company WhatsApp
• Local directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages and TripAdvisor.

4. Publish local and relevant content

In digital marketing, content plays an indispensable role. Talking about topics related to your community not only improves your local SEO, but also makes people see you as a reference in the area. Some content ideas are:

• Local news and events: an excellent idea to create content focused on your locality is to cover events such as festivals, fairs or conferences.
• Customer stories and success stories: your customers can be a source of content; you can interview them and describe how your business helped them. Also, you can upload outstanding testimonials in video or article format.
• City guides and recommendations: on your website you can include listings of the best places to eat, shop or visit in your area; reviews of local businesses you can collaborate with; and tips on useful activities or services for the community.
• Interviews with local experts or figures: talks with local business owners about market trends or opinions of frequent customers about what they are looking for in local businesses.
• Promotions and special offers for the community: another way to create content for your locality is to promote exclusive discounts for local customers; sweepstakes or dynamics in social networks with community participation and loyalty programs for customers in the area.
• Collaborate with other local businesses: a good content idea is to make cross mentions in social networks with nearby businesses, or joint promotions or packages with complementary businesses. You can also organize events or activities together.

As a general recommendation, use local keywords and location tags in your publications so that Google and other platforms position them better.

5. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly and fast

More than 60% of local searches are made from cell phones, so your website must have a responsive design, that is, it must load fast and look good on any screen, especially on devices such as cell phones and tablets.

A fast and user-friendly site has a clean and intuitive design, in addition, it is very important that it loads fast, to achieve this be sure to check the following:

• Optimize the loading speed: first measure the loading speed of your site, if you detect that it is too slow you can change the images you use for lighter ones, reduce the number of plugins and widgets.
• Use responsive design: this design has the objective that the content of a site adapts to all devices, allowing a comfortable and practical navigation.
• Add contact buttons: place visible and easy to find links or buttons to contact you via WhatsApp, social networks or chat.

6. Get links from local sites

Links or backlinks are fundamental for SEO because they tell search engines, such as Google, that your site is relevant, trustworthy and valuable. Links to local pages can help a lot to improve your ranking. Some ways to get them are:

• Collaborate with local blogs or news media.
• Sponsor events or associations in your community.
• Appear in local business listings and directories.

Local SEO is a powerful tool for more people to find you and prefer your business. With these strategies, you will improve your visibility and position yourself above the competition. Remember that the key is consistency and continuous optimization, it’s time for your business to shine in your community! Tell us, what is your favorite local SEO strategy?