Did you know that around half of all Google searches are for local businesses?

Over the past few years, the number of internet users in India has grown by leaps and bounds. These days, most people do online research to find local businesses that meet their needs. In such a scenario, it has become essential for all companies to promote their businesses among local customers. This is where the local SEO can prove to be very useful.

Before we discuss its importance, let’s have more clarity on what exactly is local SEO.

Local SEO is the use of search engine marketing strategies to make a business more visible to local customers on Google and other search engines. The goal of local SEO is to make a business rank high in the search engine results so that the customers can easily discover it when they conduct an online search.

How is local SEO different from organic SEO?

Organic SEO focuses on the relevancy of your website for certain searches. It does not have much to do with location. Local SEO, on the other hand, has a geographical component. The goal of local SEO is to make a business visible on search engines when the internet users in a specific location conduct online search.

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How to do local SEO?

Here are the four things that can be implemented to get the best results from local SEO: –

Google My Business Page:

When it comes to local SEO, one of the first things a business needs to do is to claim its Google My Business page. To claim a Google My Business page, a business needs to create a profile by filling in contact information, address, opening hours and other details. This will go a long way when it comes to helping your business show up in localized Google searches. Google My Business page should also be linked to the Google+ local page.

NAP:

Search engines need to know where your business is located. NAP stands for name, address and phone number of your business. This information must be accurately and consistently updated on online directories. Any spelling errors and other discrepancies must be strictly avoided as they can have a very negative impact on search engine rankings.

Customer Reviews:

Online reviews are important for every business. Good reviews will prompt the customers to avail your services. Moreover, they are also important from the SEO perspective as they will make your business stand out in the search results. Therefore, it is important for a business to collect positive reviews. The reviews you get on Google My Business page will show up in Google searches. There are many software available that can help you track and manage reviews.

Titles and Meta Descriptions Tags:

Titles and meta descriptions continue to play an important role in SEO. They should be unique, compelling and must contain a primary keyword. If you are targeting local customers, it becomes important to mention the name of the city or locality that you are serving in the title and meta description.

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In today’s competitive business environment, every business wants to get traffic from search engine results. With local SEO efforts, a business can attract more customers that will result in more sales.