Your mission: Get found on the web
Michael Angiletta
Whether you’re a surgeon, an auto mechanic or a food truck operator, people are looking for your business on the internet. While word of mouth is a great source of new business, it’s not enough in an increasingly competitive North Idaho market. Simply put, if your business is not optimized for local online search, you are missing out on a significant number of potential customers.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to rank high in local search results, making it easier for potential customers to find you. In this article, I’ll discuss the critical importance of local search optimization and provide some tips on how to implement it effectively.
How important is getting ranked in local online search?
The numbers speak for themselves:
• 50% of mobile visitors who conducted a local search visited a store within a day
• 46% of web searches have local intent (they are looking for something nearby)
• 78% of local searches prompt an offline purchase
The verdict is clear. It is mission critical to get your business ranked in your local market.
Here are four things you can do right now to boost your visibility and reputation online.
No. 1) Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Listing
Google Business Profile is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including search and maps. By claiming and optimizing your Google business listing, you will radically improve your chances of appearing in local search results and attracting more customers to your business.
To claim your Google business listing, go to www.google.com/business/ and follow the prompts to verify your business. Once your listing is verified, you can add photos, update your business hours and respond to customer reviews. You will want to 100% complete your profile and keep it up to date as Google will reward you for this.
No. 2) Optimize Your Website for Local Search
In addition to claiming and optimizing your Google business listing, you’ll also want to optimize your website for local search. This includes adding your business’s name, address and phone number (NAP) to your website, as well as including local keywords in your website content.
You’ll also want to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly since most people use their smartphones to search for businesses on the go. Mobile-friendliness is a ranking factor for local search, so it’s important to make sure that your website is optimized for mobile devices.
No. 3) Build Local Citations
A citation is a mention or link to your business’s website, name, address, and phone number on another website. Building local citations helps improve your local search rankings online. Some common places to build local citations include local directories, industry-specific directories and social media profiles.
Use this hack to quickly find out where you should get cited: Pretend you are a potential customer searching for your services on Google. What results do you see? Do you see a directory website? Or perhaps a media article? If they are highly ranked, you will want to find a way to piggyback off of them.
Make sure, wherever you get mentioned or listed to use the same NAP information across all listings. Inconsistent information can confuse search engines and hurt your local search rankings.
No. 4) Get Customer Reviews
It’s one thing for customers to find you but what will they think of you when they do? Customer reviews also have a significant impact on your local search rankings.
To encourage customer reviews, you can ask your customers to leave a review on your Google business listing or other review sites such as Yelp. You also should constructively respond to reviews, both positive and negative — especially the negative — to show that you value your customers’ feedback.
Mission Accomplished
In conclusion, local search optimization is a crucial aspect of digital marketing for businesses that rely on local customers. By claiming and optimizing your Google business listing, optimizing your website for local search, building local citations and encouraging customer reviews, you are guaranteed to improve your local search rankings and attract more customers to your business.
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Michael Angiletta is a Business Coach at North Idaho College's Small Business Development Center. The NISBDC offers resources and training, no-cost business coaching, and serves the five northern counties of Idaho. Its mission is to accelerate business in the community through business resources, training, and no-cost, one-on-one coaching in leadership development, strategic planning, financial management, and more. Reach us at 208-665-5085 or nisbdc@nic.edu.
