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We continue to explore the important aspects of local SEO. In this lesson, we will look in detail at how to conduct an audit of your company’s local promotion yourself. The audit includes several key steps that will take you no more than 10-15 minutes. At the end of the article, we will provide a checklist with which you can check the local optimization of your business.
Brief outline of the article:
Google uses user location as one of its ranking factors for local queries. The closer your company is to the user, the higher the likelihood that it will appear in the top local search results, even if it is inferior to competitors by other criteria, such as reviews or links.
The search engine can determine the user's location using GPS on mobile devices or by IP address on a computer. In the case of queries like “pizza near me,” the algorithm will show companies that are in close proximity to the user.
Searches with phrases "near me" or similar serve as a cue to search for nearby locations. For example, if a person searches for a cafe with such a query, the search engine will show cafes within the nearest streets or areas.
If the request specifies a specific location, the search engine will focus on that. Even if other companies are nearby, they may not be included in Local Pack if their address does not match the one specified in the request.
Google Ads may also appear in the Local Pack, with such ads labeled as "Ads". They differ in that they show only the company profile, but do not contain advertising text. It is a useful tool for analyzing the competitive environment.
To conduct a competitive analysis, enter various queries related to your business and see how many search results are occupied by advertisements. This will give you an idea of how much competition there is in your niche and which queries may yield better results.
While it's important to focus on optimizing your Google My Business profile, your website also plays a key role in local SEO. Your website and company profile on maps are closely related, and proper website optimization can significantly improve your position in local search results.
Basic recommendations for improving local SEO with your website:
It is very important that the information about your business on the website matches the information in the profile on the cards. This will help the search engine understand that your site and company profiles are related, and will also increase the credibility of your information.
The contact page should be easily accessible on your website and contain up-to-date information, including company name, address and phone numbers. It is also important that the site address is indicated in the profile on the maps.
Reviews are an important factor for ranking in local search results. Your website should have a page for reviews, or at least a link to external resources where customers can leave their reviews. It is also important that reviews on external services are active.
If your business provides service or delivery to multiple territories, it's important to let the search engine know so that it shows you up for queries related to the areas you serve.
To do this:
If your company has several branches, then for each of them you need to create a separate profile in Google My Business. It is important that each profile contains information specific to that branch and a link to the relevant page on the site.
Multidisciplinary companies, where several specialists work, need a special strategy. It is important to promote both the company as a whole and individual specialists. To do this, you need to create separate pages for each specialist and fill out their profile on the cards, avoiding confusion with company branches.
We hope the information was useful. You can download a checklist to independently check the local optimization of your business and ask any questions about local SEO in the comments or by email info@seo.computer.
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