The Digital Success of Local Stores through Local SEO

Introduction

In this digital era, it’s very common to witness brick-and-mortar stores becoming underdogs in front of online e-commerce giants. But you do not have to fear as you are the local hero who is going to get introduced to the concept of local SEO which can give you weapons to battle with the digital giants. Through this exciting blog, get ready to unleash your digital potential, increase your sales figures, and attract customers from your local proximity with the help of local SEO.

How local search boosts a local store’s business

Wondering about how local search does the magic for your business?

Let me introduce the game to you. Imagine someone is searching on Google for “best pizza near me”. After hitting the search button, several businesses come to a list that are nearby and sell pizza. Now, the one that uses the local search tools, comes up at the top of the list thanks to their glowing online presence.

In this way, local search acts as a digital mapmaker, guiding the potential customers directly to your doorstep. Customers just do not have to wander around the streets aimlessly, they are hungry and ready to spend, coming directly to your store! 

Here’s how local search boosts your glow in the digital space and makes you stand apart from the other brick-and-mortar businesses-

• Boosting visibility: You can easily become the shining star in local searches, making it much easier for potential customers to find you.

• Targeted reach: You don’t have to shout into the void! Local search ensures that you are reaching the potential customers who are looking for you, not just randomly browsing the internet.

• Credibility builder: Positive reviews and feedback in your online presence increase the credibility of your business and help you retain your loyal customers.

• Location: Local search uses the power of proximity by showing you directly to the customers that are in your near proximity ensuring more foot traffic in your brick-and-mortar store.

Therefore, not using local search in 2024 means that you are hiding a precious gem (your precious store) without letting anyone know that it exists grandly! So, don’t miss out on the opportunity to show off your proud and confident existence to the customers looking for the exact products and services that you offer.

Ways to improve your local ranking

You have understood the importance of local SEO, now read along to get some tips for optimizing your website for local SEO while you can also consider hiring a digital marketing partner for local SEO services. 

1. Setting up Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business):

Google My Business Profile has changed its name to Google Business Profile. It provides free service for all businesses to boost their online presence on Google Search and Maps. Google Business Profile should be set up by the local business owner who wants to ramp up online visibility in his locality. The step-by-step process is as follows; 

A. Sign Up or Sign In to Google

• Start by Signing In: Visit the online website – Google Business Profile, then sign in using your Google account. Create a new account if you do not have one.

B. Add or Claim Your Business

• Search for Your Business: Search to find out if your business is already listed. If found, you can claim it. If not, you can proceed to add it as a new listing.

• Add business details: Add primary business details such as business name, address, and category. This will enable proper listing of businesses by Google on search and maps.

C. Verification Process 

• Confirm your business: This will be very helpful to check the real existence of the business and generate confidence among customers because the confirmation code of the business will be sent by Google in a postcard to your business address.

D. Optimize Your Profile

• Update Business Information: Update the hours of operation and contact details of your business.

• Add Photos: Upload quality images. People often search for photos on your Google business profile to get better insights into your company’s products, services, culture, staff, and happy customers. Hence attach real and authentic photos for credibility.

• Responding to online reviews: You should respond to every customer review whether positive or negative. For example, in the positive ones, you should acknowledge the fact that your customers found your products or services valuable, and in the negative reviews you can thank the customer for their feedback and use the feedback to make your services better.  

• Use the Q&A feature: Answer the most asked questions directly on your profile to make sure, your potential customer visiting your profile gets the right information and makes more informed decisions.

E. Regular Updates and Engagement

• Keep Your Profile Updated: Keep updating information posted on your profile, with regard to current operating hours, closed days, and operating hours or special offers on special events.

• Communication with customers: This platform allows you to interact with your customers through reviews and Q&A. The time you spend in online interaction boosts your visibility on Google and hence your brand reputation.

F. Monitor Insights

• Use Google Insights: Google Insights will help you know the way customers are searching for your listing and what are their actions after landing on your profile. These may provide very critical pointers to further optimize your profile and understand the behavior of your customers.

+ Additional Tips

• Creation of a Google Business Profile is just the beginning, the real value comes from active management of your profile to ensure that it is a vibrant, engaging part of your digital marketing strategy.

• Consider integrating your profile with other Google services, like Google Ads, to further increase visibility.

• Be on the lookout for new features and updates to your Google Business Profile. Take charge of your listing to stay at the top of your game.

2. Types of local citation and how to do it 

Businesses without websites also can improve their local discoverability. 

Claim existing listing:

Search for your business name and claim the listing on GMB and local map services like Bing Places and Apple Maps, with updated contact details. Those without a website can just fill out forms with their business details.

Business Directories:

Various industry directories like Yellow Pages, Yelp, and Local Chambers of Commerce websites offer forms of business information. If you have a website, you can add the site URL alongside your business details.

Primary data aggregators:

Foursquare, Data Axle, and Localeze are a few data aggregators that keep your business information as a global record, giving you more exposure on a wider scale.

Leverage social channels:

Facebook and Instagram offer business pages where you can open an account and post your business-related content. Those who don’t have a website can also leverage this option.

3. Optimize your website for local search 

Your local customers can find you only when they find mentions of their locality on your website content. Make sure to include the name of your city and state in your website title tags, meta description, and website body copy. For instance, write “digital marketing company near me” or “digital marketing agency in (city)” digital marketing services. 

4. Use long-tail keywords 

Long-tail keywords contain 3 or more words creating a specific phrase. For example, “digital marketing agency in India” is a long-tail keyword. These keywords signify most targeted leads, the customers actively in search of digital marketing services from Indian companies, are in need of your services. 

5. Encourage positive reviews 

New customers in search of your services come to Google reviews to check what your previous customers have to say about you. 

Google gives you top ranking when you have high star ratings and positive reviews on your online listing. 

Encourage people to give reviews about your services and express their experience after taking your service. If you get a negative review, reply to the person with a positive affirmation that you are sorry for the inconvenience and try to identify and fix the problem.

New customers will feel confident about you when they see you addressing internal problems and taking negative feedback positively.

6. Voice search optimization 

More than 50% of consumers now take the help of voice search to get answers to their queries. Hence optimizing websites for local search is equally important.

When we type a query on Google we tend to write “clothing stores near me”. But when we ask Google verbally, we tend to say “Where can I find a clothing store near me?”.

It becomes crucial to understand people’s search intent to use specific keywords in your content. 

Tools to use for local SEO optimization

Google My Business 

A free but essential tool for any local business because it lets you claim and manage your listing on Google Search and Google Maps.

Google search console

Another free tool of Google that allows you to monitor your website’s performance in Google search results. 

Google Keyword Planner

This free tool helps you in researching keywords that your potential customers are searching for online. 

A few other paid tools are Moz Local, BrightLocal, and Ahrefs empower you to optimize websites for local search rankings, manage citations, track performance, and be competitive in the local market.

Conclusion

I hope now you understand that conquering the digital world does not have to feel like climbing Mount Everest of uncertainties. Harnessing the local SEO properly can turn your brick-and-mortar store into a local search superhero in no time. You can make the digital landscape your cup of tea using local search tools and start dominating the local business environment, one search at a time! Joining hands with local SEO, keep optimizing, growing, and witnessing your business navigating to newer heights of extraordinary success in the digital age.

FAQs

1. What are some best strategies for local SEO suggested by a digital marketing agency in India?

The best strategies for effective local SEO implementation are updating local listings as to your current address, and contact information, collecting positive reviews, adding a location page, creating content that attracts local customers more, and taking the help of local link building.

2. What are the positive factors that influence a digital marketing agency in India to be your best choice for outsourcing services? 

Digital marketing services offered by an Indian company are cost-effective, reliable, and trustworthy. You get access to specialized talents like professionals in the fields of SEO, digital marketing, social media optimization, content marketing, email marketing, etc, and you also get the advantage of flexible work timings and strong work ethics.

3. How does your digital marketing partner help you scale with local SEO tactics? 

A digital marketing company implements local SEO to boost your visibility on Google searches online eventually increasing customers’ footfalls in your physical store. This way you grow your revenue as well as build local credibility online and reach out to targeted customers.