Local Search Marketing (LSM) should be considered an essential strategy for any business that deals with customers face-to-face, including franchises, retail chains, “mom & pop shops”, financial services brands and service providers.
By strategically employing Local SEO, your business can overshadow competitors and become visible to searchers in its local market, ultimately driving more foot traffic to you and creating a higher return on your marketing spend.
Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is an effective, free way for local proprietors to be discovered online. When customers search for products or services near them, the most relevant businesses are shown first based on data analysis from Google “spiders,” who match available information against search terms to deliver an expertly curated list of results.
Once your Google Business Profile (GBP) has been claimed and verified, the Info and Settings tabs provide easy ways for you to manage key details about it – for instance your business name, hours of operation, phone number and website address can all be edited easily.
GBP dashboard includes an insights panel that displays how prospective customers discover your business, providing essential data that can assist with making informed decisions to increase local visibility.
Google My Business Listings
Google Business Profiles are at the core of local search marketing. As a mini dashboard, they provide you with access to edit your company information, post updates about products or promotions to customers directly, as well as run an ad to promote your business.
An optimized Google Business Profile can help your company appear in the Local 3-pack, an area of search results pages which displays company details like name, address and phone number in an appealing 3-pack display. Your presence in this space depends on several factors including relevance and interest from potential clients.
Google Business Profiles provide search engines with proof that your business is significant and relevant, and reviews play an instrumental role in increasing its prominence – as they demonstrate consumer trust and expertise to search engines.
Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Local SEO (search engine optimization) refers to optimizing a website for local search results, including optimizing content, on-page optimizations and link building with specific focus. This practice is essential for businesses that serve a certain region or city.
Acquisition of online reviews is one of the best ways to increase local search visibility, since positive reviews are an established SEO ranking factor.
Key components of local SEO include making sure your NAP (name, address and phone number) information is consistent across the web – this helps search engines verify your location information. Marketing technology tools allow you to track and monitor local SEO rankings over time so you can assess whether your tactics are working or need improvement.
Local Search Engine Marketing (LSEM)
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a form of online paid advertising which involves purchasing ads to appear in search engines results pages (SERP). SEM differs from SEO in that it only targets certain keywords and often delivers instantaneous results.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is most often employed to promote Google products such as Search, Shopping and Maps; however it can also be utilized on other search engines with systems like Bing Ads. Ads appear on SERP through auctions with advertisers bidding on keywords for display on SERP pages.
Both SEO and SEM require conducting comprehensive keyword research in order to ascertain user intent, organize keywords into ad groups, eliminate budget waste, experiment with ad copy and optimize keywords that bid. We invite you to book a strategy session with us today in order to discover ways your business can generate high ROI growth!
Photo Gallery
Integrating a photo gallery into your website is an effective way of increasing localized content on it and ranking in image search results on Google, which could result in more visitors to your website.
Photos can showcase employees, business location, products and services in your gallery. Be sure to add captions with relevant keywords – don’t duplicate captions as this could be seen as keyword spamming and negatively affect search ranking.
Photo galleries on websites are an effective way to drive leads and sales revenue, stand out from competition and build your online reputation – and even take your business to new heights by employing local SEO techniques.