Operating During COVID-19: Local SEO Strategy for Local Businesses

by Guna Nadar - 6/16/2020 2771 Views

Local SEO Strategies

Local SEO Strategies to Lead Sales through the COVID-19 Crisis

Whether you are running a small retail shop, a family-owned restaurant, a landscaping business, or some other privately-owned company, you may experience revenue losses in the coming months due to the global pandemic. COVID-19 outbreak has altered our day to day life, and hit local businesses of all shapes and sizes hard. Yes, this is a tough time for local business, but, this is not the time to panic. Instead, focus on running effective local SEO campaigns with SEO strategy that help enhance your local business. In quarantine, people use digital platforms to access their needs and to stay informed. In fact, it’s their only source. Did you know every single second, Google receives more than 70,000 search queries, and mostly half of them are location based searches?(Source). So, at this moment, every service provider should set up crisis recovery local SEO strategy that will allow them to operate amidst the current pandemic, and beyond. The local strategy for local business not only assists your businesses today, but also drives success, helping businesses survive and thrive after COVID-19 leaves in its wake. Based on that, Submitinme has developed and begun implementing a proven local SEO strategy to overcome the impact of COVID-19 on your business.

What is Local SEO & How it Works?

Jill Whalen

“Good SEO work only gets better over time. It’s only search engine tricks that need to keep changing when the ranking algorithms change.” – Jill Whalen.

We are now going through unforeseen circumstances, and the same is happening in the search landscape. The local search results are witnessing many changes because many local businesses are now temporarily closed. So, now it’s the right time to implement the effective local SEO strategy to help your local business drive more traffic of local customers.

What is Local SEO?

It is the process of optimizing your online presence by promoting your products and services using local strategy. To feature the most relevant local results to the user, the search engines like Google rely on signals such as location based content, social profile pages, links, and citations. Any local business that has a physical location or serves a geographic area can benefit from local SEO strategy. And, the SEO expert will make it possible by implementing successful SEO strategy.

So, How It Works?

Local SEO is a must for your local business to get those high-intent qualified lead and conversions. Research says, 97% of search engine users search online to find a local business (source). To make it work for your businesses, the SEO experts will use an array of marketing practices with local strategy, by including your business details and make your rank in search engines.

For example, if you search for a keyword phrase “rural fencing supplies in Perth” on Google, it will provide you a map with your business details. This is called as a map pack. Did you know 80% of location based searches result in conversions?(source) So, to take your business to the next level, investing in local SEO strategy is an essential factor.

Search for a keyword phrase

Why Local SEO Is Important For Your Business?

Local SEO is a SEO strategy that impacts the bottom line of your business. No matter whether your business is small or big, you can benefit from local SEO. The professionals will create a solid local SEO strategy to make you stay front and centre in customers’ minds at all times.

Did you know?

46% of all Google searches are looking for local information
43% of ecommerce traffic comes from Google search
67k searches are performed on Google every second. (source)
75% of people never scroll past the first page of search engines. (source)
4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information. (source)
78% of people who searches for location-based service ends up in an offline purchase.
By 2021, mobile devices will influence more than $1.4 trillion in local sales. (source)
88% of people who search for location based businesses on a mobile device within 24 hours visit the offline store, or make them a call.
97% of people learn more about a location based company online than anywhere else. (source)
29% of people search for location based businesses at least once a week
Every month, internet users visit 1.5 billion locations related to their Google searches.

So, making use of the right local strategy for your local business will take it to the next level.

How Can I Rank In Local SEO?

Foundation of Local SEO Marketing

With effective SEO strategy, you can rank in the first page on Google’s local search engine, attract many searchers, and increase traffic and leads to your official website. In fact, there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google than SEO strategy. Optimizing your local SEO means more website traffic, leads, and conversions. Here is some SEO strategy you can make your SEO success.

1. Optimize for Google My Business

This SEO strategy is the most important tool to make use of when it comes to local search. If you optimize your listings professionally and adequately, the user who checks in this directory, redirected to your official website. Did you know 56% of local retailers have claimed their Google My Business listing? (Source) This tool helps your business meet Google's needs and make Google verifies your business as an authentic one. Also, this strategy makes your business website get listed on the sidebar space in Google search. All you have to do is, create Google My Business page with the details needed, including your name, address, and phone section, and encourage your customers to share reviews online. Utilizing a proper local SEO strategy creates way for the best possible search engine ranking to bring you qualified leads.

2. Optimize Your Listing for Voice Search

SEO strategy to Optimize for Voice Search

Google introduced its voice capabilities for searching. And as a result, the voice search has become an essential tool to search for the things people want in today’s world. Did you know more than 55% of consumers use voice search to find a local business?(source) Also, research says, to discover a location based company over 75% owners of the voice-enabled speaker use voice search each week! (Source) So, this is the most important SEO strategy to implement in 2020.

SEO strategy to Optimize for Voice Search

Use structured data
Claim your Google My Business listing
Get mobile-friendly
Create blog posts answering your customers’ questions

3. Promote Positive Customer Reviews for Your Company

This local strategy brings trust on you, and there is a tremendous upside to building trust in your brand. Recent research says 91% of web users trust businesses with positive reviews. Also, 84% of people agreed that they rely on online reviews as much as friends or family members recommendations. (Source) So, making use of positive online reviews as a strategy can boost your website traffic.

4. Enhance Your Internal Linking Structure

Consider internal link architecture strategy for your content marketing. This local SEO strategy will distribute page authority and ranking power among pages. Also, it supports website navigation.

5. Optimize Website Content, Meta Content, and Focused URL

Optimizing website content, Meta content, and URL is an effective local strategy that every local business should consider. You should need to optimise your website content, Meta descriptions, titles, and URLs with high-volume keywords to get found in the search engine results pages. Also, you should create location-based content with effective keywords for your local business. This local strategy should be must in your ’to do’ list.

6. Have Inbound Link Marketing

Almost half of all Google searches are for location based businesses. To make use of it, you should have to pay concentration the most important local SEO strategy inbound links. Inbound links are the opportunities to boost your business locally. Content is always a king when it comes to online visibility and search engine rankings. Creating relevant content that complements your local strategy for your ideal customers related to your local business will end up with hiring your service, or purchasing a product from you.

Benefits Every Local Business Enjoys with an Effective Local Strategy

Local SEO based link building, and content marketing will improve relevance to your local business.
The proper Google My Business optimization will help to enhance your local business Google Maps visibility.
Optimizing your website based with local strategy will deliver more traffic for relevant search terms.
With rich local visibility, local business will have more foot traffic, customers and in turn more sales.

Final Wrap

The outbreak of the COVID-19 in 2020 has created global upheaval. Remember, this is a temporary crisis. As the economies and local business shift to support people’s health to slow the infection rates, plan your company's future during the pandemic with effective local SEO strategy with our experts. Keep doing the great work and wait until the good times are back.

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SEO News

Tags :

local SEO marketing,Local SEO Strategy

About Guna Nadar

Brief Info about Guna Nadar +

I mostly write technical aspects and not much into creative writing. For the past decade I worked along with top notch SEO & Internet Marketing professionals which naturally lured me into the world of Search Engines. When I am not writing I read from comics to philosophy.Antiques, Fishing, hunting are my passions. Currently I am working on Google Penalty protection and .... more info about the author