2021 is considered the best in terms of digital marketing. This era, which started in 2000, is considered a paradigm shift to marketing strategies. Interestingly, the involvement of digital marketing largely focuses on search engine optimization (aka SEO).

According to research and studies, last year alone 63% of Google’s organic search (US audience) was driven by mobile devices. In 2018, 154.4 million accessed Google Maps on their cell phones. Moreover, 40% of the audience preferred using online means to shop from their phones.

What did we conclude from such reports, studies, and research?
It is understood from different examples that local businesses with the use of a broader range of locations to sell the product or services are the focal point of success.

NEGLECTING LOCAL SEO IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.

To know the importance of local SEO, it is a must to understand tactics and implications as a whole. In this article, you will get to know about – regardless of location, how to ensure the audience will learn about your brand or business?

TWO STEPS TO VALIDATE THE RIGHT APPROACH OF LOCAL SEO

Assuming that you know about two sides of SEO, let’s delve into both and check out the right approach to doing local SEO.

On-Page Local SEO
Never Practice THIS Tactic for Local SEO
It is generally observed that businesses add all the information on a one-page website. Do you think it is a good idea?

Honestly, it may look cool to see all the info in one place. BUT! It is not something good in regard to local SEO.

Here is why…?
There must be different pages for every business location. Each page should be optimized separately. This will give more chances to get optimized in different locations. Considering each location as a different entity, microsites with exactly what is liked and preferred in those locations are the best strategy to focus on.

Tip 1: Optimize Content

What comes in the content? Well, everything that you put for the audience to learn about the business or brand in the textual format. This should include the following areas. Without the mentioned aspects, it shall be very difficult to optimize for multiple locations. Hiring result-oriented Small Business SEO Companies can also help you optimize the content the way google wants.

⦁ Title tags
⦁ Meta descriptions
⦁ Keywords (targeted location and audience)
⦁ Business schema markup (for each page separately)
⦁ Business hours
⦁ Other important information

Besides all these aspects to optimize locally, make sure the business pages are Google discoverable. It is so that the search engine, Google, can crawl through the map.

What is the process like?
The process isn’t complicated. All you are required to do is to submit a “sitemap” to the search engine (Google). For that, you can rely on XML Sitemaps. One of the sitemaps is free to use.

Tip 2: Google Business Listing

If you haven’t made use of “Google My Business”, then it is the second most important tip. Through this Google Business, you will be able to list businesses with locations.

Please follow all that is mentioned below in this regard.

⦁ Location must be verified
⦁ Operational hours
⦁ Complete the profile by adding pictures
⦁ Reviews should be managed and reviewed

Other than that, keeping in mind rules mentioned below are equally important. What will happen if you follow these rules? Simple. You will find it easy to get business listed in different locations.

⦁ Listing of the business should remain the same. As in, if it is located in London then the listing should not become “Car Depot at London”. It should remain the same throughout, i.e., “Car Depot”.
⦁ Categories should represent the entire business. For example, “Beans Bags Store” should be there in all the locations. It is when the business name is “Smart Beans”.

Anyhow, if the businesses are different in each location, then it is not a must to apply these rules.

Tip 3: Use of Google Insights for “My Business”

To augment local SEO on multiple locations, try using My Business Insights. Several additions in the dashboard have helped business and brand owners to get a clear picture of local SEO.

How insights have been useful lately?
Insights reveal keywords that had helped in searching the business in different locations. If you dig deeper, insights also show the following areas.

⦁ Terms and keywords on the basis of which your business was searched
⦁ Customer call to actions that enable the audience to connect – could be an official website, phone calls, or direct requests
⦁ Views of the customers via listing on maps or search

In the previous versions, Google My Business used to reveal only one month’s data. Now, in the latest version, you can get hold of three months’ insights.

Tip 4: Links to Location Pages

For SEO, backlinks are extremely important. However, if and when there are several location-centric landing pages, you have to work on-page ranking separately. How would you do the local SEO for each landing page? Well, link building serves best in this regard. Some of the basic examples are mentioned below for your ease.

⦁ Sponsor: Become One
One of the most workable strategies is to sponsor events locally. Another option in this regard is of participating as much as possible in the charities. It is so that you can start making local links for your website pages. Where you can sponsor an event though? Well, sponsoring an event is possible through college and university events. There are indeed several other ways and events that may get sponsored.

⦁ Meetups: Function as Excellent Source
Not wanting to do anything formal and yet desire to do local SEO organically is quite doable. For that, all you require is to become a host in a meetup. Reason being, it is free (several meeting software are readily available in this regard) and also easy to use.

⦁ Events: Host for Business Prospects
Building links and creating a buzz is also done by hosting an event at the location of the business. It means you can utilize your location where the business exists to create hype. People will talk about it regardless it is relevant for them or not. That will bring in more traffic to the business page. And will help in local SEO in multiple locations.

⦁ Content Marketing: Go an Extra Mile for Business Growth
Content around the business of a particular location in a way that it entices the audience to not just read but share on other platforms works like magic. Hosting a blog on each location entices the audience. Using email marketing, campaigns like paid ads and social media marketing in this scenario disseminates content far and wide. Remember, SEO without good content is not possible. Therefore, you must work on this area to maintain and grow SEO results on local locations.

Tip 5: Target Long Tail Local Keywords 
Long-tail keywords work like charm, especially if you are planning for a local SEO strategy. These are the keywords with less search volume and competition as well. When you target such keywords in your content strategy, you’ll surely see a spike in your rankings. Suppose, if you are running an online kayaking store in Chicago, you can target the following keywords. 
–  Cheap Inflatable kayaks in Chicago
– Best places for kayaking in Chicago
– Best kayak spots in Chicago
– Best paddle boards activities to do in Chicago 

Tip 6: Local SEO With Structured Data

It is tested and tried by many SEO experts that structured data significantly works for local businesses. Mainly because structured data is what search engines like Google understands easily. Have you noticed the result of searching for a local business? It gives a list of services with Google Maps and related options. If you also want Google to show business in the featured area, then making use of structured data is a must.
You also have to get sure about managing reviews. It is simply because reviews play a vital role in doing SEO for multiple locations. It is worthwhile to understand the importance of garnering testimonials and reviews for location-specific SEO.
In case you forget this point, there are high chances of breaking local SEO.

Take Away of Completing Local SEO for Multiple Locations

Five steps and pointers signify the worth of local SEO. You should either do it yourself after reading material on the topic or hire an expert from Digital Aimz, an online 360-degree solution to all online needs.