Local SEO: Position your store on Google
Do you have a local business and want your customers to find it on Google? Times change, the routine of consumers is now totally different and their purchase decision is increasingly tied to the Internet. First you search Google, then you buy.
Want your store to be the first one on Google when someone is looking to buy products you offer? With this comprehensive local SEO guide you’ll attract new customers, make your business known, and increase sales. Just keep reading!
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What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the optimization of your website or landing page, so when you perform a local search on a keyword relevant to your business, you appear in the first search results.
We’ve talked about a “local search, ” but what does this term really mean? A Local SEO Services for Houston TX search is a search in which, in addition to the keyword, the name of the specific town, city or location is added.
It therefore contains the following structure: Keyword + Location. And in localization, the user can tune as much as they want. From an Autonomous Community (Universidad Privadas Andalucia), to the name of a street (Restaurantes Gran Vía Madrid).
It is therefore a very powerful optimization tool, because users who perform these searches, are interested not only in a service, but in a service in a specific location.
In addition, users seek more facilities and amenities in a much more frequent way. Closeness is one of the most important, so if we can offer it, why not?
Importance of Local SEO
Business strategies have turned from a global prism, to an increasingly local point of view. At this point, the focus is on a “Glocal” objective, a mixture of “global” and “Local SEO Services for Houston TX” that is summarized in the following sentence: “Think Global, act in Local”.
In a reality like today, where online shopping is becoming more frequent and carried out in a wider range of social groups and age ranges, trade in local products and services is a very important factor that should not be left aside.
Let’s see it more clearly with an example. Imagine Ana and Jorge, a young couple who have just moved to Valencia to the house that Ana’s parents have given them. Great detail, isn’t it? The only problem is that the house is quite old and needs a facelift.
As the couple has savings, they decide to invest in a small reform to adapt the house and, in passing, expand to an extra room. Since they have no knowledge of masonry or know any reformers, they decide to search the internet.
Ana takes her computer and seeks “integral reforms in Valencia”. Since the reform includes several spaces of the house, it seeks “integral reform”.
And why Valencia? Because a Valencian reform company is going to be much more accessible, it will have local collaborating companies and, by logic, they are going to be cheaper than if they hire a company, for example, in Madrid. In addition, you will know much more about the local legislation and the permits you must apply for, saving them hours and hours of management.
Ana, then, reads the main search results and opts for the first option that appears as specialized in Integral Reforms in Valencia. It generates a lot of confidence since it also shows the first among the 3 featured results of Google My Business or Google Maps, with excellent ratings.
For Ana and Jorge the decision is very simple. They contact them, explain the project, receive a quote and decide to undertake the project. They could have consulted some of the other alternatives but because they have a lot of urgency and there has been feeling, they have preferred not to spend more time.
Without a doubt, an excellent opportunity for both parties and that neither could have taken advantage if, on the one hand, the company had not optimized its website with a local orientation and, on the other, if Ana and Jorge were not aware of the possibilities offered by Google and the internet environment. But since both parties are up to date, everyone has won: the first a customer and the customers a guarantee provider in record time.
And yes, this match has been thanks to local SEO.
Now that we have all your attention, do we start to see how to optimize your website? Let’s get to it!
SEO Local On Page
URLs optimized for Local SEO
If we include the name of the city we want to position in the URL, we will be telling Google that we offer a specific product or service in a particular location. Our search result will therefore have greater wealth compared to other competitors.
There are different cases in which we can enter the location in the URL:
Include the location in the domain. For example: www.agenciamarketingvalencia.com
Create a landing page with updated domain. It is true that in order to achieve a powerful brand image, it can be a small brake. One solution for this is to have the corporate page and create a landing for lead acquisition, with a fully optimized domain.
Put the location in the slug. For example: https://agenciaseo.eu/seo-local/
It is important to always keep in mind that the user does not need to enter the location in their search, since Google knows exactly where it is performing it.
However, even though Google also knows where our company is located, everything we can optimize in order to repeat to Google where we offer our products or services, will allow us to get better positioning.
Optimized Metadata for Local SEO
Metadata, even though the passage of time has lost some importance, remains a great positioning tool for SEO. And, by extension, of course, for local SEO.
Its importance is also twofold. On the one hand, we are providing Google with more complete information about where our company operates. On the other hand, we are offering more complete information to the user regarding their search.
It is important to include the structure we have been commenting on in the title and description: Keyword Principal + Location. In the case that we have been seeing, for example, it would be “Integral reforms in Valencia”. However, it must be done in a very natural way that gives it added value.
We should not fall into the error of overoptimizing and filling title and description of keywords without any meaning. Firstly, because Google detects and penalizes this type of practice and, secondly, because the user will not find it natural and therefore will not click on your page.
NAP Optimized for Local SEO
NAPs are a very important part of local SEO, as it is the specific information that geographically locates your business at a specific point.
NAP stands for Name, Adress and Phone. That is, Name, Address and Phone. Basically, if a lead wants to make contact with the company, this will be the basic information you’ll need to do so.
So what does this point mean? Is it simply about having our contact details on the web? No, it’s not just enough.
It means that we must always use a unique structure and maintain it whenever we share the data on our channels and on the different websites of the Internet.
By doing a simple review, we will have our NAPs on our contact page and it may be that in the footer and / or in the top menu. In addition, most businesses will have a Google My Business, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page where they will also include their contact details.
On other pages and profiles that are not your own, you can also put the contact details, as a directory. Some like Yellow Pages, Yelp or QDQ are very common.
And, in each of the websites and profiles, it is important to use the same structure as on our website, so that Google always recognizes it the same. Let’s see it clearer with examples:
If we write “Street”, we will always do it this way. We will not write “C.”, nor “C/”, nor “street”.
Capital letters are also very important. “Calle de la Paz” is not the same as “Calle De La Paz”.
On the Phone, we can put the prefix in different ways, we can put a space between digits, we can group them from 3 to 3, etc. But we must always choose an option and keep it as a unique format.
In AgenciaSEO.eu, this is the format we use:
Schema.org for structured data
Schema.org is an initiative launched a few years ago by Google, Bing and Yahoo!, for the markup of structured data or rich data.
It consists of marking in the html code the data that you are interested in enhancing so that Google, in this case, recognizes them more easily and understands that you want to give it importance.
In this case, we may schema.org mark contact details, such as phone and address, so that Google recognizes them more easily.
Google’s own tools for Local SEO Services for Houston TX SEO
Google My Business
This is one of the most powerful tools for local SEO. In fact, Google developed it specifically for this purpose, to give visibility to local businesses in proximity and provide the user with basic information about the business.
In the Google My Business tab, there is a lot of information and data about the company that we can configure. Keep in mind that the more information we give the user and Google, the more possibilities we have to get a good positioning.
Let’s look at the different sections that we can configure:
Title: in this section, it is very positive to put the name of the company together with the main activity that it performs (keyword included, of course!).
Category: A generic category that best describes business activity.
Address and phone: remember, a lot of eye on the NAPs!
Hours: very important if the business activity is carried out in person in an establishment. Nobody likes to get to a place and find it closed. Update during holiday closings!
Website: Add the URL to your website. Even if the tab is complete, your website will always offer more information for the user and therefore more possibilities to convert.
Attributes: special aspects of your business. For example: handicap-accessible establishment, Wi-Fi, card payment, etc.
Company description: brief description of the company and the activity it carries out. Of course, using keywords.
Photos and video: The most important photos will be those of Profile and Cover, as they will be the first to be seen. Afterwards, you can include photos and videos from the inside, outside, staff and customers and products.
Once everything is set up, it will be very important to start getting real and validated reviews. A good option is to ask customers and partners to leave a review if they have been satisfied with the product or service received.
SEO Local Off Page
Highs in directories
Directories are an important part of local SEO. In many industries, users search them to understand the companies that offer the type of product or service they are looking for.
In addition, the links give an added value because they transmit force to the web. That said, be very careful not to abuse such links and do it in a rational way.
That is, it doesn’t matter to have 4-5 local directory links, but it doesn’t make any sense to publish your listing to a Madrid directory if your business is in Valencia just to get a link. Because, in fact, Google detects this type of practice and penalizes more than a sum, even if you think otherwise.
And, remember: always with the same NAP structure, as you have it on your website.
Links on local pages
In addition to directories, it’s good to get links on pages that offer local services in the same location as you. Always try to make it related and offer added value to the user.
For example, on a local theater website, you could fit an article about a nearby restaurant where you dine or have a drink.
Social Media
Having attractive, up-to-date social media profiles that offer real value to the user is essential to generate community and capture local traffic for your website, with the potential to become a customer.
You have to create your own and interesting content that is relevant to the user and that differs from the competition.
Participating in other similar local profiles commenting and reviewing can also be very interesting, as long as it is constructive and positive. Also in local groups where there is target audience.
Can we help you?
We hope our Local SEO tips will help you achieve your goals. If you want the help of the best professionals, contact our team of experts.
In AgenciaSEO.eu we want to help you achieve your goals. Therefore, whether hiring our services or with the help of our specialized guides on digital marketing, we will make sure that it is.
