Do you wish to move your business in 2023 and rank high in the local search engines? Then this is the right place for you. Over 86% of consumers search the internet for a local business. About a third of this number search for local businesses for products and services at least once a week. These numbers show significant growth in online local business searches, but why should you care?
It’s because about 28% of the time, these local searches usually lead to a purchase. People are always looking for products and services local to them. Therefore, local SEO can help optimise your website, ranking it higher in SERPs when local consumers search for those products and services. So, which tips can you use to optimise your website for local SEO?.
Understanding SEO and Local SEO In Australia
Search Engine Optimisation is a set of strategies and techniques to help improve your organic ranking on search engines. When consumers search for services and products on any search engine, an SEO will drive them to your website. With more consumers turning online to look for the products and services they need, an optimised SEO in Australia will help you remain competitive. On the other hand, local SEO also optimises your website to attract more customers, except it aims at attracting customers from local searches.
When consumers search for products and services, the search engines look for signals like links, local content, and social media pages to get the information for the local search results. Google accounts for 94.7% market share of search engine searches in Australia. This means most people in Australia are using Google for their local searches. Therefore, local SEO focuses on specific geographical locations.
Local SEO Actionable Tips
Now that you can tell the difference between SEO and local SEO and why they are crucial for your business, it’s time to get busy and optimise your website for local SEO in Australia using these tips;
Focus On Keyword Research
Keyword research is crucial for determining which words are most relevant to your business. You can focus on factors like each keyword’s competitiveness and average search volume. The user’s intent should be your primary focus during brainstorming when conducting your keyword research. Imagine what your target clients search for in Google, then list those words or phrases. You don’t need expensive tools for keyword research. However, an SEO consultant in Brisbane can help you navigate Google to see which keywords similar local businesses are using or targeting.
List Your Business On Google
Creating Google My Business Listing is crucial for boosting your local SEO. As mentioned earlier, Google counts for 94.7% market share of search engine searches in Australia. Therefore, with your business listed on Google, you can be sure to enjoy the local SEO benefits. However, when listing your business, focus on optimising each listing by adding your updated business details and ensuring each listing has a verification.
Simplify Your URLs
You can improve your local SEO ranking using friendly and simplified URLs. The URLs should be clear to the point and short. You can include your primary keywords in the URL to let your website visitors to Google know what your web page is about. Customers can quickly tell if a web page is relevant to them and click. Including the keywords makes it easy for the search engines to understand what the web page is about and thus index it. This helps you rank better in search engines.
Write Original Quality Location-Specific Content
Websites always display content to tell the customers what they are offering and why they are the best. However, good quality original content boosts your ranking and engages the customers. Therefore, working with an SEO consultant in Brisbane is crucial to ensure you have well-written, original, and fresh, and location-specific content that will improve your local SEO ranking. The content will compel the customers to stay on your website and interact with your brand. This will enhance credibility and build a customer base.
Encourage Online Reviews
Online reviews play a critical role for consumers when it comes to searching for services and products online. However, most customers will only leave reviews after interacting with your products or services. Therefore, its vital to focus on getting more of them. You can send your previous customers a post-purchase email with an incentive. Ask them to post a review of their interaction with your product or business. This will help provide a reference base for future or potential customers before they make any purchases.
Local SEO is crucial for businesses, and its relevance continues to grow. More consumers are looking for products near them, and online retailers are looking to attract local customers rather than people in a different region. Therefore, local businesses must optimise their local SEO to stay competitive. Furthermore, local SEO helps companies to increase their online visibility in the local search results while also aiming to reach local customers in the local market.
