Local SEO is the local / geolocated positioning of a website on google and other search engines . In contrast with traditional SEO strategies whose intent is to rank a site nationally or in multiple countries, local SEO aims to obtain organic visibility in a specific geographical area.
In essence, localization of SEO is especially useful for whoever offers services ina specific area such as restaurants, hotels, doctors, pharmacies, shops, hairdressers.

How Can Localization of SEO Help A Small Business

Nowadays, the use of mobile devices help us find easily answers to anything that crops up in our minds. As localization google searches are increasing, so are consumers expectations. People are looking for a service or product using words such as “near me” or “name of the city” are these searches being so targeted and limited, tend to have a higher conversion rate than generic ones..

For example, if I’m looking for “open bar in Venice Beach”, I’m certainly not interested to know the most popular restaurants in California but would most certainly click any result from the Top 5 if the search engine returns results for my area of interest.

With all this information at our fingertips, everyone is expecting quick and relevant data immediately. Unfortunately, if local businesses don’t have an effective local SEO strategy and never appear on the Top 5 places for any relevant search, they will finish up losing a good portion of their potential first time visitors and might also have less and less returning customers as we tend to rely on Google’s results irrespective if they’re the best choice or not.  

What determines Google Ranking in Localized searches?

Relevance, distance, prominence

Google, according to this official guide, ranks local results based on:

• Relevance
• Distance
• Prominence

So whenever we do a Google Search requesting local results, these three factors are combined together to provide the user with results he’s expecting.

1) Relevance corresponds to how much a local listing matches what the user is searching for.

2) The distance indicates how far a search result is from the location used for the search. Sometimes Google will also give your localised results based on IP address and location. So don’t be surprised if you search for “Open Restaurants” and you still get relevant results for your location.

3) Prominence or importance indicates how well known and strong a business is compared to others. In this case Google might not give so much importance on backliinks or Domain Authority but more on positive reviews from people using the product or service provided.

Ranking in web results is also a factor, so SEO best practices apply to local search optimization as well.

How to implement Localization SEO strategy?

Now that you have already grasped the main idea on what is local SEO, let’s see how to implement a Local Search strategy that everyone can follow. By following this guide step by step, you can quickly improve your website’s localized organic ranking.
 

Step 1: Create a Google Business Profile

Creating a Business Profile on Google is free and thanks to this you can start reaching more customers through Google Search and Maps.

Optimizing your Google Business Profile is very important, providing Google with as much information as possible by:

• creating an accurate description of your business
• choosing the correct business category
• uploading clear photos with good resolution
• filling in the opening & closing hours of the business
• putting in the correct address
• adding the telephone number and other contact information
• asking for reviews from your customers
• updating your profile frequently

Step 2: Optimize the site for mobile devices (smartphones and tablets)

There’s no need to repeat it, but your site, especially if you want to do Local SEO, must be optimized for mobile devices . The user looking for a service and product wants to find the information right away. For example, if you own a restaurant, make your phone number, address, and opening and closing days immediately visible.

Step 3: Use Google Keywords Planner or Other SEO tools to find keywords

I suggest to start using the free Google Keywords Planner to get a complete list of keywords you want to rank for and related search volumes specific for your local. To use the planner effectively, add one or more words in the “Keywords to include” section and adding the city you will also get a list of keywords and their respective locations.
Use the tool by setting filters and including the one for “ Keywords to include ”. By adding the name of the city you will get a list of keywords and their location.

Here is an example of “Venice, California” as location + “open bar now” in the “keywords to include” filter. 

You can also use SERanking, Semrush or Ubersuggest to support Google Keywords Planner . 
 

Step 4: Local SEO: On Page optimization with localization

Optimize your website using good on page SEO best practices.

• Use the name of the city for which you want to position yourself within (if possible)
  • the title tag ,
  • the meta description ,
  • h1 header tag and
  • at least one h2 tag,
  • in the images ,
  • in the text
  • in the url
• H1 and Title don’t have to be the same, you can spell them differently, but beware that Google may change the title to match the H1 or will create another title that is considered more appropriate.
• Work on both meta description, title and url to increase the CTR.
• Use keywords naturally despite having to jot down the name of the city here and there. In case of any doubts, better one keyword less then forcing too much adding keyword stuffing. Remamber people need to read and understand your pages and one of the ranking factors that is currently being pushed by Google is usability. If users bounce off your site than you will ultimately start losing your rankings.

Step 5: SEO Copywriting: Landing Pages and Blogs

The basis of ranking high on SERP and optimized Local and Global SEP is the quality of the content. The gist is to find a good copy writer which still keeps an eye on SEO but doesn’t’ sacrifice the quality of the text to check each and every SEO best practice. The key to great content is one that keeps the reader interested in the subject and also enhances the strengths of your business. Landing pages should be tuned and optimized to increase CTR and give instantly an idea of the reader of what you consider essential for your business.

I also suggest to add periodical news or blog articles closely related to your area of business, expertise and local fairs and events so that people will return to your site to keep themselves updated.  
 

Step 6: Using Structured Data And NAP

Use structured data to help search engines better identify your business. Look at various markup you can use throughout your site from schema.org like LocalBusiness and Organization. I found a page which helps you create markup easily. You have an option to either create this manually for each page and then insert it in the header through a plugin. Otherwise, you can ask a developer to automate this process using information provided in custom input fields, database or as you deem more appropriate.

When adding the Organization markup make sure that your business name, address and phone number match those on your website, web and Google Business Profile. Also make sure to respect the order of the NAP (name, address, phone number) entering this information above the navigation menu or in the footer.

Step 7: Map on the contact page

On your contact page, besides adding an input form and contact information, nowadays it’s also very helpful to  embed of the Google map. When someone is already on the road and is trying to find a local business he needs a link where he can click loading Google Map app so that he can use the navigator. While this will not help you to rank, it will definitely help you to convert clients and turn clicks into sales.  

Step 8: Local Link building and directories

Ideally, you should reach out to an outreach SEO expert to help you implement a link building strategy depending on your budget. This will include adding your business in industry portals, trying to earn links by offering quality content but also buying some links from pages related to your business. For example, if you have a rental apartment, you should add your business on sites like tripadvisor, booking.com, airbnb.com, expedia and many others. So, find the sites where you can enter your business so that besides getting backlinks you will also get outbound clicks possibly with a high conversion rate.

Let me list a few valuable local directories:

• hotfrogs
• bingplaces
• yelp

Step 9: Open Social Network Profiles

In addition to Google Business Profile, you should take care of create a company page on Facebook, a profile on Twitter and possibly consider also Instagram, PInterest and LinkedIn. You always need respect the NAP and keep the profile updated. It’s important that you schedule posts so that your Social Media accounts are active. This will also help with the natural backling strategy and would also be useful when you want to create a new campaign or promotion.
 

Conclusion

In this article you have understood what is Localization SEO and the steps required to implement it. Local SEO is something a small business should definitely not ignore as it can make a difference in terms of organic traffic and hence conversions.

The post Localization of SEO: How Can Local SEO Help a Small Business? appeared first on AYALR.

Having access to this data allows you to monitor and improve your website’s performance in Google search results. It’s a valuable tool for SEO professionals and website owners to ensure that their sites are well-optimized and user-friendly.

Google Search Console does not indicate all the traffic to your website, but the people who actually found your site through a google searched and clicked.

If you’re not seeing any data in Google Search Console, there might be several reasons for this issue. Here are some common explanations for why your Search Console might not be showing data. Remember that patience may be necessary, especially for new websites or properties

Do you have visitors on your website? Or did you have any visitors but something changed? Whether you have already some traffic or 0 traffic showing on GSC, I suggest you follow this troubleshooting guide to ensure that you properly set up Google Search Console on your website:

1. Is your website new?

If your website is brand new and you have just verified the domain, it’s normal that there is no data on the Search Console Account. It might take a few days or even weeks until the traffic data is displayed. In contrast, data traffic in Google Analytics (GA4) is displayed immediately in real-time so you can access your site and see your session on GA4. Additionally, you may create a free account on Hotjar or on Microsoft Clarity and insert the Javascript given by them. Thanks to this script, the user movements are captured and recorded in real time. This is an excellent way of learning how users are behaving on your site.

The reason why you’re not seeing any data usually depends on various factors like:

• Technical issue. You might:
  • be inserting the wrong GSC script, Noindex tags or have a problem with robots.txt or
  • have problems setting up the property.
• No pages have been indexed. This can be quickly checked by typing on Google “site:yoursitename” or otherwise going on GSC and typing the URL of your site. If no result crops up on Google and/or GSC says the URL is not indexed then you need to submit a sitemap.
• Few indexed pages and you need to add more pages with a specific SEO strategy.
• Indexed pages are too generic. If for example, you have only a homepage with some links and images, or only Contact, About, Work with Us or a Calendar of Events pages you will be less likely to receive any traffic.
• Indexed pages have no keywords that can rank. Before seeing any impressions you need to have meaningful posts that Google can rank. So if you don’t have a proper on-page SEO strategy, don’t assume you will ever get any impressions or clicks.

2. Did you set a new property on Google Search Console?

If you recently set up a new property on Google Search Console note the following:

• Wait until data is populated. It might take some time before any data are shown on GSC.
• Ensure URL configuration is correct. Also, you might want to ensure that your URL is configured correctly on the Search Console account. Remember, if you’re still missing some data on your Search Console, add both the www and the non-www version of your domain to your account.
• Property Not Verified: Make sure that your website or property is correctly verified in Google Search Console. If it’s not verified, you won’t see any data.
• Incorrect Property Selection: Double-check that you’ve selected the correct property within your Search Console account. If you have multiple properties, ensure you’re looking at the right one.
• Insufficient Data: If your website has very low traffic or is new, it might not generate enough data to display in the Search Console. You may need to wait until your website gains more traction.

Ensure URL configuration is correct

I also recommend taking a look at Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide. Using Google Webmaster can also check if there is something wrong with your current setup.

3. Have you submitted your sitemap?

Have you checked the Sitemaps report on Google Search Console?

If you see no data then you have to help Google discover the content of your site by creating and submitting a sitemap. This is a file containing all the links to all the pages you want the search engines to index.

If you use WordPress, the Yoast SEO plugin automatically creates the sitemap for your site.  To know the exact XML URL access your YOAST plugin under General/Site Settings you will find

At this point, all you need to do is retrieve the URL of your_domain/sitemap_index.xml from your site and submit it to search engines, particularly Google through Google Search Console.

4. Site Indexed, But Not Ranking? How to Get Indexed Pages to Rank

• Revise your on-page SEO strategy. If you have a new site with a low Domain Authority, then you must aim to write articles focusing on long-tail keywords with low competition in SERP. You might not get any clicks at first, but you will start getting the first impressions.
• Check your keyword density on your pages. If you have a company that sells wine, your page should have keywords that let Google know that if a user searches for wine, they should show your page. Basically, Google ranks your page according to the keywords found. If you have a company that sells wine, your page should have keywords that let Google know that if a user searches for wine, they should show your page. Basically, Google ranks your page according to the keywords found. Many tools can give you all the keywords used on your site, such as the Keyword Density Checker offered by seoreviewtools.

5. How much does your site rank?

Another common reason for not seeing any data on Google Search Console is that people aren’t yet clicking on your site in search results. The main reason is usually because the site may not perform well in search.

If your website doesn’t yet rank on the first 3 to 4 pages of Google’s search results then we say that it has no organic search visits. Something that might help in such a case is typing the website name on Google search. Then proceed to find your website from the search results and click on the link. Stay a couple of minutes. Then repeat the same process the next day.

6. Have you verified the ownership of your website on Google?

Verification is the process of verifying the website that you are claiming to own. Verifying your site ownership can be done through Search Console Verification page. This page will guide you through the process.

7. Do you have a penalty?

Manual Actions: Sometimes, websites might receive manual actions from Google if they violate search guidelines. If your site is subject to manual action, it could impact your data visibility

8. Do you have technical issues?

Technical Issues: Sometimes, technical issues can affect data reporting. Ensure there are no problems with your website’s server or tracking code.

Robots.txt or Noindex Tags: Check that your robots.txt file or meta robots tags are not blocking Googlebot from crawling your site. If Google can’t crawl your site, it won’t have data to show.

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