The Ultimate guide to local SEO for Ecommerce -- Seven Strategies

Search engine optimization (SEO) is an incredibly valuable marketing method. While it's a strategy for the long term If done correctly it could generate web visitors who are actively looking for what you have to offer and all this without ads that are paid for!

If you have an actual location, or you sell just to certain areas, local SEO is a method to connect with the local audience that are most relevant to your. However, what exactly is local SEO? And how do you improve your ecommerce store?

What is SEO local and why is it important?

When you're home and type in a query like "mechanic" in Google, you'll get an inventory of local auto shops. But let's say you're traveling and have a flat-tire. If you look up the identical phrase 100 miles from your home, you'll get an entirely distinct list that is based on the location. That's local SEO at work.

When you optimize your site for local SEO, you're optimizing your site for a particular area. This is a good thing, and while it makes sense for retailers who wants to get customers on foot, it makes sense for a meal preparation company who offers delivery within a radius of 20 miles or an online store that sells merchandise for people who live within Dallas.

A good local SEO method helps you focus specifically on the people you are targeting and not just people across the country or the world. In the end, this means more qualified customers will discover your website and eventually make a purchase.

Let's examine how you can optimize your site's local SEO. Also, there are practical steps you can follow offline.

Begin with SEO basics

If someone is searching for something online, Google's goal is to offer exact results, and most enjoyable experience. In order to be ranked well it is necessary to demonstrate that you have two points to Google:

1. Your website has valuable, relevant content that is about certain topics or key words.
2. The site offers a wonderful experience for visitors.

There are several essential SEO optimization strategies that will help you do this, including:

• Consistent, high-quality content like blog posts.
• An adaptive website layout that allows readers to access your content across smartphones.
• A simple-to-use store.
• A website that loads very quickly.
• Top-quality links for your shop from trustworthy source.
• A secure website that also is equipped with also an SSL certificate.

Make sure you are optimizing your space

Once you have the basics established, it's now time to focus on local SEO. There's an array of actions you could take to target your local region, however below are some of the most commonly used and efficient.

1. Claim your Google My Business listing

Google My Business is a free tool that assists local businesses in managing their company's listing on Google. The listing will show in Google Search and Google Maps along with the name of your business as well as your location, hours of operation, reviews, website, as well as other information.

Create an account and enter the most detailed information you can about your store. Include photos, reply to reviews and make sure that all information is accurate on your listing, including hours.

This guide from Search Engine Journal provides all you need to know about claiming and verifying your listing as well as tips on how to manage the process.

2. Make sure you are listed in the various directories, including the major ones.

It was once useful to put your business's name in every single directory that you could locate. However, Google's algorithm has evolved to pay more attention to other ranking factors. However, that's not to mean that you shouldn't submit your business to some important directories that are relevant to your business -- these still carry certain weight, and often are a symbol of trust to prospective customers.

Here are just a few of the directories that you might consider. Pick the directories you concentrate upon based on the type of audience you are targeting product, industry, and other factors:

• Bing Places
• Yelp
• TripAdvisor
• Apple Maps
• HomeAdvisor
• WeddingWire
• Angie's List

It's important that the information that you provide for your company is precise across every listing. It includes your name, hours, location, website, etc. In the event that anything alters be sure to change it everywhere.

Are you overwhelmed? You can also hire the services of Moz Local to take care of everything for you.

3. Change your keywords to match the target.

Keywords are the phrases that you'd like your business to be found for when searched by potential customers in your area. In the moment, you could be focusing on more general terms such as "craft beer," "vintage books," and "family-friendly hotel." However, if you wanted to concentrate these keywords specifically in your region, you'd choose to use phrases that include "craft brewery in Louisville," "vintage books for sale at St. Paul," or "best family-friendly hotel in Smith County."

How do you know the appropriate keywords that are appropriate for your company? You want to find an appropriate balance between words which people actually search for as well as ones you stand a chance of ranking for. Below are some methods to achieve this:

• Use Google Keyword Planner. With this free tool, you can type in the beginning of a phrase, look up similar keywords, and look up the details of how many searches are made.
• You can type phrases into Google. You can try typing the phrase into Google and letting autocomplete do its job. For example, if you type in "Davidson coffee,"" it will instantly suggest similar terms like "Davidson coffee shop,"" "downtown Davidson coffee," and "vegan cafe in Davidson."
• Utilize tools such as SEMRush as well as Use SEO tools such as SEMRush or Keyword Explorer. These tools provide extensive information about exactly what your target users are searching for online.

When you've found the appropriate keywords, you can incorporate them seamlessly into your website. Instead of stuffing them in everywhere you possibly could, you can use them in phrases that make sense in the same way that you would if talking to your friend or coworker.

Although you may not want to alter your whole SEO method to take into account the new terms including them in the page's meta description, page titles and other content specifically written to your specific area is an excellent option to include them.

Are you looking for more advice? Look up this guide that comes from Search Engine Journal.

4. Create content that is specific to the area you live in.

You may already regularly create excellent content, such as blog posts, videos eBooks, or blog posts. If yes then you're getting off to a good start! Content is among the best ways to show Google (and potential clients) that you're a professional on certain topics.

As you focus on local SEO, however, you also need to change the subjects you write on. What kinds of questions are customers asking specifically for the area you are in? For example, if you offer gardening supplies, you could write about plants specifically for your locale and harvest time. If you are a seller of custom dog collars, you could share a list to the top local dog parks.

Did you remember those local search terms we talked about earlier? It's time to incorporate them, naturally, into your blog posts.

In the event that one of your target keyword includes "cooking classes in San Francisco," you may want to write a post on your blog with the best things to explore in San Francisco. Then, make one of your headlines say "Take a Cooking Class at San Francisco," and describe your classes.

5. The focus should be on reviews

Search engines love reviews because they're an excellent indication of your business and product quality. And, of course, they're beneficial even over local SEO because potential customers look through reviews prior to deciding where to shop and take a bite.

What should you do about getting reviews? First of all, never pay for reviews. In addition to the fact that search engines effortlessly figure out your plan, you'll lose customer trust.

Focus first on getting reviews from Google Then, you can spread the word your efforts to other directories local to you that you have signed up with, such as Yelp or TripAdvisor. Answer as many reviews as possible, be professional and kind to customers who are unhappy and modify your practices if necessary.

6. Create local Links

When a trusted source links to your website, it's basically vetting your company to Google. Quality backlinks are a good approach to use for SEO all over the world, and this remains true in local SEO. It's different because instead of searching for links from websites that are generic, you're looking for websites that have authority for your region. The way to get links to your website using the following methods:

• Contributing a guest blog post to a local blog.
• Participating in local activities.
• In the city directories or directories for counties.
• The sponsorship of a local charity.
• Earning a feature in your local paper or magazine story.

A simple Google search can help you find authoritative websites in your area. If you do decide to contact influential people or businesses and other businesses, make it an approach that is beneficial for them. You could, for instance, ask them the opportunity to create a guide for your city or a blog article that appeals to their target audience rather than just expecting them to perform an favor.

7. Incorporate structured data into your website

Structured data can be described as a kind of markup that is used by search engines to interpret the information. It's an excellent option to describe your website to Google which increases the chances that your site will be featured in unique search results, such as carousels and answer boxes.

In the case of a local restaurant that posts online recipes, you could use structured data to tell Google things like cooking times, calories count and even reader's reviews. If someone comes across the recipe on an online search engine, the results will contain all this information, and will appear "richer" than the normal resultknown as an "rich snippet. It's not just a way to help search engines know how to categorize your content and make your recipe stand out more for searchers, thereby which increases the chances that they'll click.

There are a lot of varieties of data that are structured that can be structured, such as:

• Books with details like author's name, quotes and buy links.
• Information about events, including date, time, and the location.
• Local business with details including hours, ratings directions, links, and hours.
• Product information, such as pricing, availability and reviews.
• Questions and answers, and answers.

Make sure you focus on the aspects specific to your business.

While adding structured data on your website can be difficult and might require a developer, you can also use a plugin to make the process more simple. Options include Yoast SEO (try their local SEO add-on to get an additional boost), Schema Pro, and Schema All-in-One Rich Snippets.

Check out this article by Yoast for further information.

How to handle multiple locations

What happens if you own more than one location and a single website? Here are some suggestions to handle local SEO:

• Create separate landing pages. Instead of putting the information for every store on one place, be specific! Make a separate page for each location that includes specific information such as contact numbers reviews, hours of operation pictures, news and blog posts that are specifically for that particular store. Apply local business structured data to every page.
• Create separate Google My Business listings. Create a listing in each location and make sure your information is accurate. The same thing goes with other directories.
• Make blog posts with specific topics. Create content around each of your areas. They could be customer articles, stories about employees and hyper-local news. They could also cover topics that specifically apply for the particular area.
• Concentrate on creating links for each page on your location. In the process of creating backlinks, you should link to specific location landing pages whenever appropriate. This is especially important for announcements or other events that are related to a specific store.
• Get reviews from each place. Following the guidelines above, you can start getting reviews. However, make sure that you're doing it for each individual location that you manage.

Get started using the local SEO for long-term success

It's important to remember the importance of the local SEO is a long-term advertising strategy. It will take time for your website to improve its rankings, however constant, steady work will pay off. It's more than worth it for the increase in quality, free traffic to your website store.