Local search is where small businesses need to be, and this will help you show up in personalized and mobile search.
Quick Facts
- 73% of all online activity is related to local content
- 82% of local searchers follow up with a phone call or show up on your doorstep
- 66% of Americans use local search to find local businesses
If your local Google places listing doesn’t have a 100% score, you will not be included in the first 7 local businesses that Google displays for local results.
Steps to get more business from local search:
1. Make sure your Google listing has a 100% score – There are more than 20 different fields you in your Google Places listing and surprisingly most businesses don’t bother to fill them all in. At the end of the day, the difference between showing up on the first page of Google Places or not can boil down to not having a video as part of your listing.
2. Include keywords in your local listing description. Include cities or suburbs where your target market lives but don’t stuff keywords. Your description should be written for people first, SEO second.
3. Get clients to write a reviews on all your local pages including directly on your Google places listing. The review section of your profile provides social proof of the quality of your business, and it is difficult to game.
4. Make sure your business is listed in your local phone book. Google looks to established sources of data to build their database and check for updated local business information. Without a verified yellow pages address your ability to rank will suffer.
5. Get listed in the other important local directories:
The site www.getlisted.org will show you a score on how effectively your business is taking advantage of these free listings.
