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Want to increase foot traffic and attract local customers to your business? Whether you’re a restaurant owner, hair salon, lawyer, or general contractor, you can benefit from local search marketing.
Local search marketing is the practice of using geographic-specific advertising strategies to increase the visibility of your business in local search, aka Google Search. This is an important and effective type of marketing for local business owners who want more website traffic and customers.
Learn more about local search marketing and how to use it to increase your brand’s visibility, traffic, and sales.
Related: Why Local SEO is Key to Business Success
Claim and optimize your business profile on Google
Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google For Business) is Google’s free online listing tool that helps businesses rank higher on Google Maps. It is prime real estate for getting your business found by potential customers.
You may be surprised to find that a listing already exists for your business. Before creating a new profile, do a Google search for your business name. If you find an existing Google listing that appears to be your business, you can “claim” it to take ownership.
If you don’t see an existing Google Business Profile for your business, create a new one. You will first need to log in to your Gmail account and then follow the steps provided by Google to create a profile.
Once requested, be sure to optimize your profile to maximize your reach. To do this, make sure you:
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Completely fill out your listing with the correct business name, address, phone number, website URL, description, hours of operation and category.
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Add high-quality photos of your business (exterior and interior, if applicable), team members, products, logo, or any other relevant images that showcase your business.
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Encourage past customers to leave positive reviews, and be sure to respond to all reviews (both positive and negative) to show that you value your customers.
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Include relevant keywords (including location-based terms) in your listing description and posts, as this can improve your visibility.
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Add attributes to your business profile, such as “Woman-Owned,” “Wheelchair Accessible,” “Outdoor Seating,” or anything else applicable, to provide more useful information to potential customers.
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Keep your listing updated with business hours, holiday hours, phone number, website URL, etc. correct. Respond promptly to new reviews.
Optimize your website for local search terms
The key to attracting local customers is to rank for the terms (for example, “keywords”) they use to find brands, services and products like yours.
Use a keyword research tool like Semrush.com or Ahrefs.com to conduct a search for relevant keywords, using the combination “[location][product or service].” For example, if you have a family law firm in Los Angeles, some terms to search for might be “Los Angeles family law”, “Los Angeles family lawyer”, “Los Angeles divorce lawyer”, etc.
Next, confirm that the terms you are searching for have: 1) search volume and 2) low to medium competition. This ensures that you’re targeting terms that people are actually searching for.
Finally, apply these keywords to the respective pages of your website, creating individual landing pages for each product or service. For example, if you’re a hair salon in Seattle, you might have pages addressing “Haircuts | Seattle,” “Hair Dye Salon | Seattle,” and “Hair Treatments | Seattle.”
To “optimize” your landing pages for your target keywords, use the respective keywords in your page title, headlines (where appropriate), and throughout the body text in a natural way. Check out this comprehensive guide on how to optimize your landing pages.
Related: The 8 Best Free and Low-Cost SEO Tools for Small Businesses
Update your online directory listings
Google’s Business Profile isn’t the only listing available to help you boost your business. There are many local and industry-specific directories where you can list your business details, collect reviews, and attract customers.
As with your business profile on Google, make sure your business name, hours, phone number, URL, etc. are accurate and consistent. Look for reputable directories and avoid any websites that appear to contain spam.
Here are some of the best online directories to list your business:
Implement a fast, mobile-friendly design
The surge in mobile search has made it more important than ever to optimize your website for mobile devices. As more consumers use smartphones and tablets to find local businesses, having a fast, mobile-friendly website can have a significant impact on organic reach and conversion rates.
Today’s consumers expect fast, easy-to-use experiences. A slow and/or poorly optimized website can lead to customer frustration and lost opportunities for your brand. Plus, Google’s algorithm prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in search results, so it’s a must if you want to generate more traffic.
Here are some tips for implementing a fast, mobile-friendly design:
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Build (or redesign) your website according to responsive design principles, allowing your site to adapt to various screen sizes and devices.
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Compress images on your website to reduce file size, which can help speed up your website.
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Enable browser caching to reduce the bandwidth required to load static resources such as images, JavaScript, and CSS.
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Test your website’s performance with Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to identify problems and find recommendations on how to improve site speed.
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Simplify your site navigation with clear tabs and call-to-action buttons that are easy to see on smaller devices. Avoid long walls of text and small images.
Related: Why Local Marketing Still Matters in the Digital Age
If you want more local customers, implementing local search strategies is the way to go. Harness the power of Google to get your business noticed, increase web traffic and increase sales. Local search marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies for small, local and family-owned businesses. Happy optimization!