Techniques for optimizing local SEO

According to one of the digital marketing expert, it was observed that Google searches have a local intent. It means that user search for the local information on the search engine result pages. We need to give priority in optimizing on-page and off-page strategies for local SEO. So, let us discuss in detail about some of the techniques:

Title tags and Meta descriptions still work:

Title tags and Meta descriptions are the HTML elements of your page that reflects the content of the page and are shown in SERPs and browser tabs as text. There are some specifications to be followed for a title and a Meta tag. The length of the title tag should be in between 40 and 50 characters. Meta descriptions should be of 160 characters.

Title tags display what the page is about and what it contains, to the users and search engine. Meta descriptions tell about the content of the page. Title tags and Meta descriptions need to include keywords. They need to unique and descriptive as they help in the click through rate of the page. We can even make use of some tools to know how our title tag and Meta description appear in search results.

Keyword research:

Keywords drive traffic to our site when they are researched properly. Keyword research involves optimizing of the webpage for keywords. To optimize the keyword research for local SEO, brainstorming keywords with geo modifier yields better results. We can use  Google keyword planner to get ideas with monthly stats(search volumes). Keyword research would be time-consuming but it would be rewarded when done properly.

Optimize for Google my business and Bing places for business:

Google my business allows displaying your business hours, phone number and location of your particular business in the Google search and maps. It is of free and adds on to your SEO as it will be listed in the search engine when they are searching for your services. While optimizing Google my business, make sure that you add images to it. Business with no physical address would not rank well in SERPs, if you add a dummy address; it would make you lose customers.

Local structured data:

Structured data also referred to as schema markup is the code which is added to the website to provide in-depth information about your business, location and much more in search engines. Google is forcing marketers to use schema markup and is rewarding those, who are using this. As it helps the users to get a clear view in this format. You can make use of Google structured data testing tool to know whether you use schema markup or not.

Implementing the above mentioned techniques would help you to get good results and better conversational rates.