Local SEO is all about getting a company or organisation in front of the people in its surrounding community. Most of us make use of search engines like Google or Bing to find the businesses offering the services or solutions we need or want. A plumbing service customer in Durban doesn’t want to see Johannesburg-based plumbers come up in their search feed. When a searcher types ‘plumber’ into their search engine, it will bring up plumbing organisations that have listed their business online (website, local listings, etc.) and are in or near the customer’s location. This article shares four steps any business owner or website manager can take to improve their local SEO presence:
Google My Business
Claiming your business listing through Google is one of the easiest and most important steps to take when implementing local SEO techniques. Google My Business (GMB) listings appear to the right of the screen when searchers browse for something on Google. It lists a company’s name, services, and links for telephone numbers and websites.
Online Directories
GMB is an important online business listing to improve local SEO, but it certainly isn’t the only important one. Before forgetting about local SEO once you’ve set up your GMB listing, continue searching for other local business listing sites that serve Internet users in your industry. Websites like the Yellow Pages and Gumtree will feature your business address, and owing to their online authority, should receive attention from the search engines. The more online sources which say a business is in a specific location, the better the chance that search engines will serve the business listing to local searchers.
