In today’s business landscape, having visibility on the internet is of utmost importance for businesses. From this perspective, businesses are keenly aware of how they appear online and how visible they are to enhance their competitive edge. If you want to increase your company’s visibility online and stand out among your competitors, you should prioritize local SEO.
For organizations that operate on a local scale and haven’t initiated local SEO efforts, it implies falling significantly behind, missing out on numerous potential customers. To enhance visibility, partnering with a reputable SEO agency can help highlight your business in local searches, thereby increasing potential customer reach.
Local SEO: What Is It?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, refers to the technical processes undertaken to improve a business’s website rankings in search engine results. Local SEO, on the other hand, focuses on specific keywords to excel in regional listings, making the business more visible in local searches.
Local SEO services related to Google’s search engine encompass fundamental information about a business, including its name, address, website content, contact details, operating hours, services, and other relevant information. This optimization aims to ensure that the business ranks well with specific keywords for regional listings on Google’s search engines. Local SEO is indispensable for every business, offering benefits such as enabling small-scale enterprises to have a presence on search engines, competing with larger competitors.
How to Do Local SEO? What Are the Ranking Factors?
Local SEO encompasses various activities, including target audience identification and keyword analysis. The ranking factors for these activities are as follows:
- Creating location-based title tags for the business.
- Implementing mobile optimization efforts.
- Conducting internal linking optimization.
- Determining content based on user search intent.
- Performing visual optimization efforts.
- Implementing voice search optimization.
- Generating locally targeted keywords.
- Making NAP (Name, Address, Phone) adjustments.
Optimizing URLs for users. - Leveraging local resources.
- Managing social media activities.
- Creating a Google My Business listing.
- Registering with other search engines like Yandex and Apple Maps.
- Implementing review strategies.
- Building appropriate backlink channels for the business.
Local On-Page SEO Factors
For businesses using WordPress, on-page SEO settings can be easily managed through plugins such as Rank Math SEO, All in One SEO, or Yoast SEO. However, for websites using different platforms, attention should be given to several factors, including:
- Meta Title
- Page Permalink Structure
- Keyword Density
- Meta Descriptions
- Image Usage
- Header Tags
- Word Count per Article
- Schema Markup – Structural Data
- Internal Linking
- External Linking
- Proper Use of Breadcrumbs
- 404 Error Resolution
Additionally, for on-page SEO, it’s crucial to:
- Create a meta title with fewer than 60 characters.
- Develop a meta description with fewer than 140 characters.
- Include multimedia content such as videos and slideshows on the website.
- Add internal links to articles.
- Support the webpage with relevant and quality links to other sites.
- Conduct keyword gap analysis using on-page SEO tools.
- Optimize images before uploading.
- Optimize webpage loading speed.
NAP: What Is It?
NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone, serving as an acronym for essential contact information on a business’s website. Accurate and consistent NAP details are crucial for optimizing a business’s website, ensuring that users and search engine bots can easily access the business.
Search engines prioritize correct information when determining a business’s location based on the provided contact details. Ensuring accuracy in NAP details contributes to the ease with which potential customers can reach out to the business.
In summary, businesses in both domestic and international contexts recognize the significant importance of local SEO, evident in the increasing number of enterprises seeking regional optimization assistance. Therefore, proactive adjustments for local SEO, which plays a crucial role in the future of SEO, can be initiated now to enhance visibility.
Author: Hakan Karaman
