No matter the nature of your business, whether you’re a mom and pop deli, a State-wide chain of auto mechanics or an electrician based out of Long Island, NY, there is a case to be made for local SEO. And with the competition being so high having a SEO Company New York guide would be very helpful. We’ve put together some key points to help you understand local SEO.
Why invest in local SEO at all?
As a leading SEO company New York we’re often asked if it’s wise to invest in local SEO. Before we share how to win the battle for local pack listings, let’s recap why it’s always a great idea to invest in local SEO:
- Research shows that over 7 in 10 people who conduct a local search subsequently visit a store within 5 miles of their location. This means local search is great for driving more foot traffic and offline sales.
- Local search is becoming the default, with Google saying that search users are now likely to look for a local service or product without adding the ‘near me’ qualifier. This suggests they expect the best local results to show up. So if you aren’t there, you’re missing out on that chance.
- Mastering the primary search results is harder than ever and, as a small business, you’re facing an uphill battle to knock a big box store or an online giant like Amazon off the top spot. More opportunities are within reach with local SEO.
- The local pack is changing though and with local search results tied to voice and mobile search, competition is intense. Google is also making the local results more competitive by shrinking the number of local results displayed. The bottom line? Local search is getting harder, and if you wait too long, you may find that you aren’t visible on Google at all.
Top local tips from your local SEO Company New York
Whether you’re considering contracting an SEO services New York team or tempted to tackle your own local search engine optimization, it pays to know which factors really matter.
Reviews citing keyword and location: Reviews are the number one ranking factor which affects local search position according to the second annual LocalSEO Guide local ranking factors study.
This report concluded that the number of reviews you accrue which contain both a keyword and the name of the town or city you are optimizing for is the single most significant driver of ranking gains.
The number of positive reviews: Work carried out by our SEO company, New York team (and confirmed in the Local SEO Guide study) also demonstrates that the number of reviews you generate also has an impact on local search position.
Businesses receiving a regular influx of positive reviews tend to rank more highly than those who do not. The frequency with which you respond to reviews is also critical – so make sure you’re quick to thanks customers who take time to leave you a review.
The volume of negative reviews: Unsurprisingly, our SEO company New York experts also say that too many negative reviews can affect your local search ranking. Studies show that how many negative reviews you receive, and how quickly you respond to them will have a local SEO impact.
Links: Links are an important overall SEO consideration. They’re also a piece of the local SEO puzzle. Many small, local businesses struggle to build good quality links and this is reflected in the local search algorithms. The LocalSEO Guide study says that having a large number of big referrer’s isn’t as important as local search. It notes that local businesses are more likely to have links from other small, local sites and that means the trust flow and authority will be smaller for local search. You do still need to build links though so don’t neglect this aspect of search engine optimization.
On page content: It should come as no surprise that your on page content plays a key role in where you rank locally. This content helps Google to understand what your product or service is. Make sure to include local references such as town and city names in your content to ensure that the search engine also knows where the service is available and where you’re located.
If you have multiple locations, create a local page for each one.
Google My Business: Google My Business is a flagship local product. It’s free to set up and can give you a local listing on Google Search and Google Maps. You can also add information which is known to aid in local search visibility such as address, zip code, opening hours, connect to reviews, images and videos.
If you’d like further information about succeeding in this area of search engine marketing, speak to the number one local SEO company in New York now. 516.883.3851.
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