Local Rank Online and Increase Conversions for Your Local Business

Looking to expand your knowledge of local SEO? Search through our range of topics, all published in an easy to understand way.

Posted On: 15th February 2021
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Updated On: 17th September 2021

How Do I Rank In My Local Area?

With Yellow Pages being a thing of the past, being able to rank locally for terms related to your business is super important if you want to generate new customers, If you’re not visible online, you’re missing out on a whole bunch of visitors (and potential customers!).

Unfortunately, it’s not just enough to rank on page 3 for local terms, to really see the success of your online presence you’ll need to be ranking on the first page – but how do you do that?

Show Within The Local Pack

When people search online for a business in their area, there are a few places people will look. One of them is the local pack.

What’s the local pack? You’ll likely have seen this many terms with searching, but in case you missed it, it’s the block of a map with 3 business listings. There are a limited number of spaces within this spot so to make sure you’ve got a running chance – optimise your Google My Business profile. Don’t have a Google My Business profile? Get one! (and here’s how).

Local Pick Google

Localise your keywords

An important part of ranking locally online is ensuring your website reflects your location. When you’re optimising your website, include your location within your pages to tell Google (and users) where you are based. If you’re not telling search engines this information, they won’t know and you’ll find it difficult to rank in the top spaces.

Create content based on local news stories or events

Having new, unique and helpful (and we can’t stress this enough) content on your website will help to show search engines you are a legitimate business and help further support your local authority. Keep your website regularly updated with local news and stories to improve how your website is ranked within your local area.

If you serve different locations, create location-specific webpages with high-quality local content.

Make sure your mobile is mobile friendly

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you may have noticed mobile is massive. So much so, even Google recognised the huge shift in the way users search online and switched up their algorithms to have a mobile-first approach.

What does this mean for you? Basically, Google is indexing websites based on how mobile-friendly they are. If your competitor websites perform better thank yours on mobile, they’ll likely rank better than you.

Take advantage of online business directories.

There are many online businesses directories online, websites like Yell, Yelp, Brownbook and HotFrog allow you to add a free listing including your business name, address and phone number to boost your visibility. Not only will these show for users searching on these websites but it’ll help to boost your local ranking too.

Some top tips:

  • Keep your business name, address and phone number consistent across all directories
  • Add a link to your website
  • Add a detailed (and unique) description to your listing
  • Add photos and videos of your business

The fact is, SEO is an ever-changing industry meaning you never know when Google will make changes to how they rank websites online and the new features they may introduce. Local SEO isn’t a one-time action to tick off your list, keep your website updated, stay on top of trends and speak to an SEO agency if you’re serious about improving your local rankings for your business.

Good luck!