Local SEO

The goal of local SEO is for a potential consumer in your area to see your listing or website as the first result when they search for location-specific terms related to your business, such as ‘Thai restaurant in Las Vegas.’

When someone searches for a local query, Google usually shows the Map Pack, commonly known as “The Snack Pack,” which displays the top three relevant results. Following the Map Pack are organic search results, in which business or service websites will be shown. Ideally, you’d want to rank at the top of both the snack pack and organic results.

The goal of search engine optimization (SEO) is to improve a website’s ranking in search engine results for a certain term, phrase, or keyword. The goal is to get high-quality organic traffic to a website from individuals who enter relevant terms into a search engine. Local SEO, which focuses on customers in a certain geographic region and utilizes local search, is one such example.

For instance, if you were an internet retailer that distributed dental goods nationally or even worldwide, you might be attempting to rank for generic keywords such as “dental products,” “dental attachments,” “cheap dental products,” and so on. You wouldn’t mind if your consumers were in California, Texas, or even Mumbai as long as you can deliver to them; it makes no difference where they are.

However, if you’re a brick and mortar business in a certain area, such as a dentist in Miami, you don’t want to rank for terms like ‘dentist’ or ‘cheap dentist.’ Instead, you’d be targeting local search phrases such as ‘cheap dentist in Miami,’ ‘best dentist in Miami,’ and so on. The inclusion of your website in the Local SEO 3 Pack is just as crucial as getting it into the hands of visitors with local SEO.

However, many of the same procedures are used by Local SEO and conventional SEO, so you should make sure that your local SEO firm is familiar with all types of search engine optimization.

Let’s start with the fact that not all Local SEO Services are created equal, and what they do or don’t accomplish will vary from one to the next.

It’s also about where your company is in its online development. You might be a young company with only a few years of experience, or you may have an established online presence that needs to be upgraded for local search.

Local SEO companies normally begin by auditing your website and looking for any technical problems, before delving further into other areas that may require improvement. They’ll also track and analyze your website so that they can keep an eye on how it’s performing as we go.

The following are some of the most important aspects that a local SEO expert will improve and put in place if necessary:

• Google My Business – GMB is a free tool that Google provides to assist small businesses in managing their online presence. Claiming and optimizing your GMB listing is essential for ranking in the Map Pack and organic search results. An expert local SEO company will make sure everything is in order.
• Competition Analysis & Keyword Research – Local SEO services will analyze your competition to figure out why they’re outperforming you and reverse engineer them. They’ll look at the most significant search terms in your market as well as the amount of traffic to identify all of the relevant keywords that you can rank for.
• We utilize an Ontological Keyword Research process developed for use with local websites at DDM. We target all of the greatest keywords relevant to your market using this approach.
• Onsite SEO – Keyword density and other SEO best practices should be used (such as title tags, headings, meta descriptions, images, content, and internal links).
• Your local SEO expert should also utilize local onsite SEO tactics, such as including Google maps on relevant core landing pages, such as directions to your company, including information like phone number, address, and operating hours, improving the home page for primary search terms.
• NAP Consistency – The NAP is a name, address, and phone number. It’s critical that this data be the same on your website, GMB profile, social media accounts, corporate directories, and local listings. This company information is important to Google in determining whether or not you have a spammy site.Wherever your NAP details appear, make sure they contain the same information about your business. To guarantee that your information is as correct as possible, a great local SEO firm will use tools such as Whitespark to perform a NAP audit.
• Technical SEO – Technical SEO will benefit all websites in one way or another, just like tuning a high-performance vehicle. A competent SEO professional will get under the hood of your website and perform their magic.The first thing you need to do is optimize the site for crawl, indexation, and increased speed. It’ll also include implementing Schema markup so Google can have more information about your company and website.
• They’ll also verify that your website is mobile-friendly and that visitors can easily move around it while on the go. We at DDM take pleasure in our Technical SEO knowledge, and our SEO mechanics are passionate about fine-tuning websites to operate at their peak!
• Link-Building – Backlinks are essential for achieving top local search rankings. While there are many methods to develop links for local websites, two that will have the biggest impact are local citations and guest posting on local blogs.
• Citations from online sources include your company’s NAP information, but GMB is by far the most essential for your business; however, it is critical to obtain citations from places such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, Angie’s List, and Citysearch. To keep your company visible in local search results, you’ll want to verify that it’s included in the top directories, as well as audit any existing citations and make necessary NAP adjustments.
• Local citations in business directories such as Yellow Pages and Yelp, as well as specialized directories relevant to your industry, are beneficial since some users will search Google before visiting the sites.
• Guest posting on local blogs is a good method to gain relevant, high-quality links and get exposure for your website from referral traffic. Local SEO services should be able to create a link building strategy for local guest postings.
• There are alternative methods for creating links for local businesses, however the two we’ve discussed will serve as the foundation for any local search link building effort.
• Content – A local SEO firm should be able to assist you with updating or generating new content that will engage your local customers and be optimized for SEO.

There are a limited number of in-house professional SEO writers who can create compelling SEO optimized content, and many firms will outsource, resulting in content of low quality.

Before we provide you with a list of reasons why your company might benefit from hiring someone to perform local SEO for you, let’s talk about why it is preferable to hire a firm rather than doing it yourself.

Let’s look at the tools necessary for local SEO in detail. We utilize Ahrefs, WhiteSpark, Surfer SEO, Screaming Frog, and other software; these services will already have taken a significant bite out of your SEO budget if you go it alone.

The most essential aspects, though, are time and expertise. Do you have the time to implement not just the methods that will improve your site, but also learn all of the intricacies of local search engine optimization?

Isn’t it your job to manage your business, rather than overseeing the minute details of SEO? Hiring SEO experts to handle your SEO will allow you to focus on the major issues while they work behind the scenes to enhance your company.

Benefits include:

• Get ahead of the competition – With one out of three queries performed on a smartphone before a consumer comes to a store, isn’t it logical for your company to appear in local searches?
• You could provide a higher-quality service, sell a better product, or be less expensive than your competition. Your potential consumers will never find out if you don’t have an online presence since they’ll go to your rivals instead. Give your consumers the opportunity to see you!
• By incorporating smart local search engine optimization, you may leapfrog  your competition and profit handsomely. You can stay ahead of the curve if your SEO firm is using cutting-edge technologies such as voice search.
• A high rate of return with little cost – The cost and ineffectiveness of traditional marketing tactics like as sending fliers and purchasing ad space in local papers make them unsuitable candidates for a scattergun approach that will soon become extinct.
• Using technology such as Facebook and Google Ads, modern marketing is very targeted. However, this may be costly; furthermore, once you cease advertising, your business will no longer create new consumers. If you’re in local search results, your company is always in front of target visitors.
• Gain more trust – Google is now the most common search engine among internet users. If a business appears in the first few results on local search, it is regarded as trustworthy. It’s probable to get repeat, good online reviews and recommendations if consumers trust you are a reliable and authoritative source.
• Multiple platforms – Local search not only displays your company’s listing in the Map Pack and on your website in organic search, but it also shows you in local directories, review sites, and on social media. Increased exposure equals more consumers.

A greater online presence will lead to a significant amount of foot traffic from real consumers who will buy products or services from your company, resulting in a large increase in return on investment.

The cost of local SEO services will vary considerably depending on your location, the business you work in, and of course, the search engine marketing firm you have hired.

You’ll also have to consider what you want from the local SEO firm, for example, do you want them to start from scratch or work with an existing website or listing that needs further improvement? You may be able to pay a ‘local SEO expert’ a few hundred dollars per hour, but until they can demonstrate their past success, avoid doing so.

A reputable search engine optimization firm with a long track record of success will ensure that you are in good hands. If you want to know how much it would cost to have a unique local SEO strategy developed for your company, please contact us and we’ll respond within 24 hours.