{"id":139,"count":3,"description":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Local SEO<\/strong> is a set of practices aimed at increasing the visibility and traffic of local businesses through digital channels.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as in the case of traditional SEO, local SEO is based on website optimization and the business\u2019 online presence.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consumer habits have evolved, and it is crucial they can find your business on Google and other search engines.<\/span>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Who is Local SEO for?<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your business has a physical location, you really should invest in local SEO. This is one of the best choices you can make to increase its visibility.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nowadays, many businesses use local SEO to improve their online presence on the web. This is the case for:<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Restaurants and bars<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stores, small shops, and small businesses<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hotels and other accommodations<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Professionals (lawyers, dentists, architects, etc.)<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any other business.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as with SEO, local SEO is based on the same three pillars:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> On-site SEO<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> On-page SEO<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Off-site SEO<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tips for on-site local SEO<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From a local SEO perspective, you need to evaluate some <strong>key factors<\/strong> regarding search engines and user experience.<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Authority<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Search engines give each website evaluation of its <strong>authority<\/strong>. The higher this value, the more the search engine will trust the website and will give it a better positioning within the SERP.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most important authority indicators are <strong>domain authority<\/strong> and <strong>page authority<\/strong>.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If an older domain hosts a website frequently updated with quality content, it will likely have very high domain authority.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The same goes for websites of local businesses. To reach high Authority values, you will have to put user's needs as a number one priority.<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Speed<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Loading speed<\/strong> is a very important factor in SEO for two reasons:<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It affects your website positioning.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A slow-loading website may make your visitors leave the page.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In local SEO, the second aspect is critical: users want a local business to meet their urgent needs.<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mobile-Friendly<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How many times have you been searching for your smartphone for information about places in your area?<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Restaurants, shops, gyms: if we want to learn more about the businesses near us, the first thing we do is to take our phone and look for them on Google.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It has been years now that the number of mobile searches has exceeded those from the desktop. And the trend is not going to change.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google's algorithm, after the <strong>Mobile-First Indexing<\/strong> update, began to give more importance to mobile versions of websites, scanning them first than the desktop ones.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this reason, the website of your local business must be mobile-friendly and responsive (it must adapt to every screen and device).<\/span>\r\n<h2>How to do on-page local SEO<\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We just saw what some of the most important elements of on-site SEO are. Now we need to optimize the individual pages of our websites.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your main goal is to place your website for a keyword like:<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[business type] + [city name]<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example:<\/span>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">plumbing Milan<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have found the main keyword with you want to position a specific page, you will need to optimize the page from the SEO point of view.<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Title<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The title is the first thing a user sees when she performs a search. For this reason, you should make sure that it is self-explanatory of the useful content she will find by clicking on it.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example:<\/span>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fast intervention plumbing Milan | John Doe<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be sure to put the main keyword inside the title, so that it becomes clear that your content is relevant and responds to the user's search intent.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tips for a local SEO-friendly title:\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Put the main keyword inside the title, as leftmost as possible;<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">do not forget to put your brand name inside the title, and put it after a separator (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Title |<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brand Name<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">);<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">always add the name of the city or area where your business is located.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meta Description<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You have a catchy title. Now you must convince the user to visit your page.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this case, you must highlight the need that you want to meet with the service you offer, making the user want to click on the result and receive more information.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example:<\/span>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you need to fix a leak? First plumbing intervention in Milan and province: contact us immediately.<\/span><\/i>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tips for local SEO-friendly meta descriptions:<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use a call to action that leads the user to click on the result, making her understand that your business fits her needs.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is written in the meta description should be as consistent as possible with the content of the page. Otherwise, you would fail to keep up with the promise you made to the user, increasing the bounce rate.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Headers<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using <strong>headers<\/strong>,<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you will improve the user experience on our page, helping the search engine spider understand its content.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A page must be well-formatted to make <strong>the reading smoother<\/strong> for the user and to break the content into specific and ordered topics.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides, headers help the search engine understand the page topic. As a result, you should use them to enter primary and secondary keywords.<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Structured data by schema.org\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Structured data helps<\/strong> the search engine better interpret information on our page.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This data belongs to a vocabulary from which you can draw on.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you're working on placing your local business within the SERP, implementing structured data can lead to an incredible leap in quality, enriching your snippet.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On schema.org you can find a list of properties you can implement on your page.<\/span>\r\n\r\nOn Schema.org, you can find the complete <a href=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/LocalBusiness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">list of properties<\/a> for local businesses.\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">URL<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When talking about local activity, the ideal URL of the website page should be something like:<\/span>\r\n\r\n<i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.businessname.com\/main-keyword<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make sure that the part after the slash contains the main keyword and that it is easily readable. Then avoid URLs of this kind: www.businessname.com\/?P=123<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0www.businessname.com\/category\/subcategory1\/ subcategory 2\/<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">main-keyword<\/span><\/i><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tips for local SEO-friendly URLs:\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make your main keyword clear, to help the search engine understand the content of the page.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Write the URL in a way that makes it as readable as possible for the user, thus improving their experience.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>How to do off-site SEO<\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Off-site SEO, also known as off-page SEO, includes all those techniques intended to improve the positioning of your pages <strong>without working on the website<\/strong>.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, in the case of local businesses, doing a good off-site SEO will allow you to gain an advantage on your competitors<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Link Building<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The main off-page activity consists of link building: receiving <strong>backlinks<\/strong> from quality and sites that are relevant to your business will help you climb the tops of the search results page.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To help your local SEO, you should try to build links to and from websites of other local businesses, such as:<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Local news sites and blogs:\u00a0<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can write guest posts or pay for advertising your business on their websites. <\/span>This is a grey hat SEO practice, so be careful. If you're not sure about what you're doing, ask a professional.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Local businesses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: you can contact them and propose a link building deal.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Associations and local authorities<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: like for local businesses, you can also offer associations and local government a donation or to sponsor their projects.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social Media<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nowadays, social media is essential to <strong>improve the visibility<\/strong> of local activities.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating social profiles related to your business offers several benefits, including:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> To let your target to find you online easily.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Additional traffic channels to your site.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Benefits in terms of social proof.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To know more about the factors that influence local SEO, have a look at our article.<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google My Business<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Google My Business<\/strong> (or GMB) is a free Google platform, designed to help local businesses to appear in the SERP and to show the user the most important information about them.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google My Business has several tools that will allow you to manage your online presence. With it, you can show your products or services and much more.<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The benefits of Google My Business<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By registering your business on Google My Business, you will improve your brand's presence within the Google ecosystem.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you sign up for Google My Business, your business will appear:<\/span>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> On the Google Information Tab.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Your Google Maps.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/intl\/en_en\/business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Visit Google My Business<\/a>.\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Maps<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How many times have you searched for directions to a particular place or store?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost always, the answer has been provided to you by Google Maps that brought you there safe and sound.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your presence on Google Maps will increase the visibility of your local business; not being there, on the contrary, means to not exist to the potential customers.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other platforms for local businesses<\/span><\/h3>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Besides Google, there many other platforms designed for local businesses that are used to look for advice about places to go.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let's see some of the most famous:<\/span>\r\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Trustpilot<\/span><\/h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it does not target only local businesses, many users rely on Trustpilot for <strong>feedback about companies<\/strong>.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There you can also find reviews and ratings of local businesses such as B&amp;Bs and restaurants.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Getting excellent ratings in this portal greatly increases the social proof of your business and encourages potential customers to rely on your services.<\/span>\r\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yelp<\/span><\/h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yelp has more than 180 million reviews, making it one of the most important portals for local activities.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just as with Trustpilot, registering your business on Yelp will improve your visibility and let you have more contacts with your <strong>customers<\/strong>, responding to their doubts and criticism.<\/span>\r\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tripadvisor<\/span><\/h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, we cannot forget to mention TripAdvisor. Whether you run a tourist resort, restaurant, or business, you must be on TripAdvisor.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Again, optimizing our presence within it will give an important <strong>boost to the authority<\/strong> - at least online - of your business.<\/span>","link":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/blog\/local-seo\/","name":"Local SEO","slug":"local-seo","taxonomy":"category","parent":0,"meta":[],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":139,"it":141},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/taxonomies\/category"}],"wp:post_type":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seotesteronline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts?categories=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}