What is Local SEO?
While Traditional SEO boosts visibility nationally / internationally, Local SEO is highly targeted form usually restricted to a province, city, or even a neighborhood
If you’re a local business in Canada, Local SEO ensures you are present when nearby customers search for what you offer. When done right, it turns search into foot traffic and sales
Common Local SEO Tactics revolve around the following
- Well optimized Google Business Profile (GBP)
- High-quality original photos and videos of your business
- Content answering top local search queries (eg. best local seo agency ontario)
- Consistent citations on relevant directories eg. Yelp, Yellow Pages Canada, Google
- Online review management.
Why is Local SEO Important for Your Small Business?
If you are a restaurant owner, lawyer, plumber, physiotherapist or a dentist based in Canada, Local SEO is worth looking into. That’s because,
- 88% of Online Canadians use a smartphone
- And it’s estimated that 71% of them use their phones to search for local businesses.
- And according to Google, 78% of people who search with the word “nearby” on their phones visit the business within a day.
- 28% of these “nearby” searches actually end up becoming purchases,
Simply put, it’s very important to be present when customers are searching for what you are offering. Or else, you risk losing business to more visible competitors
What comprises Local Rankings?
Now that we established the significance of Local SEO, let’s dive into what really goes into ranking high enough when a search happens.
It all boils down to user intent.
If Google recognizes a local search, it often invokes something known as the “local pack”. A local pack or a snack pack is typically a list of 3-5 businesses most relevant to the searcher and a map that goes with it.
For example, the “local pack” invoked after we searched for “physiotherapist near me oakville” looks like the following
So how do you ensure you appear in the local pack when a relevant search occurs?
According to Google, your success depends on three factors: relevance, distance, and popularity. Together, they help Google find the best match for customers’ searches.
- Relevance measures how well your business matches a searcher’s query. Google looks at multiple signals to determine whether your business is exactly what a user is looking for.
Having the best chance of scoring high on relevance resides on how well your Google Business Profile (GBP) is optimised.
Factors such as
- Business Name, Address, Phone No (NAP) so they know who you are, where you are located and a way to instantly contact you.
- Operating Hours so they have clarity on when to reach out to you best
- Social Proof in the form of reviews helps build trust
- Website Redirect Link to help customers understand you better before doing business with you.
- Distance is nothing but the physical distance between the searcher and your business. A search like “physiotherapist near me”, and Google prioritises the most proximal businesses.
Distance works differently depending on where your business is:
- Urban areas: Google prioritizes businesses very close to the searcher
- Rural areas: The radius is wider than urban areas given the sparse options available to the searcher
Google’s Vicinity Update (As of Nov 2021) helped favour local businesses over big businesses giving a chance to win provided local SEO tactics are applied strategically
- Popularity or Prominence means how popular a business is. Well known and reviewed places are more likely to show up in search results. This factor’s also based on info like how many backlinks point back to your business and how many reviews you have on your GBP. More reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking.
How to Do Local SEO Well?
Claim and Optimise your Google Business Profile (GBP)
- Claim and get verified – Make sure your GBP is claimed, verified and accurately represents your business on Maps and Local Search
- Complete the 11 GBP fields – Filling out your business name, operating hours, address, phone number, primary and secondary categories and other fields will go a long way to help you optimise your rank. (Crucial to take your time and get this right)
- Add high quality photos – Upload aesthetically pleasing, relevant photos of your business products, storefront, etc to establish further trust in the eyes of Google and the end searcher. Refrain from using AI images wherever possible
Citation building across directories
- Directory listings – Alongside GBP, work towards listing on important local listings like Yelp, Yellow pages, etc
- NAP consistency – Make sure your Name, Address, Phone no are consistent across all directories to ensure you rank high enough
Increase & Manage Reviews
- Ask for Reviews from clients – Make sure you have a cadence of asking for reviews from your beloved customers
- Be Reponsive – If you encounter a new review; good or bad, make sure you are prompt in responding to it
Create Content catered to local searches
- Build location-specific pages – Create dedicated pages for the locations you cater to or specific service areas and make sure you put in relevant content in these pages
Technical and On-page SEO
- Hyper Specific Meta Titles/Descriptions – Optimise your content to include local search related meta titles / descriptions to have the best chance of ranking
- Have a mobile-friendly website – Make sure your website loads fast and renders well on mobile devices as majority searches happen there
- Location Schema Markup – Include a Schema Markup on your site to give search engines clear information about your business, hours, location and reviews.
- Internal link your site well – Make sure all pages on site (Home, service-specific, location specific) are linked to each other.
Track the right metrics
- Don’t be vague, set a goal that fits your context – If you are a plumbing service based in Milton, your primary goal should be something like – Achieve 50% more clicks-to-call from GBP in the next three months
- Track Website visits filtered by your target geography – If you intend to increase footfall on your site via local searches, then it’s important to you tracks visits data in your web analytics tool like GA4 and filter it by the location you wish to get traffic from
Tools to Leverage
With regards to tools, less is more. Tools like, Google Business Profile (GBP) Dashboard, Google Search Console (GSC), Google Analytics 4 (GA4) are enough to get started
If you want to automate your citation / review management, tools like Moz Local, SEMrush can come very useful to free up your and your team’s time for more important tasks
Case Study
Giggles Newborn Studio, A photography studio based in Milton needed help becoming more prominent to match up to their target audience’s searches.
Within four months of optimizing their GBP, working on the citations, increase their reviews, we achieved the following –
- 30% increase in request for directions made from GBP
- Website Clicks to the site improved by 11%
*Period – July-Aug 2024 vs. May-June 2024*
That’s the power of a focused local SEO strategy
In essence, to win in local search, like anything, getting the basics right is key. Optimize your GBP, manage your reviews in a timely manner and make sure your NAP citations are consistent across the board, and you will be set up very well to show up when it really matters.
If you feel overwhelmed by the steps involved? We’re here to help. At Performlytics, we work with small businesses across Canada like yours to get seen by potential customers. Book a call and get started on your journey to dominate local search today!
