One of the topics that I receive a lot of questions sent to inbox, email the most is Local SEO.
Local SEO can be understood as a way of optimizing keywords related to a certain locality or territory. For example, the keywords seo services tphcm; Ho Chi Minh website design service; teaching seo in ho chi minh city.. are all local SEO keywords.
Obviously, because there are many businesses that want to focus their customers in a small area, in order to exploit all the potential customer files first. Besides, to ensure the best quality when expanding nationwide.
For example, GTV SEO can only receive Google SEO services in Ho Chi Minh City, but cannot receive projects in the central and northern regions. Because SEO services have a long implementation time (over 6 months), they need to work with customers continuously and regularly. That way we can serve our customers in the best and most efficient way.
46% of Google search results are about local businesses. This number also clearly states the need to do Local SEO of the majority of businesses. But in fact, 56% of businesses do not have Google My Business yet .
Did you know that creating Google My Business is the foundation for the entire Local SEO process? If you're among the 56% of businesses that aren't listed in Google My Business, I'm afraid you'll have a harder time.
Google My Business is not only a good start but also brings unexpected results when you do Local SEO.
So what is Local SEO? How many benefits? I will present and guide Local SEO in detail for you to better understand through the article below!
Come on, let's get started!
Chapter 1: Brief about Local SEO
In this chapter, I will bring you the most basic knowledge about Local SEO. First, we will learn about the concept, as well as understand more about why the website needs to do Local SEO. Then, I'll show you how Local SEO works best. Start!
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your internet presence to attract more businesses from local related searches. These searches are usually from Google and other search engines like: Bing, Yelp, Apple Maps, etc.
Image describes Local SEO as the process of optimizing your presence on the internet
However, Google is still the most popular tool for finding local businesses. In Vietnam, Google accounts for ~87% of the country's market share. Because of that, in this article, I only focus on guiding you how to optimize your website on Google.
What is SEO Google and why does every business need SEO? 6 "surprise" benefits in the article will help you answer exactly that!
Why is Local SEO important?
This content I will present briefly and make it easy for you to understand, as follows, please pay attention!
First: 46% of searches in Google have “Local Intent” (Search Engine Roundtable).
Local Intent – Local Intent
Second: 29% of all Google SERPs contain a Local Pack in the search results (RankRanger).
29% of Google SERPs contain Local Packs
76% of users search for something locally on their phone when visiting a store/business (Google).
Through the above figures, you can also see that the need to search for local information (local) accounts for a huge part of SEO. Therefore, if your business appears before these searches, it is very likely that users will come to your business in just a few minutes and become customers.
Next, let's find out how Local SEO works!
How does local SEO work?
Local SEO works just like a “normal” Google search.
When someone does a search, Google will scan through its index to provide the best results for the user's query.
However, what makes Local SEO unique is that Google uses a different set of ranking factors to rank local search results.
In fact, Local SEO has a set of ranking signals, including:
The location the person is looking for
NAP Citations
List of Google My Business information
Keywords used in Google My Business
Online reviews
Keywords used in online reviews
Number of "check-ins" at that location
Share on social networks
Google Maps Star Rating for Business
Local SEO has a set of ranking signals
'Snack Pack' search results and organic search results
Before going into this section, I will take a simple example for you to visualize. We have 2 concepts: search results “Snack Pack” with organic search results.
For example, I am in Binh Thanh district and want to find a coffee shop address to buy morning coffee. When I do a Google search, I get the following results:
Search results for “snack pack”
Natural search results
As you can see on the picture I have clearly demarcated between the 2 search results. Results include: snack packs and natural results.
You must be all too familiar with natural results! But what about the “snack pack” results?
What is Google Snack Pack?
The Google Snack Pack is the frame that appears on top of the search results page. When you enter the name of a place related to the direction, the place through Google. The Snack Pack pane will typically display the names of the three most popular local businesses. As the picture above is the name of 3 cafes near me and at the same time are the most popular.
According to a recent survey by Moz, 33% of all users will click on a “snack pack” result and 40% will click on a natural result.
Don't forget, too, that Google searches are performed across a variety of devices and applications
Similar to the same keyword phrase "recent coffee shop". I conduct a search on my mobile phone and the Google Maps app.
Some examples of snack packs that pop up when searching on Google
In this article, I will also show you how to optimize on these two applications in the following section:
Before we begin…
Make sure your website is optimized for mobile visitors. Because 61% of mobile searches are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-optimized website.
Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test tool to test this:
Check if your website is mobile-friendly
You also need to make sure that your website layout is nice, clean, and not a mess like this:
Make sure the site layout is clutter-free
It doesn't matter how much your website ranks, because in fact, even if you are in the top 3 but the website layout is not aesthetically pleasing, no one will care or contact you.
Finally, I recommend that you prepare a full declaration of business information, such as: name, address, phone number and website of the business.
This will be useful for future work! Now on to the next part!
What are the benefits that Local SEO brings?
Increase website rankings on search results
Local SEO strategy helps your website to rank high on both Google Maps and Google Search. This is an arrow that hits 2 targets, helping the website to reach users optimally, increasing the conversion rate.
Increase brand awareness
Local SEO helps you appear with high rankings that will increase visibility, which means your brand is more known, easily recognized, and remembered more.
Increase conversion rate
Local SEO brings high conversions
All marketing strategies in general and SEO strategies in particular are aimed at the ultimate goal of increasing sales and profits for businesses. Local SEO is also among them, the conversion rate on the website will increase.
Potential customers in a small area will be more potential in a large area. When targeting the right geographic location with potential customers, businesses will get maximum benefits with minimal costs.
High return on investment
High conversion rate thanks to Local SEO, which indicates it is a good investment. You need to spend budget to advertise for a potential area instead of spending a large amount for all regions of Vietnam. Statistics show that users who search for geographical keywords are more likely to close orders than users who search for general keywords.
Is an integral part of overall SEO optimization
In the overall SEO, there is Local SEO, which plays the role of reporting to Google about the presence of the business on the map. A business's presence in one location is evidenced by photos, products, and user reviews.
Online frequency of the business.
Reviews of customers about the business.
The extent to which businesses care about updating information for customers.
And there are many other factors by which Google evaluates whether a business is showing in a physical location. Through this factor assessment, Google can trust the business and increase the ranking score of the website on the keyword search table.
What is keyword spam?
Keyword spam represents the repetition of worthless content over and over again, annoying and annoying to readers. This leads to low evaluation from Google and users, keyword spam shows website managers repeating keywords with too dense frequency, abusing keywords unrelated to the article, etc.
Keyword stuffing too much can be penalized by Google
Articles that use irrelevant keywords, try to grudge keywords will be penalized by Google and marked as spam. This negatively affects your website and will result in a penalty from the SERPs. You need to know what spam is and avoid keyword abuse, keyword stuffing to avoid penalties.
What is Local Search?
Instead of a regular search, a local search is a user search targeting a specific geographical location.
For example, users search for places to eat at a specific location, Phu Nhuan district, they will type the phrase "eating around here". Google will understand and display dining locations near the user's current location.
Google can track your location if you search with a mobile phone or a desktop computer that allows location access, you don't need to enter a location Google will determine your location automatically.
Website ranking factors in Local Search
Google will base on the following factors to rank websites on Local SERP:
Relevance – Relevance
Google will rely on business-related information to provide relevant results
Through the declared business information, Google will determine the relevance of the query and that information in order to appear the most relevant results. For example, queries about products, services, addresses, etc.
Distance – Distance
The distance from the user's location to the business location will be determined by the global positioning system GPS, which is an important criterion when ranking on the results page. Simply, when searching related to a specific, local geographic area, your SEO in that location will likely rank high.
Prominence – Popularity
Popularity determines the ranking on Google Maps of businesses, this criterion is evaluated by Google from information from businesses such as links, reviews, articles, customer scores, etc.
Based on that, Google evaluates the popularity and decides to rank that business on the Local map.
How is Local SEO different from regular SEO?
Local SEO is essentially SEO but targeting scope, oriented towards specific geographical and local locations. SEO is simply SEO that is global in scope.
It can be seen that Local SEO is a constituent part of comprehensive SEO, more fully, SEO business will include the following main components:
Technical SEO: Technical SEO optimization on a sitewide (Sitewide).
Onpage SEO: SEO elements on the page.
Offpage SEO: SEO factors off the website, also known as Offside.
Local SEO: Focus on local-oriented SEO for content.
Local map packs and organic results
According to Google statistics, up to 46% of searches today are local. This is a large number, depending on the industry, there will be different specific numbers, but usually up to ½ of the search volume for products and services associated with a certain region or locality.
People who are in the locality you search for, half of these people searching are local. This is your opportunity to reach potential customers, do you want to take advantage of the opportunity to appear before them?
If so, you need to know how the specific benefits of Local SEO will help you effectively attract customers.
Customers are tending to shop online, search for products on the internet more and find local businesses that provide those products and services.
Mobile device is widely used, this device also supports regional search very well.
Local search has a high conversion rate, because it shows up at the right time and location.
The trend of local search is becoming more and more popular, especially for food services, hotel services, etc. Now is the time to take advantage of Local SEO services to promote your business to catch up with competitors. player.
Most businesses will improve business performance and increase revenue from applying Local SEO. If you want more profit and don't want to be left behind in this competition then start now.
Chapter 2: Keyword Search for Local SEO
Keyword research determines the success or failure of a website. Finding the right keywords can you build content that meets the search needs of users. Join me to learn about finding the right keywords for Local SEO in this Chapter 2!
Take my own business as an example – GTV SEO. When doing keyword SEO, I want to pop up searches like:
“GTV SEO”;
“Top Seo service in Ho Chi Minh City”;
“What time does GTV SEO work?;
“What time does GTV SEO close?”
“How long does it take to walk to GTV SEO?”;
“GTV SEO phone number”;
But all of the above are not traditional queries. Because Google will show results about them as tags in SERPs as shown below:
Google Tag Results
Google pulls this information from information on Google My Business . What about other “traditional” keywords? How to find out local keywords. And how should you optimize your website?
Here are a few strategies I recommend:
SiLo (Service in Locations) Structure Analysis
Researching local keywords is actually not difficult at all. For most businesses today, the main keyword must be clearly specified.
Let's say you work for interior design services in Ho Chi Minh City – how do you know how people will find information about your business?
They'll probably do a Google search for terms like:
“Ho Chi Minh City interior design”;
“office interior design in Ho Chi Minh City”;
“interior designer hcm”
Did you notice the general format of the three sentences above? That is a prime example of a silo structure. Just list the services you provide and include the specific address of that place, then you have a rich set of keywords already.
Keyword set with location
If you use Ahrefs, you can copy and paste these keywords into the Keywords Explorer search to see each keyword's traffic and other metrics.
Use Ahrefs to see the traffic for each keyword
TIP FOR YOU:
If your company is located in a small district, the SEO process will be a bit difficult. Specifically, the search engine won't collect enough real information to show you the exact search volume.
But don't worry, I will give you a little trick like this:
Adjust your search to a larger nearby city. For example, from Bien Hoa to Ho Chi Minh City, for example. Also check their search volume for these locations.
Then do the calculation according to the formula:
(Your local population / the population in the nearby city you selected) * keyword search volume corresponding to the city you selected.
(About population data, you can find it through Google.)
Note: The result from the above calculation is actually just a relative number.
Google Autocomplete
The next step is to use Google Autocomplete to find more search suggestions.
Performing this task is extremely simple. Just type in your main keyword phrase into the Google search box, then record the searches that Google suggests.
For example, I search with the keyword phrase "coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City".
Google automatically suggests more keywords when searching
Make a note of related keyword phrases. You can then move on to continue searching for other locations or keywords.
If using Ahrefs, you can skip this whole process. Thanks to using the search suggestions report in Keywords Explorer. Google Autocomplete will then give you a bunch of interesting suggestions.
Track the keywords your competitors are ranking for
I have to admit that Google is extremely quick to understand the user's search intent. That's probably why if a certain page has reached the top 1 of Google, there is a chance that ~1000 other keywords related to that page should be in the top 10 at least.
To find out about your competitors' keywords, you use the Ahrefs Content Gap tool . Also view popular keyword extracts for many competitors at once.
See more about how to analyze competitor websites with Ahrefs . tool
Thanks to that, we come up with a bunch of cool keyword ideas for our services.
You can use the Ahrefs Content Gap tool to learn about your competitors' keywords
Chapter 3: Google My Business, Bing Places, Apple Maps
The creation and validation of Google My Business is considered the most important part of local SEO.
Setting up these tools isn't too difficult - just follow the instructions that Google gives you.
But with Google My Business (GMB) alone, there are a few things to keep in mind that can be of significant benefit to business owners.
According to Moz, GMB is one of the top local ranking factors for both “snack pack” and organic search results.
To set up GMB, go to the link https://business.google.com/create , then follow these steps:
Step 1. Sign in your business name
First, Google asks you to fill in the business name. You have two options here:
Create a new business
Business name verification is available
Start typing and Google will search for your business in their system.
If your business is already registered, it will be displayed immediately, if not, then click the option "create a business with this name"
Note : Just enter the business name only! This is not the place for you to insert keywords.
Step 2: Enter business address
The next step, Google asks you to add the business address section.
Enter your business address in the information boxes
You just need to enter the company address and you're done.
But there are information that will somewhat confuse you as to how to declare:
Do you have a home business?
Have one or more business partners and both work from home (meaning too many addresses)
Do you have a mobile business, such as selling food on trucks?
Own 1 or more offices
You have an online business, but you don't have a certain office in real life
Your customers include people who live around the local area as well as those who are far away.
If you fall into the above situations, don't worry too much. I'll show you some effective fixes:
If there is a real office in real life, enter the address of that office. Or if you and your partner work from home, fill out the address form of the person closest to the business.
If there is only "online office", don't include that address! Doing so is against GMB laws! Use your home address instead.
Remember, all information must be consistent with each other. So I recommend copying the information from the spreadsheet you created earlier to ensure that this is both accurate and consistent with the information on your website (and any other business listings you may have). participation).
If you run a mobile business, you should check the box “I take delivery of goods and services to customers”
Check this box if you have a mobile business
Well, if some shops and restaurants offer their own delivery service, they should also check this section.
Then, another box will appear with the content "Hide my address".
Google gives you the option to hide your business address
Checking this box means then, even though Google knows where your business is (for verification purposes). They will not show your address to users. The address information will remain private and not public on your GMB site.
This item is especially convenient for those who do business from home.
Step 3: Declare the correct address
The next screen will show a map with the location pin. You can drag and move around to precisely locate your business.
Locate your business exactly on the map
If the result showing 9/10 is correct, then you can rest assured to trust Google. But if you find that the pin is in the wrong place, just move it to another place.
Step 4: Choose the right category
Categories will help Google define the niche of your website. From there, it is the foundation for keywords in that field to be able to get to the top, also the premise for you to SEO thousands of Google map keywords that I will talk about below.
Step 5: Enter your phone number and website address
This part is so simple, I don't have much to say other than to remind you that all the information you enter on GMB and your spreadsheet must match!
Step 6: Verify information again
Before your GMB information goes online, you need to verify it thoroughly.
This is usually done by phone or by postcard — just follow Google's instructions.
Step 7: Optimize information more effectively
In addition to verifying the information filled in, I think you should further optimize your GMB information by:
Add more categories;
Upload some photos (ideally, photos taken at your facility or at least nearby, as these will be attached with location metadata);
Declare opening hours;
List all the services you offer;
Add any additional phone numbers;
Add relevant properties/widgets;
Bing Places (if SEO is global/Us)
The next tool is Bing Places.
Basically, the steps in Bing Places are similar to Google My Business. However, reporting to Bing is not very important because it only accounts for 7.81% of the total market share in the US. This is the part you should optimize more if you are implementing SEO in the US market.
But I encourage you to do more anyway because more is better than less. Now let's get started!
Step 0. Check and detect your name is not on the list
First, you confirm if your business is already listed in Bing Places. By going to Bing Maps and entering your business name. If so, you will see it appear in the search results box as shown below:
Check if your business is already on Bing
If not, you will be redirected to the ownership declaration page. Or you can also add your own business.
Step 1: Choose the right type of business
Next – you choose your business form and business location. Here are your options for business types:
Small and Medium Enterprises (1-10 locations)
Business in the form of business chains (more than 10 locations)
Online business (no physical location)
Note:
The online business form (option #3) does not meet the requirements to participate in the Bing Places list. So I recommend you only sign in to Bing if you are a #1 business.
Let's wait and see what miracles will happen! — it is a series of options that will appear for you to import data from Google My Business into it.
Can import data directly via Bing from Google My Business
If you are already verified on GMB, just click on the green box to confirm. This not only saves time, but also reduces the chance of mistakes. Otherwise, enter your business name and location (recommended ZIP code) as usual.
Bing will then search for your business. But if that business doesn't exist yet, as we said earlier. Please click on the "Create new business" button to set up a new business.
Click here to create new business information
Step 2: Declare basic information
In this step, you enter all information about your business name, address and website
Note: Similar to the GMB side, any information you declare to Bing must match what you enter on your spreadsheet or in other lists.
Bing also has an option to hide the address if you don't want it to show up in the search results. Especially in case you work from home or run an online business.
Bing also offers a feature to hide business addresses
Step 3: Choose a category for your business
First of all, if you are a doctor or a health professional, then you tick the special box with the content as shown below. That's the completion of the listing declaration step.
Find and select the right business category for you
In other cases, press the “browse” button and select one of the 11 available business segments. Select “I don't know” if you are unsure. Then choose the right category for your business.
Bing's listings aren't as extensive as Google's, but the advantage is that you can select multiple categories (up to 10) here and then select the "main" category later.
You click on the "browse" box to display a suggestion window, then search for the appropriate business category there.
A more relevant category can be found in the “Browse” section
Just because you have 10 options doesn't mean you have to choose all 10. It's best to just tick the most relevant category. Usually, just 2 or 3 is fine.
Then, out of the selected items, take out 1 as the main category.
Choose the main category from among the categories selected by you
The last step is to add a description for your business, insert some keywords here but how to be reasonable, not too much stuffing.
Step 4: Add phone number, website, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and TripAdvisor address
In this section, the best way is to copy-paste the information from your spreadsheet through Bing to ensure accuracy and consistency between them.
Bing also shows social profile links in the Knowledge Graph panel when people search for your business. This is also how you create Entity for your website.
So if there are, add them in. If not, you can add it later
Step 5. Add image
You can add up to 10 photos in this section.
Apple Maps (if SEO is global/Us)
Apple's iPhone has a 32.9% market share in the US – about a quarter of all smartphone users. You can use Google Maps instead of Apple Maps, but there are 2 things you should remember:
Millions of iOS users still use Apple Maps as the default mapping app on the iPhone. Apple's information security is pretty tight, so I couldn't find any up-to-date statistics on how many iOS users use Apple Maps. But, since it's the default maps app on iPhone, I bet most iOS users use Apple maps
Apple Maps is integrated into Siri and Spotlight searches. If you ask for directions on Siri, Apple Maps will start. Same with Spotlight searches. The latest statistics show that Siri is being actively used on more than half a billion devices. This is a huge number!
Bottom line: if you're doing local SEO, you should claim and optimize your Apple Maps listing.
You should claim and optimize your Apple Maps listing when SEO Local
Create a location page for websites with multiple business addresses
Location page can be understood as an information page about the location of each place for businesses with many business addresses to help customers easily find where your business is according to the area they are living in.
Location pages bring efficiency in terms of Local SEO for business locations with many branches, creating a location page or doorway page provides value for users, so it is not penalized by Google.
Creating a location page is similar to the Local SEO process, except that instead of attaching the homepage, we attach the URL of this location page and adjust it to the address in the NAP.
Chapter 4: Local Citation (Name, address, phone number – NAP)
Local citations are online mentions of any business name, address and phone number. ... For SEO Local citations effectively, let's learn more about this through Chapter 4!
Citations are online mentions of your business, usually showing your business name, address, and phone number (NAP = Name – Address – Phone)
There are two main types of citations: structured citations and unstructured citations. Here is an example of a structured citation:
Sample a structured citation
Essentially, structured citations include NAP attributes presented in a well-structured format by the websites they appear on, such as in business information sections or business directories, etc.
Here's an example of an unstructured citation:
Sample an unstructured citation
Citations do not have the usual structure of mentions in blog articles, e-newspaper websites or business blogs. They are quotes that are constructed without a certain structure.
How important are NAP citations?
There are two reasons why NAP citations are important:
According to Moz, citation signals are one of the top ranking factors. This statement is absolutely true when endorsed with snack-pack search results and organic search. This is because NAP information across the web is consistently presented to further verify the data Google has on file (GMB) for a particular business. On the other hand, inconsistent NAP information will confuse, deceive, and mislead both Google and users. This leads to a poor user experience.
Google isn't the only place people look for businesses. Besides that there is Facebook, directory, etc. Listing the correct NAP information on your website will allow potential customers to find your business, which in turn converts into loyal customers and contributes to a significant increase in revenue.
So, when doing Local SEO, you must ensure 2 things:
Existing citations are accurate and consistent.
Build more related citations together.
Let's discover how to do the above 2 operations in detail:
Do a citation check
Most businesses will have a citation already in place. But often at least some of these will be incorrect or incomplete.
There will be businesses displayed with the correct name and address but the wrong phone number. Others have the correct name and phone number, but keep the old address unchanged. And there are also citations that only show 1 or 2 of the 3 essential elements.
Note: In case you have many office phone numbers, you should only declare 1 number to ensure consistency between all information.
Here's how to find inappropriate, incomplete, or duplicate NAP citations:
Check NAP citation manually
Fixing any issues with the primary dataset will not remove all citations. I bet there will still be some inconsistent, incorrect or incomplete data.
The only way to wipe this data is to do manual citation checks and clean them up. Here are a few ways you can apply:
To find incomplete NAP citations, you rely on the following factors:
“Business name” + “address” “exact phone number”
“Business name” + “exact phone number” – “address”
“Exact phone number” + “address” – “Business name”
To find incorrect NAP citations:
“Business name” + “address” + “old/incorrect phone number”
“Business name” + “correct phone number” + “old/incorrect address”
“correct phone number” + “correct address” + “former business name”
Build more citations
Once you have found and fixed the complete error for the citations, the next step is to build more citations by searching more websites that claim directories.
You should start with citations:
TripAdvisor (for restaurants, hotels, ...)
FindLaw.com (for Law)
HealthGrades.com (for the medical profession)
Basically, you just need to find any article online related to your industry.
Here are a few ways to find them:
Use Whitespark's citation search engine (for foreign markets)
If you do business overseas you can use Whitespark's local citation finder tool to help you find many ranking opportunities based on your location and keyword phrases.
Just enter your location and some keywords related to your business, and the tool will do a surprisingly quick ranking boost. As for the Vietnamese market, use the Ahrefs "stick as you like".
Ahrefs – Great support tool for local SEO in Vietnam
Use the Anchors Text report in Ahrefs Site Explorer by following these steps:
Go to Site Explorer -> enter your competitor's domain name -> select Anchors
Then you find anchors of the type:
"Access website"
“Website”
"Click here"
“Show web page”
These types of generic anchors usually come from website directories. Then select the web directory to declare NAP.
Use the backlinks data report in Ahrefs Site Explorer
You can also use the data in the backlinks report and select the “nofollow” option. Here you can often find your competitors' web directories.
Go to Site Explorer -> enter your competitor's domain name -> select backlinks -> select nofollow
See competitor's web directory through nofollow backlinks
Using the Ahrefs Link Intersect tool
First, you go to Google and search for a keyword phrase with the syntax [keyword][place].
Then, copy-paste the top 10 websites into the Link Intersect tool on Ahrefs. As for your website domain, enter the "But doesn't link to" option.
Check out the top 10 competitor sites with Ahrefs' Link Intersect
In a moment, Ahrefs Link Intersect Tool will show you which websites are linking to the competitor websites you just imported.
Well, you have to make sure that they are all real competitor websites, not web directories.
Click on “Show link opportunities”. You will know which websites are pointing to one or more of your competitor websites, which are not pointing to you yet. Find a way to get backlinks from them, you can invest in it. Because the websites you just searched for are all in the top 10, that means the backlinks from the other website are quite effective for you to invest in.
Upload and sync NAP on social
It can be seen that, in addition to Google, today's popular social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. are one of the effective support tools for businesses in updating google trends as well as maintaining activities . move more efficiently.
Google always appreciates businesses that are active on social networks. For that reason, fully register your business' NAP (name - address - phone number) information on all platforms that you can operate on.
In general, using social as an effective source of connection with users to attract potential customers and improve the overall ranking of the website on search engines.
Chapter 5: On-page SEO
Google regularly updates many different algorithms to bring the best search experience to users. So, whether you are a professional SEOer or a newbie to SEO, Onpage SEO skills are still skills that require you to regularly update and hone every day.
You are probably familiar with On-page SEO tips such as:
Add keywords to the H1 . tag
Insert keyword in title tag
Add keywords to the URL
Create short, concise URLs
Write a unique Meta Description tag
But to rank locally, you need to add elements like: display NAP information and add relevant Schema Markup.
There are also differences in approach depending on how many business locations you have. Now let's learn the on-page tips in local seo:
Set up your site structure to rank for Local Landing Pages
If your business is spread across multiple regions/cities and you want to rank for keywords for each of those locations, you need to set up local landing pages.
Here are some of the structures I recommend for you:
thuexemay.com/hanoi/
thuexemay.com/ho-chi-min/
thuexemay.com/da-lat/
They are all sample structures for phrases with the addition of location, such as: “car rental [with location]” or “car rental [with location].”
So it's clear that local landing pages help boost keyword rankings across many different locations.
Note: Also don't create too many local landing pages if you don't have a real representative office there. Do not foolishly create dozens, hundreds of locations or in places that are too far from your business area, but only create local landings with a purpose, a clear purpose.
Ranking for local landing pages
Optimize your Homepage (home page)
Most businesses should optimize their homepage for the same main business location. Mean:
For example, with GTV website, I will optimize my website homepage with the keyword phrase "seo service in Ho Chi Minh City"
You may ask the question: But I want to sell my services to all customers in the southern region?? and if you don't add the word "ho chi minh city" in, the search volume is 3, 4 times more??
I completely agree with you! However, try searching for the word "seo service" without adding the word Ho Chi Minh city?
The results of “seo service” are still in Ho Chi Minh area
Do you see? Even without adding the location section behind, Google still returns results in the area you live in.
This is because they can infer your location from things like GPS (on mobile), computer IP, etc. They know where you are, so they just automatically add your location. you just search for keywords.
So you can still optimize your homepage locally (about a specific area).
Here are a few suggestions:
Show NAP information (add this to the footer, if you don't have local landing pages for other locations)
Register office address on Google Map
Publicly display any feedback/reviews/user experiences.
Add relevant Schema Markup
In case you open too many business branches, you do not need to optimize your homepage to a certain location because doing so is useless. Instead, optimize the homepage for the main keywords (car rental) without adding a position after it.
>> Learn more: Instructions on how to optimize Google Maps and typical case studies of GTV SEO.
Optimizing Local Landing Pages
Your local landing pages should be optimized for each location
Let's say you are a wedding photographer based in Ho Chi Minh City, taking photos in District 1 and District 3 in the city. Then you can create local landing pages like this:
chuphinhcuoi/quan-1
chuphinhcuoi/quan-3
Here are a few things you can add to your local landing pages:
Business hours;
Local NAP (if you have a facility there);
Related keywords, evenly scattered
Add Schema Markup to your site
Schema is really not as complicated as many people think.
It is simply a piece of code added to give Google more useful information about a certain business or website. At the same time, thanks to Schema, Google better understand the data displayed on your website.
Results displayed when adding Schema Markup to the website
You can refer to the article Entity Building: Schema Secrets in SEO to better understand Schema and how to add Schema Markup to your website.
AMP optimization
AMP is not the factor responsible for bringing the website to the top, but makes it convenient for mobile users by speeding up website loading times.
Content is also a pretty important ranking factor, but if the pages are not accessible on mobile apps, then the content has almost no meaning.
That's why it's important to build websites that are compatible with all devices; at the same time upgrade the access speed to be faster and more convenient.
Not only does AMP help speed up load times and improve mobile ranking over time, but AMP also has the ability to organize content on a web page in a logical way so that it doesn't get mixed up with images and sounds. bar or advertisement.
Using GEO Sitemap and KML . file
Use GEO Sitemap to help your website Google Earth update quickly
Using GEO sitemap will help businesses achieve high rankings in local searches by providing information about appropriate zoning and addresses in the sitemap. KML is a special type of sitemap file, it helps your website to be recognized by Google Earth.
Chapter 6: Link building for local websites
The main purpose of link building is to increase the quantity and quality of inbound links to a website. Make it easy for search engines to review content and increase your chances of getting high rankings on Google.
According to a 2018 Moz survey, “link signals” is still considered the most important ranking factor for locally relevant organic search results..
As for the results of “snack pack,” “link signals” is the second most important factor. The point you need to understand here is that if you get backlinks from large and reputable businesses in the same locality, then of course you will stand out in the eyes of Google.
Therefore, you should build lots of local citations from local directories sites. They both allow you to point backlinks to your site.
The problem, however, is that most of the backlinks from the local web directory are nofollow. You can do that or get a little more creative by creating useful content to attract backlinks. I have a few suggestions for you as follows:
Get backlinks from creating useful local content
Nothing will help you win over your potential customers more than being dedicated to helping them.
Let's say you work in tourism and the market as well as your target customers are people in Ho Chi Minh City. So, what do you think will be really helpful for these people AND the high likelihood of attracting backlinks?
Here are some cool ideas for you:
List of the best articles about Ho Chi Minh City– Make a list of the best restaurants, bars, breweries, places to visit, things to do, and more when traveling in the city. HCM.
Local events calendar — Create a separate calendar that includes the most notable events in a variety of areas that will be held in Ho Chi Minh City over the next few months.
After creating unique and useful content, all you need to do is promote it on Facebook or many other social networking sites.
Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is still the best way to build high-quality backlinks.
One thing you should understand is that guest blogging is not only used for link building but also the benefits it brings to your business.
Google algorithms are getting smarter day by day. Now, they consider website content based on quality, not quantity as before. Because of that, our task is to create quality blog posts that have the potential to drive traffic to the website.
For local businesses, guest blog content is usually:
Locally relevant blogs and publications
Blog for each specific industry.
Some more cool link building tricks!
It is impossible for me to list all the link building techniques in detail. Instead, you can refer to a lot of backlink building tips through the article Secret Techniques: 75 Extremely Effective SEO Tips
Chapter 7: Reviews
Here are a few notes when doing Local SEO that I want to tell you.
Stay active on Google My Business
Keep updating and maintaining your activity on Google My Business so that Google can see that your business is really doing well.
Here are the three most important tasks of GMB:
Respond to customer/customer reviews;
Find out inaccuracies;
Use Google Posts to inform customers of necessary information
#1 is pretty straightforward — simply track and respond to reviews (positive and negative) in a timely manner via Google My Business
Note:
You should do the same for any review sites that are important to your business (e.g., TripAdvisor, for restaurants).
But you also need to keep an eye on incorrect edits to your list. Basically, anyone can suggest an edit to any listing on Google.
Anyone can edit business information
Google seems to make a lot of recommendations without notifying or validating the information for business owners. So it's a good idea to check back on a weekly basis to make sure everything is still correct.
Only about Google Posts
Google Posts is a small-scale blogging platform within Google My Business. All updates are displayed in the Knowledge Panel and on your listing.
Here is an example of Google Posts:
An example for Google Post
Not only does Google Posts boost rankings in the SERP, but it also provides an opportunity to attract more attention and also increase conversion rates.
Some studies even show a correlation between snack-pack rankings and Google Post activity.
You can create a Google Post from Google My Business in several ways, like:
Upload pictures
Write content (maximum 300 words)
You can also add a Call-to-Action button (“Learn More”, “Sign Up”, “Get Offer”, etc.) to include in your post.
I think local businesses should use this feature and stay active on Google Post. It doesn't take much time or effort to do, so the ROI is likely to be high.
Post new content more often
Publishing blog posts regularly will bring you 2 benefits:
Notify Google (and visitors) that your site is actively maintained; attract more links.
However, don't blog just for the sake of it — focus on quality over quantity. For small businesses, publishing one article per month is fine.
Here are some quick Local SEO implementation tips to help keep your business on track and provide more insight into improving and building a complete Local SEO.
Review competitors in local search results; what should you update and what can be done better?
Take your time filling out all the Google My Business sections and take note of the GMB ranking factors. Using Google Post, take the time to answer the questions people ask on GMB.
Ask your customers to rate, maintain reviews, and avoid mishandling negative reviews. Make sure you don't make common GMB mistakes.
Optimize every page of your website for your location. Use the basic SEO strategies I outlined above for page titles, titles, and meta descriptions. Don't forget the powerful citations, links, and localized content can bring to a website – all of which can help you achieve your goals.
Effective Local SEO Quick Tips
Here are some quick tips for implementing Local SEO to help your business stay on track and build a complete Local SEO, for immediate reference:
Review competitors in local search results; what should you update and what can be done better?
Take your time filling out all the Google My Business sections and take note of the GMB ranking factors.
Use Google Posts.
Take the time to answer the questions people ask on GMB.
Ask your customers to rate, maintain reviews, and avoid mishandling negative reviews. Make sure you don't make common GMB mistakes.
Optimize every page of your website for your location. Use the basic SEO strategies I outlined above for page titles, titles, and meta descriptions.
Don't forget the powerful citations, links, and localized content can bring to a website – all of which can help you achieve your goals.
Apply some quick tips on implementing Local SEO to keep your business on the right track
Chapter 8: Some other map platforms
Google is the largest search engine in the world today, it owns the largest number of users and is an extremely important platform. Although Google's Maps platform is complete and users are completely satisfied, here are some other quite important mapping applications.
Apple Maps
While Google is still the top priority when it comes to local search, Apple also plays an important role in how the maps app is available. According to statistics, Apple Maps has up to 23.3 million users per month, which is a large number.
Apple Maps is also considered the application with the most users second only to Google Maps
Although Apple Maps has fewer features than Google Maps, it still meets user needs in other ways.
Reviews of Apple Maps
If you want to be rated highly on Apple Maps you need to know that Apple Maps pulls site reviews from third parties, namely Yelp, Foursquare, and Tripadvisor. Therefore your business needs to be present on those platforms.
For example, you are rated well on Google, if someone searches for you through Google, you can rest assured that you will be noticed and selected. But what if someone turns on Apple Maps and comes to you, but they can't find any reviews about you or even bad reviews from Yelp Apple Maps. What will happen?
As you can see, it's not enough to get a good rating on Google, don't forget about Apple Maps users. Diversify your reviews on both Yelp, Foursquare, and Tripadvisor for positive reviews.
Photos on Apple Maps
Update details about your business, from information to images. Your profile is complete on the web like Yelp, Foursquare will be an advantage. Please try to provide any image or service that you are providing.
The information you provide can lead to your business decision. Do you think searchers will find your business when they have so little knowledge of you?
Voice search
Apple Maps allows voice search, when someone uses this feature they will experience your business through Apple. In 2021, 122.7 million people, or 42.2% of internet users in the US, and 36.6% of the total US population, use voice search.
As devices get smarter optimized, you should also optimize content to support these smart features.
Bing Map
Although Bing maps are not so popular and not as popular as Google My Business, Bing still has a place for your local search engine optimization campaign. In addition, Bing also supports 2 giant voice search engines, Alexa and Cortana.
You can see that Bing and Google Maps maps are not much different, you can even sync your listing so that Bing gets its data from GMB. However, unlike local search on Google, Bing search will show reviews from different sources.
In addition to a Bing place listing search, the results will show your recent Tripadvisor reviews and your latest Facebook reviews. When searching, reviews are displayed in boxes and links to read reviews from each source.
Chapter 9: Notes when SEO Local Ma
Choosing small market niches, small areas will reduce competitors and the level of competition. If you do local SEO well, you will avoid strong competitors and perform well in the region.
Optimizing language and keywords
When focusing on a certain area, a certain country, the language needs to be oriented according to that geographical area. Keywords should also be reasonable, specific to the region so that they can appear continuously.
Choose the field of activity for the website
Declare a specific field of activity will help you reach potential customers better, which helps search engines better understand your website.
Consistency
If you're targeting a specific geographic location, it should be consistent throughout the site.
User rating
On the Google search results page, not every page is rated by users. If the website is rated from 1 to 5 stars, Google can rely on this evaluation result to rank the results. However, getting reviews from customers is not easy for new, fledgling businesses. So the core is still to make your products and services more perfect.
Onpage optimization
Onpage optimization is essential for Local SEO to maximize efficiency, businesses need to improve the website interface, title, meta description, keywords, images, etc. to suit their geographical area. In addition, please add full information about the business, map, contact hotline in the introduction.
Quality Inbound Links
Inbound links are links that will be evaluated by search engines to rank websites. Websites with good quality Inbound links will be assessed for authority and good ranking. Please increase the quality and reputation index by linking to reputable websites and blogs in the region.
Do Local SEO outsourcing
Professional SEO units will orient your website better. SEO is a job suitable for long-term projects, so the combination of doing SEO yourself and doing SEO outsourcing is very suitable and popular today because of its high efficiency.
Chapter 10: Epilogue
Through the article, I believe that I have thoroughly answered your questions about the concept as well as a detailed guide to local SEO with detailed steps to optimize local ranking effectively.
What is Local SEO Posts I Expect ? This extremely effective Local SEO marketing guide will help you a lot on the SEO path as well as apply it to the development of your business.
Good luck!
#gtvseo #gtv_seo #seo_local
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