Australian Local Small Business SEO: How to Rank on the First Page of Google
Every year, Google receives more than 16 billion search queries from local users, which equates to 35% of all searches. And when it comes to local search, the stakes are high: searchers have different needs and expectations depending on whether they’re looking for a restaurant recommendation or are interested in services like car repairs or plumbing. In fact, local search accounts for 90% of mobile searches that include location-based information. Read on to learn more about how you can rank on the first page of Google as an Australian small business with these tips and tricks. What is Local SEO? Google places a huge emphasis on local SEO for small businesses, and for good reason. Locals are actively searching for products and services near them, and if you are not showing up on page one of their search results, you’re losing customers to your competitors. Local SEO is a type of marketing that encourages you to show up higher in Google’s search results when someone is searching for products or services in your area. Local SEO is important because it’s a way to reach customers who are more likely to buy from you because they’re nearby. If you’re a local business without a local SEO strategy, you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers. Local SEO is the best way for small businesses to rank on the first page of Google’s search results. Start with the Basics
Before you start taking drastic measures, like hiring a company to build a new website or running extravagant ads, check and make sure you are utilizing the basics that can get you on the first page of Google. Start by checking your site’s speed, which is a huge factor in local search results. Studies show that Google’s algorithm now includes a site speed factor, meaning that slow-loading sites will get fewer clicks. You can run your site through services like Pingdom or Google’s tool to see where you can make improvements. Google’s algorithm also weighs the number of words on a page. If your site is mostly images and not much content, you’re at a disadvantage. Additionally, make sure your site is using a secure HTTPS connection. Optimize Your Site for Mobile Users If you haven’t already, it’s important to design your website with mobile in mind. Google has made it clear that if your site doesn’t load well on mobile, your ranking will suffer. In fact, Google has reported that the number of people using mobile to access the internet is growing — 67% of Australians now use mobile as their primary source of internet surfing. If your site isn’t mobile friendly, you’re losing a huge chunk of the market. According to Google, “if your page does not appear friendly or legible to mobile users, they may assume that your page is irrelevant or misleading.” You can check to see if your site is mobile friendly by entering the URL into Google’s mobile-friendly test. Produce Great Content for Google and Your Customers
It’s tempting to rely on generic “best of” lists and listicles as filler content, but Google’s algorithm is wise to these tricks. Now more than ever, you need to be producing high-quality content that your customers want to read and that Google will reward. The best strategy is to focus on producing great content for your customers and Google will notice. If you are a plumber and want to rank in your local area, create a blog post or article all about the different types of plumbing issues and how to solve them. If you run a restaurant, write a guide to the best desserts in your area. The possibilities are endless, and if you want to rank higher for local keywords, you must provide quality content that people want to read. If you don’t have the time to do your own local seo, we would be happy to help! Get Reviews from New and Current Customers Reviews are an important part of a local SEO strategy, but you don’t want to solicit them in a way that feels like you’re pressuring customers to give you a good review if they liked their experience. Instead, focus on getting reviews from customers who had a positive experience at your business. You can also encourage positive reviews from customers who used your services in the past. One easy way to do this is by sending them an email asking them to leave a review on Google. You can also leave business cards with a special offer on the back where customers can write their review on Google. Join Trusted Partner Programs One of the simplest ways to boost your local SEO is to join trusted partner programs and create a business listing. These include programs like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellow pages, and more. You can also create your own website or blog where customers can leave reviews and recommendations for your business. If you want to go a step further, consider hiring an SEO company or freelancer to audit your site and provide recommendations for improvement. SEO is a long-term strategy, so it’s worth investing the time and money to make sure your site is optimized for local search. Conclusion Local SEO is an important part of your marketing strategy, but it shouldn’t be your sole focus. Make sure you are creating a balanced marketing plan that incorporates all aspects of digital marketing so that you can grow your business as efficiently as possible. When creating your marketing strategy, it is important to create goals for each campaign that you create. You should also create benchmarks that you can use to measure the success of your campaigns. This will enable you to make changes and improve your campaigns as needed. With these strategies in place, you can rest assured that all of your marketing efforts are helping your business reach more customers in the areas you service.