Local SEO is an important part of making sure people in your area find your business on Google or other search engines. Local SEO tools help you make sure that this happens. Ignoring these factors is a bad idea. Here are common mistakes most business owners make when it comes to local SEO.
IMAGE: PIXABAY
1. Not Having A GMB Page
Not having your Google My Business (GMB) page is a waste of time. This is because Google uses the information to rank your website. They specifically use the information that comes from your GMB page – not your website. The more informative your GMB page is, the better your chances are for being a “Google darling”.
2. Wrong Categories
Once business owners have their GMB page set up, they tend to make the mistake of missing categories. Categories can be thought of as “Yellow Pages”—that now defunct directory listing that was so prevalent during the 80s and 90s. The more categories you choose for your GMB page, the better your chances are for helping people find you.
3. Ignore Social Media
Social media is the dominant factor in most successful businesses. The internet is social media and vice versa. Customers usually turn to social media to see what the consensus is about businesses. Don’t ignore social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook or Twitter.
4. Ignoring Normal SEO
Local SEO and regular SEO are two different worlds that share similar factors. A lot of business owners don’t realize this, and this mistake ends up costing them. Backlinks, CTR and domain authorities are just a few ways they share similarities.
5. Website
Low-quality websites are ignored by Google. Search engines strive to help find answers to their users. They list relevant websites which their algorithms think will solve users’ questions. If your website offers no solution at all, your website will not be in any listing.
6. No Reviews
Reviews and feedback are the beating pulse of marketing. Look for feedback from your customers (by asking via email along with a link and directions for leaving one) gives your business social proof and credibility.
7. Inaccurate NAP Information
NAP stands for name, address, and phone number. It’s one of the most important metrics used by Google. Getting this contact information wrong (or inconsistently using various details) across your website spells bad news for your local rankings.
8. Mobile-Optimization
The facts are in: almost everyone in the world has a mobile phone now. While that’s an exaggeration, it’s based in truth: a lot of people have mobile devices. If your website isn’t optimized for speed and performance for mobile users, they’ll browse on another website. Simple as that.
9. Poor SEO Structure
Think of your site structure as a filing cabinet. Folders are categorized alphabetically or topically, and inside each category are several files organized by date or name. It’s optimized well and professionally structured. Like any good filing cabinet should be. The less structured your website is, the more Google perceives your website as low-quality.
10. Duplicate Listings
Google absolutely loathes duplicate content and profiles – and has no qualm about erasing such offending websites from their directory list. In fact, creating duplicate listings violates Google’s TOS. MOZ has a tool that lets you know if you have duplicate listings.
Conclusion
Ranking in Google local/maps is used typically by mobile users. As you optimize your local SEO efforts, keep that in mind. While these methods may take some time and effort to implement, remember that it is worth it in the end.
If you are interested in even more technology-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.
COMMENTS