Insights into Local SEO – Beyond Google Maps

Looking at statistical facts and figures,

92.96% of global traffic comes from Google search, Google Images, and Google Maps. (Sparktoro).

76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day. (Think With Google)

30% of all mobile searches are related to location. (Think With Google)

Here are a few tips that give evidence that there is a lot beyond Google Maps, which can work for local SEO and, in turn, for your business.

• Turn your local knowledge into an asset

The necessity of increasing visibility online is promoted through knowledge of in and around the place you stay. Although hiring a local SEO services company is a good idea, once you have gained an established understanding of the nuances of living like a local in a particular area, you can let others know more about it too. This method helps in brand-building and adds value to your neighborhood in terms of your business.

For people visiting the places for the first time, a quick sneak peek into the local hangouts gives them a bird’s eye view of the attractions and the places they should visit. Such lists can easily talk about your business and promote it depending upon the niche it belongs to.

It’s a universally accepted fact that setting up a blog or a newsletter is time-consuming and cumbersome. Hence, to increase online visibility, it is advisable to instantly level up by creating comprehensive lists that discuss the locality and the marketing perspective.

• Online directories and the knowhow

Remember when Yellow pages were the go-to option for searching classifieds and the whereabouts of a particular person. Fast forward a few years, and you can still check and recheck information in such directories, which instead of being available as a physical listing, is now live online.

There is a wide variety of options for online directories that one can choose from.

Once you get your business registered in it, people have the opportunity to rate it accordingly and make a more massive crowd aware of the provisions and offerings. Bonus points can also be highlighted in the listings, and the visibility of your brand is hit a few notches higher with this technique.

While choosing the online directory, ensure that there is an organic reach, and the daily traffic is worth your business and its performance online.

• Search for social media influencers

Social media influencers and bloggers are the real deal! They are the online connections that can maximize your business profits through word-of-mouth marketing and sharing on social media sites depending upon the outreach required for your business.

Social media is the rage nowadays and for a good reason too. People spend more time on their smartphones than anywhere else, so it is ideal to capitalize on an asset like social media sites.

One of the most accessible and useful options is Twitter, wherein you can gain interactions with bloggers and influencers among other like-minded people. Once you get a tweet, retweet, share, and a reshare, you have nonetheless set up a path of going viral on these sites in a strategic manner. Being discussed is the best way to get featured online in social circles, which would not have been possible otherwise.

• Monetize on your hashtags

Hashtags nowadays are equivalent to a groundbreaking scientific discovery. The emergence of the hashtag has changed the algorithms of the social media accounts and has also added the variety and spice to online searches.

The use of hashtags has taken various social media sites by surprise. Its ruling is noteworthy and certainly deserves all the attention coming its way. Once you gain information about the hashtags that have gained popularity in your locality, you can market your business depending upon their extensive usage.

The number of people using it determines the statistics and, in turn, the number of followers of the accounts. For a textile business, if the hashtag of sustainability and comfort is trending in the searches, you increase your chances of getting visible by marketing your brand with the same hashtags. It is all about knowing which hashtag has been searched more often and how relevant it is to your brand.

• Keep a close look at your competition.

Knowing your place in the market is as important as promoting a business in today’s times. Gaining a competitive edge should focus on every trade, notwithstanding the time spent in reaching there.

It is always beneficial to know about the things working for your competitors and how they thrive with specific options. It is not still about envy or shunning a business just because it is doing better than you. Instead, healthy competition leans towards learning from your competitors and their networking skills while monitoring them too.

Similarly, you can also gain through collaborations with peers and generate revenue for your business and a fair share of business for your partners. This is where you gain their trust and understand the importance and the value of connections in the social circuit.

• Make your business stronger with advertising on social media.

Social media advertising campaigns have never got the spotlight that it deserves. Even though it leads to a significant increase in the website traffic and, in turn, promotion of the business, it is still taken for granted and ignored at times.

Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have algorithms and quirks dedicated individually to each platform and are certainly not uniform. All that is known is if you’re consistent with these platforms, you can generate a lot of revenue for your business, and the result will be a noticeable increase in profits as well.

Here’s the most obvious – yet surprisingly still the most ignored – bit of advice: be active. Social media is not a passive pursuit, and social advertising is only a small part of the equation.

The forums can generate interest and localize focus areas on your business’s various avenues, which can thrive and make you feel better about the entire process. The interaction and communication points are refined, and one can reach the desired engagement levels with focus and patience.

So that was our take on all things pertaining to Local SEO. Hope you had a ball.