Local SEO Checklist: The Ultimate Guide

Local Search Engine Optimization is an acronym that you need to learn and understand if you are serious about growing your online business in 2018. Local SEO is a marketing strategy that allows your business to reach customers in your area when they’re searching for your services.

Local search is used by millions of web browsers every day to locate the best local businesses for their needs.

It is a unique marketing strategy. You will be able to reach your customers on their terms and not randomly as with other marketing strategies. Local SEO is highly targeted.

Local SEO uses a number of techniques to rank your website in Google, as well as other business websites like Google My Business, Yelp, and Foursquare. Local SEO may involve localized content, online reviews, and other methods.

We’re going into detail about our ultimate local SEO checklist for 2018. Let’s get started!

Local Landing Page Optimizers

Your goal is to appear at the top results page when a customer searches for your product. The user will be directed to your landing page if they click on the link.

Title Tag

The title tag is the name you give your page in the HTML code. It is the title tag that appears on your search engine results pages (SERPs) as a clickable headline. They are, therefore, of the utmost significance, as you will need them to be relevant in order to appear highly on the pages that you desire. Include your keyword target and your location in your title tags.

Meta Description

The meta description appears below your title tag in the SERP. You’ll want to add your location as well as your keyword. However, it would be best if you broke up the text to avoid Google penalizing you for over-optimizing exact match keywords. Meta descriptions should be relevant to the site and provide answers that your customers are looking for.

Clean URLs

A clean URL can have a double benefit: it improves your user experience and makes your link more SEO-friendly. A complex URL can intimidate users and cause them to think that the site is spam. However, a simple URL will give them a clear idea of what the landing page contains.

Optimize Images & Logos

Effective SEO for your landing page is more than slapping a logo and cool image on the page. You can optimize your logos and photos by putting your keywords into the file name and using ALT tags. Also, make sure that the image or logo links back to your home page. All of this can boost your landing page’s SEO ranking.

Schema

Schema SEO is an effective but underutilized tool that allows you to give precise information about your business when someone searches for it. You can do this by adding schema markup code on your landing page. This will provide Google users with more detailed results. A restaurant, for example, could display hours, specials, or an event schedule right in the search results.

Google’s local business schema has many requirements, but learning them is worth the effort since you can provide customers with timely, relevant information. You can test your local business model using the Google tool.

Testimonials

You can win the trust of your potential customers by placing testimonials on your landing pages. They can take the form of logos, statistics, quotes, and even the logos of companies that use your product. How can a user trust your product without a recommendation?

Google My Business Page

Google My Business allows you to create your business on Google Search, Maps, and Google+ all in one place. Google My Business’s simple setup process is crucial to your online presence. With some tweaking, you can make your business as visible to your target audience as possible.

Claim your Google My Business Page

It would be best if you claimed or created your Google My Business account. Log in to verify that your Google My Business listing is accurate. If your listing was previously set up on the old Google Places platform or Google+ Local, you should be able to use it. To claim your listing, you can use the instructions provided by Google.

Google Posts

Google Posts is a more recent feature that lets you control the content displayed in SERPs. This is possible both on desktops in the sidebar and also directly above your listing for mobile SERPs. The posts can have up to 300 characters, include images, and create a call-to-action.

Messaging

Add a feature that allows customers to message your business directly to your listing. Set up a phone number that will receive SMS messages. You can then chat with customers who message you. Google will show your average response time, so you should reply as fast as possible.

Q&A

Visitors can ask questions even before they click through to your website with the Q&A feature. You can directly answer questions from clients and add frequently asked questions to your answers.

Click here to make an appointment.

You can add a URL to allow customers to book appointments directly in the SERP. Users can now contact you directly and quickly move towards a sale.

Directory Submissions

Directory listings are an important ranking factor for local SEO. They can be very valuable if used correctly.

Top 50 Citations

There are many directories from which to choose. Bright Local has even put together a list of 50 citations that you can use. This will help you to optimize the places where you would like your business to be highly listed.

NAP Consistency

If you have NAP consistency, your contact information will be the same on all websites. It is crucial to ensure that your business information is consistent across the web. This will help you avoid having your customers misled by incorrect listings.

Submit To Top Directories

The top 50 directories are very similar. Many of these sites overlap. Your business will want to be ranked highly on local directories.

Renew Old Listings

You’ll want to update any outdated listings or duplicate listings if you discover that they are due to an incorrect NAP. This is particularly true if your business has recently moved or is moving soon. Make sure that all your citations reflect your current and accurate information. This will help the search engines build trust in you.