What is Local SEO?

Driving sales through local search engines.

Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of increasing your website's chances of appearing first on local search engines. This SEO approach is used to target a specific geographic region by using tools relevant to the area in which your store or office is physically located. The more your presence is made aware to Google, the higher your website will rank in the local SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

How to Boost Local SEO

Essentially functioning as behind the scenes marketing, there are multiple local SEO strategies that you can use without website viewers feeling like you’re bombarding them with promotional material. Here are some actionable steps you can take to start developing your subtle yet effective local SEO. 

Google My Business

Boosting Local SEO consists of many elements, but let’s start with Google My Business. GMB is a tool used to authenticate your business, it doesn’t cost a thing and all you need to do is register, verify your account and input your business information.

Make sure to include your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number), this is the important information that local searchers will notice. Whatever information you do insert, it needs to be consistent across all of your social platforms, otherwise Google could misunderstand and fail to recognise connections between your media profiles. The more details displayed under your business profile, the more credible your service looks. 

Google Maps

Most website hosting platforms allow you to insert a Google Map somewhere on your site. This will not only show visitors how far away your location is, but if Google can recognise a familiar feature there's a good chance it will reward you for this.

Often people search by using the word ‘nearby’, will look at map pins rather than a list of websites. If your location pin along with your business name shows up within their search range, you're one step closer to being one of the leading local services.

Nearby searches are increasingly popular on mobiles, especially if on holiday or in any unfamiliar location. Phones are always on us, laptops and desktops not so much. Ensure that your website is mobile friendly, and make it simple to find your NAP (Name, Address and Phone number), as well as any other relevant contact information. If a not-so-tech-savvy person gets frustrated by unnecessary barriers, there's a possibility they will go elsewhere. 

Analytics Marketing Computer

How do you measure website marketing conversion rates?

Let's consider each site visit to be a ‘user session’, and each user session is essentially an opportunity to convert a viewer into a customer. 

To calculate your conversion rate results you would divide the number of engagers/purchasers by the number of user sessions. Say 5,500 people visited your website over a period of time and 1,000 of those people engaged with your website (subscribed or purchased something). You would divide 1,000 by 5,500 calculating your conversion rate to be 18%. 

To throw a spanner in the works, sometimes conversion rates can be measured by unique visitors. One user could visit your site 3 times and account for 3 user sessions. In some circumstances it is more beneficial to measure per unique visitor instead of total user sessions, as you are only converting one individual viewer into a customer. 

However you chose to measure your CRO, it is important to stay consistent with your subject of measurement and time periods between (weeks or months).

Get SEO Quote

Types of SEO services

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the first step for generating Google and Bing results, ensuring we are focussing on the keywords which will deliver the best sales and leads. Our Auckland based SEO specialists will develop a strategy, alongside the required analysis of what keywords generate the most searches.

Depending on the budget and strategy, we will create a mixture of keywords to focus on according to the competition on these search terms. These search terms become our focus for landing pages, image optimisation and content writing.

Get started
Local SEO

Local SEO is one of the most important tactics for small-medium size businesses, ensuring your local business appears for local searches including the region of business. It is critical to your online success, which is why local SEO is one of the first things we optimise. When people search using locational keywords, it is important that your business appears in those areas for both search and Google map results.

The elements of our local SEO services can be outlined further by one of our SEO specialists.

Learn More

Get started
Content Writing v2

Website copy is at the core of any website, and is what Google uses to understand your website. This is why it is important to have keywords and search terms used on specific pages to ensure you are driving relevant traffic to your website.

In order to get an action that helps capture your fish, hook, line and sinker, our SEO content marketing team will ensure you have the write content to drive sales. There’s plenty of fish in the sea but what’s important is that your website not only has the keywords to be seen on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo, but is relevant to what your audience expects.

Link building with a blog is the first step to growing organic traffic to your website. Whether it is through paid guest posts, local SEO, or using citation and web 2.0 backlinks, this is a critical component to a websites online success.

Ensuring your business generates backlinks from websites in the same niche is an important step when generating domain authority on search engines like Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo.

CRO is the process when analysing the behaviours of website visitors. It is important to review both quantitative and qualitative behaviour, improving the conversion rate of website visitors to events and goals online, which include making a purchase, adding products to their cart, signing up to an email marketing program or contacting your sales team. 

Learn more.

E commerce SEO

E-commerce SEO is a passion of Squid Group as we enjoy seeing tangible results which scale with your business. Strategising and implementing SEO for an E-Commerce website is usually a lot more complicated due to the share size compared to services based websites. 

Video SEO

Embedded videos on your website improve keyword data on your web page, providing greater value to your organic search visibility. With a clear video marketing strategy, this will providing engaging content for visitors to enjoy, improving the conversion rate optimisation of your web pages.

 

Analytics Desktop Mobile v2

How long does SEO take to generate results?

SEO is a technique which takes time to deliver results, where it is important to be realistic from the outset. The speed at which search terms generate results depend on how competitive the keywords being targeted are, and the level of budget companies are willing to spend on SEO.

Regardless of the strategy, a websites organic position on search engines vary according to how often a search engine crawls the website.

Through our keyword research we will often identify some long tail keywords which will deliver quicker results, compared to more generic keywords which are being targeted by competitors. These keywords are often location based or more specific.

The general guideline for results is based on a minimum of 6months, where we see web pages ranking for the focus keywords, and specific keywords rank in the first page.

Local SEO FAQ's

What is local SEO and why is it important?

Local SEO is the practice of optimizing a website and online presence to rank higher in local search results. It is important for businesses that serve a specific geographic area as it helps them attract relevant local customers and increase foot traffic to their physical locations.

How does local SEO differ from organic SEO?

While organic SEO focuses on improving visibility in search results on a broader scale, local SEO aims to target specific geographic regions. Local SEO involves optimizing for local keywords, managing online business listings, and encouraging customer reviews.

What is the significance of Google My Business for local SEO?

Google My Business (GMB) is a crucial component of local SEO. It provides important business information, enables customer reviews, and helps businesses appear in Google Maps and the Local Pack. Optimizing your GMB listing with accurate and detailed information is essential for local visibility.

How can I generate positive customer reviews for my business?

Encourage customers to leave reviews on platforms such as Google, Yelp, and industry-specific directories. Provide exceptional customer service, respond to reviews promptly, and implement strategies like email follow-ups and review request cards to encourage satisfied customers to leave feedback.

How can I track the effectiveness of my local SEO efforts?

Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor website traffic, conversions, and keyword performance. Additionally, track local search rankings, monitor online reviews and ratings, and utilize reporting features from local SEO platforms to assess the impact of your local SEO strategies.

Digital Services
About
Contact
THE SQUID WAY

We do things differently at Squid, creating brands and experiences which evolve the way businesses are seen. We are based in Auckland, offering digital marketing, web design, web development, branding and content marketing across NZ and Australia

Terms of Engagement

Copyright 2022 Squid Group. All rights reserved.

Group