A lot of local business owners seem to have no idea where to start with Google Local Rankings! Make no mistake about it, improving your local ranking will drive customers to your door. Whether you own a plumbing company, catering company, personal training, or any local service, your goal is to get the customer in front of you.
How Does Google Determine Local Ranking?
Google algorithms are complex and ever-evolving, constantly changing and trends can influence Google Local Rankings.
Understanding how Google determines local rankings should be your primary objective. At its core, the process deploys various elements such as relevance, distance, and prominence.
Relevance
Google looks for websites that have keywords that are relevant and fit what your customer is looking for. If your keywords are relevant to the term that is being searched it is more likely that your business will show up in local search results.
Distance
If you are in the vicinity of where the customer is searching, then your business will likely show in the google local rankings.
Prominence
Your site will be more likely to show if you have a strong social media and online presence. Posting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even on your Google Business account shows Google that your business is one of the top businesses in your area.
How to Improve Your Google Local Rankings
First and foremost, make sure that your business is listed on Google My Business. This will allow you to submit information about your business and its address and display an interactive map. You can do this by going to https://www.google.com/business/. Add a photo of your business so that it appears in search results.
Once you’ve done this, check for any errors or missing information by clicking “Edit” next to your listing on Google’s map. If there are any problems with this info, correct it immediately so customers can find you easily—and so Google knows how to rank you properly!
Claim your website address on GMB. This will allow people who search for your business name online to find the right website address right away.
Optimize your website for mobile devices. Google ranks mobile-friendly sites higher than those built for desktops or tablets.
Once your business profile is set up, regularly post to it with announcements, offers, events, etc. Doing so will help keep Google updated about what’s going on with your business.
You should also monitor these sites for feedback from customers. When someone leaves a review about your business, respond promptly by thanking them for their patronage and offering some kind of discount code or promotion for their next visit. Not only does this show potential customers that you care about their opinions and experiences; but it also helps boost your site’s credibility and authority in the eyes of search engines.
Google’s Biggest Local Search Algorithm Update in Five Years
In a recent statement, Google confirmed that they have made an update to their local algorithm, but they did not disclose any details about what exactly has changed. We do know that this has caused a lot of disruption to many local businesses rankings. It is unclear how much of this was directly caused by the algorithm update and how much was due to other factors.
If your business has been negatively impacted by this change, it’s important to understand what happened so you can take action to recover from it. The good news is that there are steps you can take right now to help improve your rankings again as quickly as possible.
If you’ve recently lost rankings for any keywords or pages on your website (including those related to Google My Business), then maybe it is time to refocus your efforts. If you were focused more on optimizing for relevance, then you should focus more on the prominence of your business.
Need Help With SEO Rankings?
For all kinds of queries regarding search engine rankings and optimization, and professional assistance contact the experienced team at Nextfly Web Design today- don’t hesitate if you think we can help!