Written by 46% of all searches on Google are local.
Source: Business2community.com
The other week, we covered some important information regarding recent changes to Google Local’s requirements for showing business listings. This week, we wanted to provide some helpful tips and tricks to make sure you, as a field service representative or business owner, can work to make sure your website gets more visibility on Google’s Local Directory.
1. Complete a Google Local Listing page for your company if you haven’t done so.
You’re already missing out on business visibility in Google’s Local Directory without a listing.
2. Double check that the information and service offerings on your listing are accurate.
Use these guidelines to properly represent your business on Google. Here’s an example:
“Papa John’s” offers pizza takeout and delivery but does not offer on-premises dining. It should use the category “Pizza Delivery” and additional category “Pizza Takeout” (instead of the less specific “Delivery Restaurant” or “Takeout Restaurant”).
3. Get your customers go to your listing and review your business.
Just like in the real world, having previous and current customers review your business shows that you’re a trusted company. Google uses the reviews as a gauge against other local listings; the more reviews you have and the higher the rating for your reviews, the better.
4. Make sure your website has critical information that ties to your local business listing.
Google ties your site’s information to what you’ve provided on your local listing profile. Here’s a quick checklist:
– Does your business name on the website match with the local listing?
– Does your contact information exist on the site, and do they match with the local listing (address, phone, website, hours of operation, etc.)
– Do you have pages that talk about your services? If we go back to our example, Papa John’s should talk about their “pizza delivery” and “takeout” on their site, but not “on-premises dining”.
5. Submit your website to other local directories.
Google isn’t the only place where your customers are potentially searching for information about your services. Since people normally research or visit other sites, Google also uses information from other third party directories/listings to help rank on their own Local Directory. Here’s a helpful list of what other third party local directories you could submit your website to.
In summary, always make sure that your local listing/profile is relevant to your customer base and service locations. Having the most relevant information, as well as growing both your reviews and third party directory placements, will help you dominate the local search space and prevent you from getting penalized on Google.
If you have any questions about local search or SEO, leave us a comment below or send us a message on social, either on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Last modified: March 19, 2019
